24,000 Māori words defined in te reo Māori: there’s an app

I whakaputaina He Pātaka Kupu ki te ao i te tau 2008, ā, koia hoki te papakupu tuatahi, reo Māori ake, i tōna putanga mai. Ina hoki ko ērā atu papakupu katoa he papakupu Ingarihi-Māori, Māori-Ingarihi rānei.

E ai ki te Tumuaki tuarua o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, a Tuehu Harris, i ngā tāngata e ako whakamua ana i tētahi reo, atu i tō rātou reo taketake, he mea nui kia whakamahia nuitia ake te reo tuarua me te kore aro ki te reo tuatahi.

“He ruarua noa ngā reo iwi taketake whai papakupu reo takitahi, me ngā painga katoa ka hua ake ki te reo Māori i tētahi papakupu reo takitahi. He waimarie te putanga o tēnei rauemi hei whakamahinga mā ngā kaikōrero me ngā akonga reo Māori i te ipurangi me ōna āhuatanga hou.

Kei te taha o ngā whakamārama tikanga i te reo Māori ko ngā tauira, mai i ngā pukapuka kua tāia noatia. Mā ngā tauira ka mārama te tangata ki te whakamahinga tika o ia kupu. He ngāwari te whakatairite i ngā kupu ōrite mā tepāwhiri hononga i te taupānga, ki aua kupu. 24,000 ngā kupu motuhake i roto i He Pātaka Kupu, ā, kua oti te tautapa i ia kupu ki tētahi rohenga atua Māori, pēnei i a Tangaroa, te atua o te moana me tōna tini, i a Tānemahuta rānei me tōna anō.

Mā konei ka kitea ake ia kupu i tōna pūtakenga Māori tūturu, he rerekē i te whakaaro ake ki ia kupu mā tōna kupu Ingarihi tūtata pea te aronga.

Kei tēnei pukapuka ko ngā kupu anake e rangona ana i ēnei rā, me ngā aronga o nāianei. Ko ētahi o ngā kupu i tangohia mai i ētahi atu reo kāore i whakaurua mai mehemea he kupu Māori taketake ka taea te whāwhā atu, heoi, tērā tonu ētahi i whakaurua mai, pēnei i ‘mīere’, mai i te reo Wīwī, me te kupu whakamutunga rawa o te papakupu, arā, te ‘whutupōro’, mai i te kupu reo Ingarihi ‘football’.

Kei te tino whakamahia nuitia e te tangata te pukapuka tūturu i puta i mua i ēnei rā o te waipukenga o ngā akomanga reo Māori i ngā taumata o runga.

He Pataka Kupu was published in 2008 and became the first only monolingual Māori dictionary. All others have been English-Māori or Māori English.

The acting Chief Executive of The Māori Language Commission Tuehu Harris says that as people advance in learning a language other than their original language it is important to increasingly use the second language, without reference to the first.

There are very few indigenous languages that are being revitalised with the advantages that a monolingual dictionary provides. Te reo Māori speakers and learners are fortunate to have this resource available, now in new online formats.

Definitions in te reo Māori are accompanied by examples from published sources. The examples give an indication of the correct use of the word. Synonyms are easy to compare through the links provided in the app.

He Pātaka Kupu has 24,000 entries and is unique in assigning each word to a domain, named for one of the traditional Māori atua such as Tangaroa, the atua of the sea and its creatures, or Tane, the atua of the forest and its creatures.

This allows each word to immediately be seen in its original Māori cultural context, a very different experience from having to consider a Māori word first in relation to its English approximation.

The dictionary contains only words in current use, used in their modern sense. Some borrowings from other languages have not been included where there is an easily available Māori alternative, but some were included such as ‘mīere’, honey, from French and the final word in the dictionary ‘whutupōro’ from English ‘football’.

The print edition continues to be popular as the number of people using and studying Māori at advanced levels increases.