New Stamps, New Māori Words

He pane kuini hou, he kupu Māori hou

New stamps, new Māori words

E mihi ana Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori ki ngā pane kuini hou e whakaatu ana i ngā kupu Māori hou.

The Māori Language Commission has welcomed a new postage stamp issue featuring modern Māori words.

Atu i tēnei rā ka hokona ngā pane kuini ki ngā ToaPoutāpeta katoa tae atu ki te ipurangi.

The stamps are on sale from today at PostShops everywhere and online.

Kua tīkina atu ko ngā kupu pēnei i te ‘rorohiko’ i te ‘waea pūkoro’ rānei hei whakatauira atu i ngā kupu hou kei te hangaia e ngā kaiwhakamāori. Tae atu ki ngā mahi hoahoa a David Hakaraia (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Paoa), he Kaiwhakahaere Hōtaka mō ngā tauira tau tuatahi ki te Kura Toi o Te Whare Wānanga o te Ūpoko o te Ika o Māui, rāua ko tōna hoa mahi a Elisabeth Vüllings, he mātanga toi.

They feature words like ‘rorohiko’ meaning ‘computer’ and ‘waea pūkoro’ meaning ‘mobile phone’ to illustrate the way new words are formed by translators. Artwork by Wellington designer David Hakaraia (Ngāpuhi, Ngāti Paoa), the Programme Director for 1st year design at the School of Design at Victoria University and his colleague Elisabeth Vüllings, an accomplished fine artist.

Hei taunaki i ngā pane kuini kei konā anō e whakamārama ana i te hanga mai o ngā kupu hou: pēnei i te ‘roro’ me te ‘hiko’. Ko te kupu ‘waea’ he mea whakawhiti noa mai i te reo Pākehā – arā ko te ‘waea pānui’ i te tuatahi ko te ‘waea kōrero’ whai muri ake. Ko te kupu nei ‘pūkoro’ ka tūhono ki te kupu nei ‘waea’ ka ‘waea pūkoro’ mai.

The stamps come with explanations of the way the words were developed: ‘roro’ for example means ‘brain’ and ‘hiko’ means electricity. ‘Waea’ is an old word borrowed from English – the ‘wire’ of first the telegraph and then the telephone. ‘Pūkoro’ is an original Māori word for ‘pocket’ – so in Māori a mobile phone is a ‘pocket phone’.

E ai ki te Tumuaki o Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, a Ngahiwi Apanui, e whakaatu ana ngā pane kuini i tētahi āhuatanga nui o te whakarauora i te reo Māori: te whakawhānui ake i ngā kupu me ngā rerenga kōrero mō ngā momo hangahanga hou katoa.

The Commission Chief Executive Ngahiwi Apanui says the stamp issue illustrates one of the important parts of revitalisation of the Māori language: expanding the range of words and terms available to deal with new concepts and things.

“Kei te taumata tuatoru tātou ināianei o te whakarauora i te reo Māori. Ko te tuatahi nō te taenga mai o ngā tūpuna ki Aotearoa. He kupu hou i puta ake mō ngā mea hou katoa ki a rātou pēnei i te ‘hukapapa’, pēnei i te ‘kiwi’. Ko te tuarua nō te taenga mai o te Pākehā he manomano ngā kupu hou i puta ake pēnei i te ‘rino’, pēnei i te ‘pukapuka karakia’, pēnei i te ‘waipiro’. Ināianei e ōrite ana mō ngā reo katoa kei te whakaputa kupu hou mō ngā hangarau hou. Ka pēnei a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori i ia rā, ka pēnei anō hoki ngā kaiwhakamāori me ērā atu mātanga reo Māori.

”We are in the midst of the third wave of expansion of te reo Māori. The first was when our ancestors first arrived in Aotearoa. New words were needed for everything from snow to kiwi. Then, on European contact, thousands more words were needed for things like iron, prayer books and alcohol. Now, along with all languages we are responding to the changes brought about by technology. The Commission does this every day, as do translators and other experts.

“Poutāpeta Aotearoa – nō ngā rā tata nei i whakamana rātou i tō rātou ingoa Māori, arā Tukurau Aotearoa – i piki ai te mana o te reo Māori, ā, i whai wāhi ai ngā kaiako me ngā ākonga o te reo Māori ki te toro atu ki tētahi rauemi. Kāre e kore ka hiahia mai te hunga e ako ana, e whakanui ana, e kaingākau ana ki te reo taketake nei o Aotearoa”.

“New Zealand Post – which has recently taken up Tukurau Aotearoa as its te reo Māori name – has helped raise the status of the Māori language and brought a new tool to teachers and learners of te reo Māori. I am sure the stamps will prove to be popular not only among Māori but among all who use, learn or admire New Zealand’s own language”.

Link to stamps nzpost.co.nz/maorilanguage Māori Language Commission www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz

ENDS

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