He Kete Kīwaha -
A Practical Guide To Māori Idioms
by Hona Black
He pukapuka tohutoro tino pai tēnei. He tohutoro ki te aha? Ki ngā kīwaha āhua maha kua uru ki roto i te reo Māori, kāore he whakamārama tika i roto i ngā pukapuka kupu, engari ka kitea puta noa i ngā āhuatanga reo katoa, ā, kei te kitea tonu, kei te whakawhanake tonu.
[This is a very good reference book. Reference to what? To the many idioms that infiltrate the Māori language, which generally have no straight dictionary definition, yet which are to be found across all dialects, and which continue to be discovered and developed.]
As Hona Black, the scrupulous researcher and compiler of this tome points out, ‘And so, to those of you dedicated to the language of our ancestors, welcome to this book that explores that very language, those unclear phrases, often far removed from the literal words used, those features of the language known as kīwaha or kīrehu’ (page 9).
Ko ētahi o ēnei he kīanga, ko ētahi he kupu kotahi anake. [Some of these are phrases, some only one word]. Similarly, some also double up as colloquialisms and slang, and may well have begun as such.
These kīwaha are arranged alphabetically, and are also graded by their level of difficulty via a denotion of one kete if ‘easier’ and three kete if more difficult. There is even a section at the back where you can write in new idioms that you have learned and/or found.
The pages are arranged in pairs, with the original te reo on the left, the English language version on the right, initially explaining the kīwaha, then exemplifying many, replete with numerous historical – and sometimes more contemporary – instances. Indeed, there are getting on to 200 separate idioms on display in this weighty taonga.
Examples? My favourites are the kīwaha which are also ngā kangakanga or swear words, given that Hona Black also provides less earthy definitions for them. Have he titiro (a look) at these ones –
E Hawa – Bullshit, No Way, A Load of Rubbish
Exemplified by a 1999 instance as here,
Pare: E ki, nāu anō i tuitui tō huru. [Really, did you sew your own suit?]
Rangi: Ehara! [You bet!]
Pare: E hawa! [Bullshit! (page 66.)]
Here is another kīwaha –
Tē Te Koito – Out of Gas, No More Energy, Not Working, Buggered
Ka mea mai taku kaiwhakangungu, ‘Kia kotahi anō’, me taku whakautu, ‘E hē, kua tē te koito’ [My trainer said ‘one more’, and I said, ‘Nope, I’m buggered’. (page 362).]
I find this book not only very helpful, but also fun. ‘six, seven’. And like Hona Black, I have no idea what that ‘means’, if anything.
Tēnā koe a Hona.
A Practical Guide To Māori Idioms
by Hona Black
He pukapuka tohutoro tino pai tēnei. He tohutoro ki te aha? Ki ngā kīwaha āhua maha kua uru ki roto i te reo Māori, kāore he whakamārama tika i roto i ngā pukapuka kupu, engari ka kitea puta noa i ngā āhuatanga reo katoa, ā, kei te kitea tonu, kei te whakawhanake tonu.
[This is a very good reference book. Reference to what? To the many idioms that infiltrate the Māori language, which generally have no straight dictionary definition, yet which are to be found across all dialects, and which continue to be discovered and developed.]
As Hona Black, the scrupulous researcher and compiler of this tome points out, ‘And so, to those of you dedicated to the language of our ancestors, welcome to this book that explores that very language, those unclear phrases, often far removed from the literal words used, those features of the language known as kīwaha or kīrehu’ (page 9).
Ko ētahi o ēnei he kīanga, ko ētahi he kupu kotahi anake. [Some of these are phrases, some only one word]. Similarly, some also double up as colloquialisms and slang, and may well have begun as such.
These kīwaha are arranged alphabetically, and are also graded by their level of difficulty via a denotion of one kete if ‘easier’ and three kete if more difficult. There is even a section at the back where you can write in new idioms that you have learned and/or found.
The pages are arranged in pairs, with the original te reo on the left, the English language version on the right, initially explaining the kīwaha, then exemplifying many, replete with numerous historical – and sometimes more contemporary – instances. Indeed, there are getting on to 200 separate idioms on display in this weighty taonga.
Examples? My favourites are the kīwaha which are also ngā kangakanga or swear words, given that Hona Black also provides less earthy definitions for them. Have he titiro (a look) at these ones –
E Hawa – Bullshit, No Way, A Load of Rubbish
Exemplified by a 1999 instance as here,
Pare: E ki, nāu anō i tuitui tō huru. [Really, did you sew your own suit?]
Rangi: Ehara! [You bet!]
Pare: E hawa! [Bullshit! (page 66.)]
Here is another kīwaha –
Tē Te Koito – Out of Gas, No More Energy, Not Working, Buggered
Ka mea mai taku kaiwhakangungu, ‘Kia kotahi anō’, me taku whakautu, ‘E hē, kua tē te koito’ [My trainer said ‘one more’, and I said, ‘Nope, I’m buggered’. (page 362).]
I find this book not only very helpful, but also fun. ‘six, seven’. And like Hona Black, I have no idea what that ‘means’, if anything.
Tēnā koe a Hona.
Nā Vaughan Rapatahana
(Te Ātiawa)
(Te Ātiawa)
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