Fun with Language

[tealin]

This visit to New Zealand was a focused research trip founded on specific existing knowledge; should I come again in a more touristy capacity, I'd want to learn a bit about Maori culture and language beforehand.

All the same, it's been fun piecing together bits you pick up from bilingual labels and explanatory signage. For instance, the plural of tui (a type of bird that sounds like R2D2) is nga tui, and waka is a general term for a vessel, which can be a canoe or the space shuttle, or a model thereof, or even a box.

So yesterday, when I took the boat from South to North Island, I observed that the Maori translation of 'New Zealand Ferries' is Nga Waka ...

... which literally means ...

... 'boats'?

Comments

[lumiere42]

Possibly the Maori equivalent of 'Boaty McBoatface'? :)

For 'New Zealand Ferries' I'd think the full Maori would be 'Aotearoa Nga Waka' (New Zealand Boats) but maybe they thought that sounded clunky?

[tealin]

I was surprised how few official "New Zealand _____" names had "Aotearoa" in the Maori title – I guess it goes without saying? Or maybe there are specific cultural parameters for using the name of the nation, and not ever national department/division/institution qualifies ...

[(Anonymous)]

Maybe they felt since the only people who could read it were likely to be locals, they could be more casual about the whole affair.

[tealin]

Yeah, I'd wondered if maybe the thinking was 'if you're reading this in Maori, there's only one country it could possibly be referring to' ... but governments usually aren't as pragmatic as that. :)