Monolingual Māori language dictionary praised
Dr Pita Sharples, Maori Party Co-leader 2 Mahuru 2008

“Spring is here, and with it the revitalisation of life itself is celebrated with the launch of He Pātaka Kupu – te kai a te rangatira, the very first monolingual Maori language dictionary to be produced for highly proficient speakers” said Dr Pita Sharples, co-leader of the Maori Party.

Kua koanga, a, koia te wa tika mo te whakanui i te pihinga o te mauri ora ki te maanutanga o ‘He Pataka Kupu - te Kai a te Rangatira’ – te papakupu reotahi Maori tuatahi ma nga tohunga korero, hei ta Ahorangi Pita Sharples, rangatira o te Ropu Torangapu Maori.

Dr Sharples suggests Spring is an entirely appropriate time to welcome the next development in accelerating te reo Maori development.

Na Ahorangi Sharples te whakaaro i kokiri, ko te koanga Pakeha te wa tika kia koa tatou, ina eke te whakarauoranga o te reo Maori ki tetahi taumata hou.

“Just as Spring signals new life, the Maori language will be greatly enhanced by this dictionary, which brings together the rich lexicon of contemporary Maori language, in both hardcopy and online forms”.

“Penei me te tipuranga o te ao, ma tenei papakupu te reo Maori e tipu ai, he rangahautanga whanui, he rapunga hohonu i nga kupu Maori o te ao hou, ka whakaemitia ki tetahi pukapuka, ki te ipurangi ano hoki.”

“As someone who has devoured the study of anthropology and linguistics for most of my professional life, I am excited by the possibilities that this dictionary now provides” said Dr Sharples.

“He tangata ahau kua kai i te matauranga o nga ahuatanga o te tangata, o ona reo hoki, i te roanga o aku mahi pakeke, a, kei te koa taku ngakau i tenei papakupu,” hei ta Ahorangi Sharples.

“It is particularly important that each entry includes both tribal variations and an ‘atua categtory’ – the atua that reflects the focus of the word (such as Papatuanuku, Tumatauenga)”

“He mea nui kia kitea te reo o tena iwi, o tena iwi i roto i nga whakamaramatanga o ia kupu; a, waihoki ra, ka tohua ia kupu ki te atua e tika ana mo taua kupu (ara, ki a Papatuanuku, ki a Tumatauenga). “

“The Maori Party, as a Party driven by kaupapa Maori, believes that our spiritual origins and our historical contexts are critical to the whole concept of cultural authenticity and so we see the use of an 'atua category' as a very promising innovation” said Dr Sharples.

“Na te pumau ki te kaupapa Maori, e whakapono ai te Ropu Torangapu Maori, ka ahu mai o tatou tikanga i te mana Maori, i o tatou whakapapa, no reira he tauira pai te waitohu i nga atua e tika ana mo nga kupu korero,” hei tana.

“We warmly congratulate Te Taura Whiri i te reo Maori, the team of expert writers, Maori language scholars and academics for their dedicated commitment to Te Reo Mäori as the cornerstone of all that is Mäori” said Dr Sharples.

“Ka nui a matou mihi ki Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Maori, ki a ratou pukenga tuhi korero, ki nga tohunga, ki nga ruanuku, na ratou te pumau ki te reo hei kaupapa mo te ao Maori,” hei ta Ahorangi Sharples.

“He Pataka Kupu, sits alongside Te Kete Kupu (monolingual Maori learner dictionary for children 5-10 years) and Tirohia, Kimihia (monolingual Maori learner dictionary for children 8-12 years) to produce a powerful lexicon of our indigenous language, as the first and official language of Aotearoa” said Dr Sharples.

“Ka noho He Pataka Kupu hei hoa mo Te Kete Kupu (he papakupu reotahi Maori ma nga tamariki), mo Tirohia, Kimihia ano hoki (he papakupu reotahi Maori ma nga taiohi); ko te tokotoru nei hei tuaahu mo to tatou reo taketake, reo matamua o Aotearoa,” hei ta Ahorangi Sharples.

ENDS

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