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tokerau. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word
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Maori
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Polynesian *tokelau (“northwesterly”). Cognates include Tokelauan tokelau, Samoan to'elau, and Rapa Nui tokerau.
No words for the cardinal directions can be unambiguously reconstructed for Proto-Polynesian, as there would be little use for them on the small Polynesian islands. However, on the much larger North Island (Te Ika-a-Māui) and South Island (Te Waipounamu) of New Zealand, the usefulness of such terminology led the Māori to adopt this word for "north".[1]
Pronunciation
Noun
tokerau
- north[2]
- autumn[2]
References
- ^ Bruce Biggs (1994) “New Words for a New World”, in A. K. Pawley, M. D. Ross, editors, Austronesian Terminologies: Continuity and Change (Pacific Linguistics Series C; 127), Australian National University, →DOI, page 26.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 “tokerau” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.
Rapa Nui
Etymology
Inherited from Proto-Polynesian *tokelau (“northwesterly”). Cognates include Tokelauan tokelau, Samoan to'elau, and Maori tokerau.
Noun
tokerau
- wind