Te reo Māori is making an even bigger mark on the English language, with the Oxford English Dictionary adding and updating a collection of words from Aotearoa in its latest international update.
Among the most significant additions is whakapapa, which has now been added as a verb. The OED traces its use in this form back to 1990, describing it as tracing or reciting a lineage, including the connection of a person to an iwi or place through their ancestral line.
The existing noun entry for whakapapa has also been revised, alongside a number of other kupu Māori including atua, hui, kākaho, kākahu, kōkōwai, tangata, tangata whenua, taua, tohunga, torori and wahine.
The dictionary has also expanded its entry for Kiwi. Already recognised for its connections to the native bird, New Zealanders and other uses, Kiwi is now recorded as a colloquial term for New Zealand English, with evidence of that use dating back to 1979.
The OED traces wahine in Polynesian and New Zealand contexts as far back as 1773, while whakapapa as a noun is recorded from 1880.
It is not all kupu Māori. Other pieces of familiar Kiwi vocabulary joining the dictionary include hospo, streety, unco and Crate Day, reflecting the distinctive way English has developed in Aotearoa.
The September update is part of the OED’s continuing work documenting different forms of English around the world, but for Aotearoa it also provides another reminder of how deeply te reo Māori has influenced the language spoken across the motu.
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