Ngā Tohutohu
He whakamārama
You will be aware by now that there are many words in Māori that have been created by reduplication of a part or all of the base word. There are several types of this reduplication in Māori. One such type is described on page 44 of Te Pihinga. In Te wāhanga tuarima of Te Pihinga another type of reduplication is explained, especially in relation to verbs that show partial or complete reduplication.
Understanding how reduplication of words works in Māori will help you add variety and subtle variations of meaning to your language and a better understanding of the language of native speakers.
In Te Kākano you learnt some words for colours in Māori. A few of those colour adjectives can be partially or wholly doubled to weaken the meaning of the simple form, notably pāpango (be somewhat black) from pango (be black); whewhero (be reddish) from whero (be red); and teatea (be whitish, pale, light in colour) from tea (be white).
Partial or full reduplication of some other adjectives has a similar effect on the meaning, e.g. mātaotao (be cool) from mātao (be cold); mākūkū (be somewhat moist) from mākū (be wet, moist); werawera (be warm) from wera (be hot, burnt); mārokeroke (be somewhat dry) from maroke (be dry); pōuriuri (be darkish, gloomy) from pōuri (be dark); mārōrō (be somewhat hard, strong, solid or stiff) from mārō (be hard, solid, stiff); and matemate (be sickly) from mate (be ill, dead).
The following exercise will help you use these words and those discussed on page 44 of Te Pihinga.
Instruction
Whiriwhiria te kupu e tika ana hei whakakī i ia ango, i ia ango. Kia kotahi anake te whakamahi i ia kupu.
| kikino |
werawera |
pāpango |
matemate |
nonohi |
| pōuriuri |
mārokeroke |
mātaotao |
papai |
teatea |
| mākūkū |
whewhero |
roroa |
|
|
