Welcome to my fourth day of the #7dayculturechallenge - for the rundown of why I started this new challenge check the introduction post here
New Zealand has 3 official languages - English (the predominant langauge), Te Reo Maori (the language of the indigenous Maori people) and New Zealand sign language.
Māori language
Unfortunately after the colonisation of New Zealand, the Te Reo language has been fairly supressed, only becoming an official langauge in 1987. According to a report by the Ministry of Social Development published in 2013, only 3.7% of New Zealands population could speak at a conversational level in Te Reo.
Although the use of Māori language has declined over the years there has been a revival due to many government initiatives such as Māori language week, the introduction of the Māori act and introduction of Māori television.
Te Reo is a very important part of our culture, and is a language only spoken in New Zealand - and I hope the governent does more in the future to encoruage people to speak it more, and offer more education so the langauge doesn't die out.
Some basic Te Reo phrases
- Kia Ora - Hello
- Whānau - Extended family
- Aroha - Love
- Kai - Food
- Karakia - Prayer
- Waka - Canoe
- Ka Pai - Good Work
Slang words/terms from New Zealand a.k.a how to speak like a kiwi
New Zealanders (kiwis) have developed quite the vocabulary of slang terms over the years - below are just a few that are fairly common:
- Aye - This word turns a statement into a question - e.g. if we had the statement 'Wer'e going to the movies tonight', we could change to a question by adding the word aye to the end 'We're going the movies tonight aye?'
- Bro - This is a shortened version of brother, but is generally used when talking to friends, e.g. 'What are you doing this weekend bro?'
- Choice - Great/awesome e.g. 'I made the rugyb team, choice!'
- She'll be right - No problems/Don't worry about it/Everything will be ok e.g. 'The beach is going to be cold today, do you need a wetsuit?' 'Nah - She'll be right'
- heaps - Used to descibe a large quantity of something e.g. 'I'm full because just ate heaps of chips'
- Mate - Mate can be used when referring to a friend or an enemy (this ones a bit confusing and often comes from the tone of voice. e.g. with a friend 'Hey mate how are you?'. However with an enemy or someone you dislike you can also use the word mate, e.g. 'Dont speak to me like that mate!'
- Wop Wops - Middle of nowhere/out in the country, e.g. 'That party last night was way out in the wop wops!'
As you can see New Zealand has quite a unique language culture - with the existence of Te Reo and New Zealand sign language alongside our own modified version of English. I hope you enjoyed reading and I look forward to reading about other cultures!
References:
http://socialreport.msd.govt.nz/cultural-identity/maori-language-speakers.html
The rules:
- Write a post about an aspect of your culture - e.g. food, arts, dance, economy, money, governement etc
- Do this for 7 days in a row if you get nominated
- Mention three people who should do this on each day.
- Tag it with #7dayculturechallenge and include these rules at the bottom of your post
- Include a picture of something from your culutre related to yoru story if possible
- Post these rules at the bottom of your post
- Note - if you like the idea of this and would like to participate but werent nominated, feel free to join in and just mention that I nominated you :)
- If you are still doing a different challenge and are nominated feel free to start this one once you have finished the last one!
