tokerau

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

IPA^(key): /to.ke.ra.u/, [tɔ.kɛ.ɾɐ.ʉ]

Noun

tokerau

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.
“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

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[1] 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.

[Te_Aka-2] “tokerau” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.