Trying to locate things in today’s world

Ko te mihi tuatahi ki te runga rawa . . . (‘‘The first greeting is to the highest above . . .’’). In the last column attention was drawn to the fact that the word runga, which generally refers to ‘‘the upper part’’ or ‘‘the above’’ is also the word for ‘‘south’’, whilst its opposite, raro, which denotes the lower or ‘‘underside’’ is also the word for ‘‘north’’.

Thus, in te reo Ma¯ ori, the conventional world map is effectively turned upside down.

In addition to all names of places as such cities as countries, there are about 20 much-used words which are similar to runga and raro in that they name a location in space or time, and are called location nouns.

These particular words are used in quite a different way to any English words.

A translation of the simple English preposition ‘‘on’’ as in the phrase ‘‘on the table’’, for instance, requires an entire location phrase in te reo: kei runga / i te te¯pu (‘‘at topside / of the table’’).

Besides runga and raro, several other words in this group also present quite distinctive ways of looking at the world.

The word mua (‘‘the front’’) is used to refer to the past, and the expression Inga¯ra¯/omua , means ‘‘In the days of the past’’ or ‘‘In the days before . . .’’; whilst the word muri (‘‘the back’’ or ‘‘behind’’) is used to reference the future.

The logic here can hardly be faulted.

The past is viewed as being ‘‘in front’’ of one, because it has indeed ‘‘gone before’’, while the future is considered not yet visible ‘‘before’’, and is thus ‘‘behind’’ one.

Here, the expression ‘‘walking backwards into the future’’ may come to mind.

Ina¯ ianei (or I na¯ ia nei – another location noun/phrase, meaning ‘‘now’’) in this time of great uncertainty around the world regarding what kind of society or civilization might emerge from the effects of the global pandemic of Covid-19, many of us may be thinking that we are indeed ‘‘walking backwards’’ into an unpredictable future.

Among other frequently occurring location nouns is the pair: roto (‘‘the inside’’): kei roto / i te ka¯ pata (‘‘in the cupboard’’) and waho (‘‘the outside’’): kei waho / i te whare (‘‘outside the house’’).

In these examples it can again be noticed that English expressions use just a single phrase, but in te reo two phrases are required.

The word roto is also used for ‘‘lake’’ – presumably because a lake, as opposed to te moana (‘‘the ocean’’), is ‘‘within’’ a landmass. Lake Taupo, however, being so large, is usually called Taupo Moana.