Place names help reinforce te reo Māori
In the last column, there was comment on the proposal, made by missionary Richard Taylor in the 1850’s, that an appropriate name for this country would be “Te Ika a Māui”. Taylor, it appears, assumed that this name could apply to the whole country.
The widely held opinion, however, is that it refers just to the North Island, with “Te Upoko o te Ika” (“The Head of the Fish”) being the area around Te Whanganui a Tara (“The Great Harbour of Tara” or Wellington harbour).
Concern with such questions broadens the scope of these columns beyond specific issues of Māori grammar – but because placenames are often familiar, and encountered continuously, they offer many opportunities for reinforcing our understanding of te reo.
With regard to the distinction between “dominant” and “subordinate” forms of possession indicated in te reo by the different words “a” and ”o” (both denoting “of”) the name “Te Ika a Māui”, with “a”, implies that Māui is considered dominant over the fish – that the fish is “inferior ” to him.
In “Te Upoko o te Ika”, on the other hand, the word for “of” is “o”, illustrating the grammatical principle that parts of things are governed by the possessive “o”.
Most frequently, whenua (“land”) is also governed by “o”, signifying that it is considered “superior” to any possessor.
Why then is the possessive “a” used in the name Te Whanganui a Tara? A possible explanation is that what Tara discovered was a “whanga” (“harbour”) – rather than “whenua” – and thus had some claim to “dominant” ownership here.
Maybe this also serves as a reminder that usage is of more importance than any imposed rules of grammar.
The term “Aotearoa”, now frequently appearing (and more appropriately than “Te Ika a Māui”) in conjunction with “New Zealand”, may be taken as an illustration of the principle that “qualifying” words – that is, words used adjectivally – usually follow the word that is qualified, and are often merged into a single word with it: “Ao–tea– roa” (“Cloud-long-white”).
This principle is also evident in “whanganui” (“whanga” = “harbour”; “nui” = “great”).
It's true, though, that place names have often become corrupted, and disputes continue over their origins and correctness.
The name “Pōneke” is sometimes used in place of “Wellington”. One interpretation is that “Pōneke” a transliteration of “Port Nick” representing a shortened version of “Port Nicholson” – named after a Sydney harbourmaster, John Nicholson, by James Herd in 1826.
A more interesting explanation (found in Wikipedia) is that it could be a shortened form of “Pō-nekeneke” (“Pō” = “night”; “nekeneke” = “move gradually”) referring to the displacement (by night?) of Te Āti Awa people by European settlers.