tangata

See also: tāngata and tagata

Maori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *taŋata from Proto-Oceanic *tamʷata, cognate with Hawaiian kanaka, Tahitian taʻata and Samoan tagata.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta.ŋa.ta/, [tɐ.ŋɐ.tɐ]

Noun

tangata (irregular plural tāngata)

1. human being, person, man
   • 1858, Francis Dart Fenton, The Laws of England, Compiled and translated into the Māori language‎^[1]:

     Ta ratou, ma te tangata mate i te mahi he a tetahi, ma nga whanaung ranei o te tangata i patua, ma ratou tonu e whakawa te tangata hara, ma ratou tonu e whiu, e whakamate ranei, me he mea ka tika ki to ratou na whakaaro kia mate ia.

     With them, it is usual for the man who has been injured, or for the relations of a man slain, not only to judge, but to punish the offender, and even, if they think it just that he should die, to kill him

Derived terms

• tangata māori
• tāngata whenua

References

• “tangata” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.
• Tregear, Edward (1891) Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary‎^[2], Wellington, New Zealand: Lyon and Blair, pages 464-5

Tongan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *taŋata.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ta.ŋa.ta/

Noun

tangata

1. man
2. human being