whā

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See also: wha, wha', WHA, and wHa

Maori

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Maori cardinal numbers
 <  3 4 5  > 
    Cardinal : whā

Etymology 1

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From Proto-Polynesian *fa, from Proto-Oceanic *pat, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *pat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat, from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

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whā

  1. four

Etymology 2

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From Proto-Polynesian *faqa (“leaf stalk” – compare with Tahitian fā “stalk of banana, coconut or taro leaf”, Tongan faʻa, Samoan faʻa), from Proto-Oceanic *paqa (compare with Fijian ba (“taro stalk”)), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *palaqpaq (“midrib of coconut leaf” – compare with Malay pelepah, Tagalog palapa);[1][2][3] generalization from lack of coconuts found naturally in New Zealand.[4]

For sense of feather, compare with Malay bulu pelepah (lit. “frond[-shaped] hair/fur”).

Noun

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whā

  1. any leaf of certain plants like taro and harakeke with a long and thick rachis (stalk)
  2. feather
    Synonym: huru

Derived terms

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References

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  1. ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “faqa.1”, in POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online
  2. ^ “Niu”, in Te Māra Reo, Benson Family Trust, 2023
  3. ^ Ross, Malcolm D., Pawley, Andrew, Osmond, Meredith (2008) The lexicon of Proto-Oceanic, volume 3: Plants, Canberra: Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 380-1
  4. ^ 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 29

Further reading

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  • Williams, Herbert William (1917) “whā”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 568
  • “whā” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.
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