i’ve often come across the advice that keeping a diary in your target language is a good way to learn: you talk about yourself while trying to form your own sentences and you get familiar with the language. but when you’ve just started learning a language and can barely say hello, it quickly gets complicated. so, i figured starting with a tumblr blog wouldn’t be a bad idea. and who knows, maybe other people learning tahitian will stumble upon this blog and come say hello?
for now, i’ve managed to dig up an old tahitian dictionary with pages yellowed by time and a grammar book full of metalanguage that i haven’t mastered yet, but i’ll do my best to document my learning, both to motivate myself and to help anyone who’s interested. if talking to myself online helps me get better, then so be it.
i'm not even sure why i'm learning tahitian. i've never been to tahiti and i have no family or ancestry there. i think i just fell in love with the way it sounds a few years ago and it stuck with me till the day i decided i, too, would eventually speak tahitian.
oh, by the way—my name is iuri and i'm twenty-three. nice to meet you!
a fun thing to notice in reo tahiti, a polynesian language spoken in tahiti, is how often words like to repeat themselves.
this is called reduplication. according to wikipedia, reduplication is a morphological process in which the root or stem of a word—or part of it, or even the whole word—is repeated exactly or with a slight change.
reduplication in tahitian is not just for emphasis—repeating a word can change its meaning in subtle ways. it might make something feel more poetic, more continuous, or even softer or cuter. it can also intensify or pluralize a word. the possibilities are endless!
since reduplication is a very common feature in reo tahiti, i could easily find quite a few examples. here's a short, non-exhaustive list of tahitian reduplications:
iti (small, little) → itiiti (very small; little by little)
to’a (coral) → to’ato’a (to smell of coral)
oni (male) → ’oni’oni (macho, to act like a male, to brag)
tio (oyster) → tiotio (small oyster)
rima (hand) → rimarima (finger)
tipi (knife) → tipitipi (to peel the vegetables)
rave (to take) → raverave (to shoplift)
ta’i (to cry) → ta’ita’i (to chirp, shout, cry repeatedly (over and over again, nonstop), cry together at the same time)
haere (to go) → hāhaere (to go—the two of us—together)
rahi (tall, broad) → rahirahi (two or more tall, broad things or people)
horoi (to wash) → horohoroi (to wash repeatedly)
tāpū (to cut) → tāpūpū (to cut several times, to cut into small pieces)
ta’oto (to sleep) → tā’oto’oto (to get some sleep)
fa’ari’i (to accept) → fa’ari’iri’i (to come to accept little by little, to tolerate)
ta’amino (to turn) → ta’aminomino (to go round and round; labyrinthine, as tangled as a labyrinth)
neva (to turn one's head to the side to look) → nevaneva (startled, restless, distracted, constantly moving, unsettled)
the tahitian language also uses what is known as metathesis, a process that involves reversing the order of syllables to change or alter meaning. for example:
niho (tooth) → honi (to bite)
’ōmuhu (to whisper) → ’ōhumu (to slander in a low voice)
maru (shade, shadow) → ruma (darkness) → rumaruma (nebula, nebulous; cloudy, obscured by clouds)
hook idea: reduplication is a highly productive process of word formation. it allows for the creation of new words and thus enriches vocabulary. sometimes it turns a noun into a verb, or a stative verb into an action verb; or changes the meaning altogether. newly created words can convey a wide range of nuances: more or less, smaller or larger, resemblance, greater quantity (plural), smaller quantity, repetition (frequency),... a whole range of nuances that are worth learning!
i’ve already talked about determiners in reo tahiti several times in different posts, and today i decided to bring it all together in one post.
simply put, determiners are words that come before nouns and specify things like quantity, definiteness, or ownership. examples in english include articles (the, a, an), demonstratives (this, that), possessive determiners (my, their) and quantifiers (many, both).
now for reo tahiti:
a) te
te corresponds to the english definite article the.
te tiare → the flower
this determiner can turn verbs or other words into nouns.
pohe → to die
te pohe → death
since nouns are invariable, to indicate the plural, te becomes te mau.
in everyday language, people also tend to use pu’era’a to indicate plural.
te mau tiare → the flowers
mau is optional and used when plurality needs to be explicit. tahitian often leaves number unspecified unless needed.
te pu’era’a tiare → the flowers
b) e
e corresponds to the indefinite articles a and an.
e tiare → a flower
c) teie, tēnā, terā
tahitian demonstrative adjectives have three forms depending on how far away the referred-to thing (a person, an animal, or an object) is.
teie means this. it refers to something close to the speaker in space and time.
teie tiare → this flower
it comes from te + nei. nei is an adverb that indicates immediate proximity. if we separate this combination, we get:
te tiare nei → the flower here
tēnā means that. it refers to something close to the person being spoken to.
tēnā tiare → that flower
terā means that over there. it refers to something far from the speakers in space and time. it comes from te + ra, meaning over there.
d) o, tō, a, tā
terā tiare → that flower (over there)
te tiare ra → the flower over there
these forms can function as determiners or pronouns, depending on context. teie would be first person (i, me), tēnā would be second person (you, your), and terā would be third person (he, she, it, singular they).
in reo tahiti, there are two main ways to express possession: words with o and words with a. roughly, o is used for natural or close relationships, things that are naturally connected to you (body parts, family, things you don’t really have control over). a is used for things that are more distant, external or that you can choose or control.
te rima o hina → the hand of hina
te tiare a hina → the flower of hina
now, if we combine the definite article te with o or a, we get the possessive determiners tō and tā.
tō hina rima = te rima o hina → hina's hand
tā hina tiare = te tiare a hina → hina's flower
e) tō’u, tō ’oe,...
since tahitian loves to combine words to form new ones, we’re now going to combine tō with pronouns.
i, me is vau or au. combined with tō, it becomes tō’u, meaning my, mine.
tō’u i’oa → my name
and just as there are tō and tā, there are also tō’u and tā’u.
tā’u tiare → my flower
you is ’oe. that way, your and yours are tō ’oe.
tō ’oe i’oa → your name
he, she, it and singular they are ’oia, ’ōna. their is tōna.
f) nā
nā is a quantifier. it refers to a specific plural form, the dual. it means both, the two, these two.
nā mata → both eyes
nā metua → both parents
e haere mai nā vahine ananahi → the two women will come tomorrow
there are obviously more, but i'll come back to that another time in a different post.
as usual, today i'm gonna look at tahitian particles, since reo tahiti has so many of them. this post focuses on directional particles. enjoy!
the particles mai, atu, iho, and a’e are directional particles: they refer to space and time and are used primarily with verbs to add spatial and temporal meaning.
the key thing to remember is that those directions are relative to a reference point: the particles indicate direction relative to the speaker (or another focal point).
they attach to verbs and modify the action along either a horizontal or vertical axis. overall, it works like this:
horizontal axis (speaker-centered):
mai indicates that the action is directed toward the speaker or reference point. it can mean toward me, toward the speaker, or toward the reference point; in front of the speaker; originating from the speaker.
atu → indicates that the action is directed away from the speaker or reference point; most of the time, it's directed toward the listener. it can mean moving away toward you; moving away toward the listener; behind you, behind the listener.
vertical axis:
a’e → indicates that the action is upward, upward-oriented, beyond something or someone. it can translate as at some distance, passing by on the side, after, up,...
iho → indicates that the action is downward, downward-oriented, immediate. it can translate as on the spot, immediately, simultaneously, right away, down,...
examples with the verb pārahi (to sit) in the imperative mood:
’a pārahi! → sit down (anywhere)!
’a pārahi mai! → sit down (in front of me)!
’a pārahi atu! → sit down (over there, further away)!
’a pārahi iho! → sit down (right there, right where you are, immediately)!
’a pārahi a’e! → sit down (next to me but slightly apart)!
in tahitian, it is widely accepted to omit pronouns when the context makes it clear enough who is being referred to. thus, sentences can be formed using only a verb and its adverbial particle:
haere mai! → come toward me!
haere atu! → go away (from me)!
more on mai & atu:
mai, as an adverb of direction, indicates that the action is directed toward or in the interest of the speaker. for example:
nāna i fa’a’ite mai i taua parau ra.
this translates to: it was he who told me that. now let's break this sentence down:
nāna → for him, to him
fa’a’ite → to inform, to spread the word
mai → from the first person toward the second one
taua ... ra → this, that, these, the
parau → to speak; a word, a phrase, a statement
meaning the information was conveyed from him to me, so it was he who told me that.
as an adverb of place, mai indicates proximity:
i muri mai i te fare → immediately behind the house (muri meaning behind)
on the other hand, atu generally conveys a centrifugal meaning. as a directional adverb, atu indicates the opposite direction of mai.
tē parau atu nei au ia ’oe. → in the process of speaking from me to you → i am telling you.
quick breakdown:
tē... nei → progressive aspect, to be in the process of doing something
parau → to speak
atu → away from the speaker
au → i, me
’oe → you
atu can also indicate movement away without specifying direction:
fa’anu’u atu! → push!
as an adverb of place, atu refers to a location farther away from the speaker:
’a ’imi i ’ō atu! → look further away (than where you are now)!
overall, mai & atu are about perspective, not just direction. their use depends on the reference point, not absolute geography.
more on iho & a’e:
iho & a’e are often described as vertical directionals, but they extend beyond literal up and down.
as a directional adverb, iho indicates an action moving from top to bottom.
pārahi ihora ’oia i raro. → he sat down.
quick breakdown:
pārahi → to sit
ihora (iho + ra) → moving from top to bottom, downward movement. ra conveys the idea of here or there
’oia → he, she, they (singular)
i raro → down
iho also indicates that the action takes place within the person themselves or very close to them, without any movement.
’ua ti’a ihora iesu. → jesus stopped (he stood still).
as an adverb of place, iho generally indicates immediate proximity or contact.
haere au i pīha’i iho ia hina. → i went next to hina.
pīha’i is an adverb indicating proximity. pīha’i iho is right next to, beside, adjacent to, against; pīha’i a’e is next to; pīha’i mai is on this side and pīha’i atu on the other side.
now onto a’e. as a directionak adverb, it indicates movement from bottom to top—the movement is upward.
’ua ti’a tā’ue a’era ’oia i ni’a, ti’a ihora. → he suddenly stood up and remained standing there.
quick breakdown:
ti’a → to get up, to stand up, to stand
tā’ue → suddenly, all of a sudden
a’era → from bottom to top (upward movement)
’oia → he, she, they (singular)
i ni’a → up, on, above, over
a’e can also indicate movement or action occuring beyond the reference point, nor toward it, nor from it, but in a different direction. it can also mean slightly further, beyond, after,... all depending on the context.
overall, a’e expresses an ascending movement, whereas iho expresses a descending movement.
in my last post on tahitian conjugation, i explained that tahitian conjugation is based on particles, not verb changes: verbs do not change form, but small particles are added before them to indicate tense or aspect. this time, i'm going to go into a bit more detail, without getting bogged down in explanations that are too complicated or not really useful at my level. here are the most common tenses and aspects:
’ua
’ua is a verbal particle that marks the perfective aspect. the perfective indicates that an action is considered completed at a specific point in time. this point is usually specified by a temporal adverb. if there is no temporal reference, the action is understood to be completed at the moment of speaking.
’ua is often used to indicate the past tense, but it can actually convey a range of tenses and aspects, such as:
past: ’ua tāpū ’oia i te tumu ha’ari inanahi ra. → he cut down the coconut tree yesterday. (lit. [past] + to cut + he + the (te) coconut (ha’ari) tree (tumu) + yesterday)
present: ’ua tāpū ’oia i te tumu ha’ari i teienei. → he cut down the coconut tree just now.
action completed at the moment of speaking: ’ua tāpū ’oia i te tumu ha’ari. → he cut down the coconut tree.
future perfect: ananahi, ’ia tae atu ’oe, ’ua tāpū ia ’oia i te tumu ha'ari. → tomorrow, when you arrive, he will have cut down the coconut tree. (lit. tomorrow + when + to arrive + you + [future perfect] + to cut + [predicate marker] + he + the coconut tree)
overall, ’ua expresses a finished action (or one viewed as completed), resulting in a new state. ’ua doesn't strictly equal past tense: it's about completion/result, not time itself. the time comes from the context, not the particle.
2. tē (...) nei
tē (...) nei is the verbal particle marking the present progressive aspect. it is used to describe an action or event that is not yet completed. the progressive expresses actions in progress (i.e something happening right now). tē (...) nei can also describe habitual actions that the speaker is familiar with.
progressive: tē haere nei au i te fare. → i am on my way home. (lit. [progressive] + to go + i + to + the + house)
progressive: tē tanu nei au i te taro → i am planting the taro. (lit. [progressive] + to plant + i + [dir. obj. marker] + the taro)
habitual aspect: tē ua nei i tahiti → it (usually) rains in tahiti. (lit. [habitual aspect] + to rain + in + tahiti)
3. e
just like ’ua, e can be used in various situations:
continuous aspect: it expresses an ongoing state, often with a more general or characteristic meaning. for example: e tāere ana ’ōna. → he is always late. (lit. [continuous] + always + to be late + he)
imperfective aspect: e reva te pahī. → the boat is about to leave. (lit. [imperfective] + to leave + the boat)
future: e haere mātou i te tiurai. → we will go to the july (festival). (lit. [future] + to go + we + to the + july)
present (general truth): e ’amu te ’ōtu’u i te i’a → herons eat fish. (lit. [present] + to eat + the heron + the fish)
basically, e expresses the unfinished or non-completed aspect, unlike tē (...) nei, which focuses on actions in progress. the particle e is very broad and to be honest its exact meaning depends heavily on context.
4. i (...) nei
i (...) nei indicates a completed action or a past state.
i haere mai nei tō ’oe hoa. → your friend came here (but they're not here anymore).
here again, the meaning is contextual and not built into the particle itself. i (...) nei is a sort of recent past with current relevance or framing. sorta. kinda.
5. i (...) iho nei
i (...) iho nei indicates an action completed in the immediate past.
i tae mai iho nei ’ōna. → he just arrived. (lit. [immediate past] + to arrive + he)
i ’amu iho nei au. → i just ate. (lit. [immediate past] + to eat + i)
i haere iho nei te ’orometua i tahatai. → the professor just walked past along the seashore (meaning, not too long ago).
6. ’ia
the particle ’ia corresponds to the subjunctive mood. it expresses a wish, desire, hope, assumption, or condition.
’ia maita’i te tere! → have a good trip! (lit. [wish] + good + the trip)
’ia tae mai te mahana... → if only the sun would come out... (lit. [desire] + to arrive + the sun)
7. ’a
’a indicates a command or obligation (imperative mood).
’a ’amu i te vī! → eat the mango!
’a māmū! → shut up!
however, when a subject is explicitly included, ’a can indicate possibility/likelihood or uncertainty.
’a ’amu te mau tamari’i i te vī. → the children might eat the mangoes; there is a chance that the children will eat the mangoes. (lit. [to have a chance that] + to eat + the (plural) + child + the mango)
’a māu’a tō ’oe taime. → you might be wasting your time; there's a chance that you will be wasting your time.
8. ’eiaha
’eiaha marks the negative imperative.
’eiaha e parau! → don't speak! (lit. [negative imperative] + to speak)
’eiaha ’oe e haere i teienei! → don't leave now!
9. ’oi
’oi refers to an action that almost happened but ultimately did not occur.
’oi reva te pahī. → the boat almost left.
10. ’āhiri
’āhiri introduces an unreal or hypothetical condition.
’āhiri te pahī i ta’ahuri, ’ua pohe pau roa īa tātou. → if the boat had capsized, we would all be dead.
and that's all for today! here is a quick summary table i made of some of the particles that were covered today.
one thing to remember: tahitian particles (and i'm sure it can apply to other polynesian languages too) mark aspect first, and tense only indirectly. they mainly express aspect (how an action unfolds), while tense (when it happens) is usually understood from context. really, it's all about things that are done, ongoing or undone and not so much about when they were done.
in reo tahiti, the language spoken in tahiti, there are several distinct words for water and one of them is pape. pape has many meanings. on its own, it can translate to freshwater, river, lake, ‘diluted with water,’ or even juice, juicy. here is a short, non-exhaustive list of examples to illustrate the range of words that can be formed using pape:
pape hōpuna — waterhole; pond, puddle
pape mā’ohi — natural water, as opposed to coconut water. mā’ohi refers to things or people that are indigenous to the land
pape inu — drinking water
pape ’ino — wastewater
pape mā’aro — freshwater
pape mata — tear. here, mata means eyes
pape piha’a — bubbling water; spring
pape pīha’aha’a — sparkling water
pape puna — spring water
pape mato — waterfall; water of volcanic or magmatic origin; rock water: clear, pure water that has crystallized and is trapped within the pores or cavities of certain rocks. mato is a cliff
pape pu'e — river flood, river overflow. pu’e means to be piled up, to be in a heap. here, pape is used alone to mean river. te pape fautau’a is the fautau’a river
pape reru — muddy water. as an adjective, reru (muddy) is used to describe river or sea water after heavy rain. for general mud without the implication of water, the word vari is used. reru is also used to describe murky water colored by clay-rich mud
pape roto — a lake, a large natural body of freshwater; lacustrine. sometimes, pape is enough to mean lake. te pape vahiria translates to the lake vahiria
pape tahe — running water distributed through pipes
pape taitai — brackish water
pape ha'ari — coconut water; drinkable coconut
pape to’eto’e — ice; cold water
pape tāporo — lemon juice
pape monamona — soft drink. monamona means sweet
pape tihopu — broth. tihopu means soup
pape toto — plasma. toto means blood
pape ū — whey, milk serum. ū means milk. pape ū fa’ahōpuehia is kefir
pape tī — decoction
last one: pape’ete, capital city of french polynesia, located on the island of tahiti. the name pape’ete means water from a basket (’ete meaning basket). this name is the result of a naming taboo during the reign of king pōmare the first, when the tahitian contemporary word for water, vai, was substituted with pape. the older name of pape’ete is therefore vai’ete.
indeed, pape functions as an euphemistic replacement: a term that replaces another word to avoid certain connotations. as mentioned above, pape replaced vai. because vai apeared in the names of certain royalty (for example, the king's full name in old orthography is tu nui ea i te atua i tarahoi vaira’atoa taina pōmare), it became taboo. that way, certain words have over time become forbidden.
in tahitian, such taboos are known as pi’i. pi’i is an ancient custom that prohibited the use of a syllable or word that had become sacred because it was part of a king's or chief's name. the word that had become taboo was then considered sacred and could no longer be used; it therefore had to be replaced. these replacements are sometimes subtle (e.g., varu becoming va'u to mean eight) or very different (e.g., vai becoming pape to mean water). when a word became taboo, speakers sometimes had to reshape or replace multiple related words, which could significantly alter the lexicon over time. today, many words that were once taboo are being used again in everyday language. and by the way, pi’i isn't unique to tahiti—it appears in some other polynesian societies too, often called avoidance speech.
because of the pi’i, unlike many basic vocabulary items, pape cannot be reliably reconstructed back to proto-polynesian. vai, on the other hand, has a well-established etymology: from proto-eastern polynesian *wai, from proto-nuclear polynesian *wai, from proto-polynesian *wai, from proto-oceanic *waiʀ, from proto-eastern malayo-polynesian *waiʀ, from proto-central-eastern malayo-polynesian *waiʀ, from proto-malayo-polynesian *wahiʀ,... in other words, vai has a clear historical lineage, whereas pape is more recent and etymologically opaque.
and, of course, cognates of vai are found across polynesian languages: te reo māori wai, ’ōlelo hawa’i (hawaiian) wai, gagana sāmoa (samoan) vai—all meaning water.
in tahiti, many place names include pape, such as papeno’o which can be translated as “the converging waters"; pape’uriri, or vai’uriri, the former names of mataiea, with ’uriri meaning plover, aka a bird that lives along riverbanks that is said to be the embodiment of the water gods; pape’ari, formerly known as vai’ari; papetō’ai; and, of course, pape’ete. place names often preserve older linguistic layers, which is why forms with vai can still be found alongside pape.
while looking into these toponyms, i came across something interesting. there's this small tree or shrub of the anacardiaceae family that grows on mountainsides; it's called rhus taitensis. its tahitian name is ’āpape, but it is also called ’āvai. if you remove the first letter, you get our pre-taboo and post-taboo words for water. since ’āvai refers to a tree, the connection is probably coincidental, or the form may have been reshaped to fit tahitian phonology after vai became restricted rather than consciously encoding the water term, but it's still a fun detail to notice. nothing and no one—not even the trees—is safe from the water taboo!
i'm getting a bit off track, but i'm not really sure where i'm going with this post anyway.
i'd love to learn more about tahitian linguistics, but it's pretty hard to find reliable sources for information online or even at my local library...
’ia ora na! today i'm learning all about days, months, time and stuff like that:
te mau mahana o te hepetoma → the days of the week
te mau: the (plural); mahana: day; o: of; te: the (singular); hepetoma: week
monirē, mōnirē (borrowed from english monday) — monday
mahana piti (lit. day two) — tuesday
mahana toru — wednesday
mahana maha — thursday
mahana pae; faraire, farairē (borrowed from english friday) — friday
mahana mā’a — saturday. from mā’a, food; since saturday is the day when people prepare food for sunday
tāpati, tōminita — sunday. tāpati (biblical) was borrowed from hebrew shabbat שבת, meaning shabbat, sabbath; and tōminita was borrowed from latin dominica, sunday. this word is mostly used in the catholic church
te mau ’āva’e o te matahiti → the months of the year
’āva’e: moon, month; matahiti: year
all of these words are borrowed from their english equivalents!
tēnuare — january
fepuare — february
māti — march
’ēperēra — april
mē — may
tiunu — june
tiurai — july
’ātete — august
tetepa — september
’ātopa — october
novema, noema — november
tītema — december
how to write the date in tahitian:
day of the week + number + nō (possession marker) + month + i te matahiti + year
sunday, april 19, 2026 → tāpati 19 (’ahuru ma iva) nō ’ēperēra i te matahiti 2026 (piti tauatini e piti ’ahuru ma ono)
now what about time?
in reo tahiti, hour is hora, from latin hōra. time is tau or taime, from english time.
some time-related vocabulary:
’ā’ahiata — dawn
po’ipo’i — morning
’avatea — afternoon, midday, the middle of the day (up to 3 p.m)
ahiahi — late afternoon, evening (between 4 p.m. and nightfall)
pō — night
you can use that vocabulary to be more specific about the time of the day. for example:
hora piti i te ’ā’ahiata → 2:00 a.m. (two in the morning)
hora toru i te avatea → 3:00 p.m. (three in the afternoon)
hora pae i te ahiahi → 5:00 p.m. (five in the evening)
although if the context is clear enough, there’s no need to specify the time of day. if someone asks you what time it is in the middle of the night and you say 11 o'clock, no one will think it's 11 in the morning (hopefully)!
what time is it? → e aha te hora?
it’s nine o’clock → hora iva
in reo tahiti, questions are formed either by a rising intonation at the end of the sentence or by the use of an interrogative word. here, we use e aha, which means what, what is, what are, which is, which are, why, etc.
to be more precise, temporal expressions can be added. these words are preceded by prepositions, notably a and i. a- refers to the future, and i- to the past.
yesterday — inanahi
tomorrow — ananahi
the day before yesterday — inanahi atu
the day after tomorrow — ananahi atu
last night — inapō
tomorrow night — anapō (fun fact: before, that word meant last night; now it means tomorrow night!)
a little while ago — ina’uanei
soon — ana’uanei
now — i teie nei
in the future — a muri nei
far in the future — a muri atu
anyways, that's all for today. generally speaking, i don't like learning the time, the date, and all that stuff. it takes a long time and is a pain to learn a new system where the words don't always go in the same place from one language to another, but hey, you have to learn it all. still, my brain is tired.
the tahitian language can sometimes be very specific. today, i stumbled upon the different words for the various stages of coconut ripeness. at any stage, coconuts are called ha’ari, but you can always be more specific:
’ōtiu — a very young coconut that is still no larger than a rifle bullet
’ātiu — a young coconut between the flowering stage and the stage when the fruit is called a pōniu
pōniu — a young coconut that has just begun to form and does not yet contain any water
pōtiu — a small, barely formed coconut
‘ōuo — a coconut whose kernel has not yet fully formed. it contains very low-sugar juice, and the fruit is reduced to a thin membrane
niā — a coconut whose kernel is still very soft. its juice is sweet, and the kernel is tender and has a pleasant taste
‘ōmoto — a coconut whose kernel is firm but not hard. the pulp thickens, the water becomes bland, and the amount decreases
‘ōpa'a — a dry coconut whose kernel is hard and thick. as the coconut's fruit turns the color of fallen leaves and falls to the ground, the kernel reaches its maximum thickness. this coconut has reached full maturity; the fruit detaches and falls to the ground
moro’ati — a coconut that, when ripe, contains no water; the kernel is dry, separated from the shell, and naturally reduced to copra; such coconuts cannot germinate
uto — a coconut that begins to sprout. also refers to the spongy, oily substance that gradually replaces the water as the sprout develops!
māti’a, māti’e — an old coconut that has begun to sprout
fīrau — a coconut sprout that has reached the uto stage
tiu — a coconut sprout that has just begun to emerge
hīrau — sprouted coconut shoot
and then it all begins again. i wonder if these words will ever be of use to anyone...
’aiū — infant, baby, newborn. ’aiū is from ’ai, to eat and ū, milk :)
tamāhine — daughter, girl, young woman, niece
tamaiti — son, boy, young man, nephew
taea’e — a man's brother or cousin; a woman's sister or cousin
teina — a man's younger brother or cousin, a woman's younger sister or cousin; junior, referring to a younger sibling to distinguish them from an older one
tua’ana — a man's older brother or cousin, a woman's older sister or cousin
tuahine — a man's sister or cousin
tua’ane/tū’ane — a woman's brother or cousin
māmā rū’au — grandmother (lit. mother old)
pāpā rū’au — grandfather
pātea/pātea’ino — aunt
pā’ino/pā'iti — uncle
fun fact: most words for mother and aunt or father and uncle can be exchanged. for example, māmā can be your aunt and metua tāne can be your uncle. actually, pāpā is a colloquial term used to refer to any middle-aged person
