#tahitian

[folkfashion]

Tahitian women, French Polynesia, by Tahiti Tourisme

[reomiti]

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)

’ata (to laugh) → ’ata’ata (to laugh often, laugh with others, laugh together)

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!

nānā :)

[global-musings]

Tahiti

[deathsmallcaps]

I was curious so I checked - Disney+’s Moana (2016) version does NOT have any of the Pacific Islander options for the audio or subtitles. That feels unfair. That means one can only watch it in Te Reo Māori, Hawaiian, or Tahitian if one bought the dvd. I feel like that is kind of predatory and uninclusive. If the stock runs out, what are people who want to watch Moana in those languages supposed to do? And what if they’re already paying for Disney+? That seems unfair. Additionally, Frozen II has a Sámi dub, The Lion King has a Swahili dub and apparently Bambi has an Arapaho dub (random???* Would love to know more. This clip is adorable). None of which are available on Disney+.

I will acknowledge that my family subscribes in the USA, and that this might be different in different areas. But also, Moana got dubbed in Hawaiian (by the original English language actress, Auli’i Cravalho!) and Hawaii is in the USA … so where the hell is it???

*okay looks like it was an Arapaho-led effort meant to help raise money and encourage young learners, due to the short and simple dialogue. Not like when Disney just decided to assign Swahili as the Lion King’s language because both are African ig

Walt Disney’s Bambi – The Arapaho Language Version

Videotape produced by Walt Disney Corporation and Wyoming Indian Schools (1994) Distributed by Wyoming Council for the Humanities, 1315 E. L

[forever70s]

Edna Tepava (pageant winner of the titles Miss Tahiti 1973 and Miss France 1974)

[wahinehihinahele]

[landscapeandmarine]

A View of Matavai Bay in the Island of Otaheite (Tahiti)

Artist: William Hodges (English, 1744-1797)

Date: 1776

Medium: Oil on canvas

Collection: Yale Center for British Art, New Haven, CT, United States

[balthazarslostlibrary]