#tahitian

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!

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.

rose → rōti

sunflower → tiare mahana

lotus → riri vai tūti’a

jasmin → pītate

tulip → tūripa

poppy → tiare ’ura

daisy → tēiti

flower → tiare

oh, what beautiful flowers! → ’auē, e nehenehe teie mau tiare!

these ones are wilted. → ’ua maemae teie pu’era’a* tiare.

*a word commonly used in everyday language to indicate plural

they smell so good! → e mea no’ano’a teie mau tiare!

they smell really good! → e mea no’ano’a mau teie mau tiere!

where are they from? → nō hea teie mau tiare?

from the house? → nō te fare?

from the garden? → nō te ’āua?

did you buy them? → ’ua ho’ohia mai e ’oe?

i'm going to put these flowers in a vase. → e tu’u vau i teie mau tiare i roto i te fāri’i tiare.

i found these sentences in a children's book online. it's cute!

until next time,

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:

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.

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...

anyways, until next time,

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