The case of a change in meaning and its impact

Abstract

ABSTRACT Like everything else, language does not remain static; it changes over time to reflect the current environments (Rewi 2012. An active and functional language. In: D. Keenan, editor. Huia histories of Māori: Ngā Tāhuhu Kōrero. Wellington: Huia Publishers; p. 73–92). The Māori language is no exception (Professor Poia Rewi, Dean of Te Tumu, School of Māori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, University of Otago, provided advice during the writing of this article. He is now Tumu Whakarae (Chief Executive) of the organisation Te Mātāwai – Te Reo Māori). New words have been added, word meanings have been added to, for example, whānau is now inclusive of friends, work colleagues and networks and not just kin as was previously used. Here, we address the changing nature of words in the Māori language with special reference to the word ‘Kaumātua’ as it is applied in a research project, Kaumātua Futures and the language generally. We begin by considering language change generally, then look at the Māori language of the early 1900s by searching the database Niupepa online to see how the term Kaumātua was applied. We then focus on the word Kaumātua and how its meaning has evolved by searching literature referencing both language and word meaning changes in general and those which provide a meaning for the word Kaumātua and discuss the role and function of those who are identified as Kaumātua (The word Kaumātua has been capitalised for the purposes of this article only, otherwise capitalisation is not normal usage.).