Kia ora
External audio | |
---|---|
Pronunciation at Kōrero Māori, the Māori Language Commission website |
Kia ora (Māori pronunciation: [kiˈaɔɾa], approximated in English as /ˌkiːə ˈɔːrə/ KEE-ə-OR-ə[1] or /ˈkjɔːrə/ KYOR-ə) is a Māori-language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It translates literally as "have life" or "be healthy",[2] wishing the essence of life upon someone, from one speaker to the other.[3] It is used as an informal greeting or farewell equivalent to "hi", "hello", or "goodbye" and can be used as an expression of thanks similar to "cheers". As a greeting of local origin, it is comparable to the term "g'day" (used in Australian and New Zealand English).[4]
Meaning
Kia ora can be used to wish somebody life and health
Kia ora can follow a similar pattern to address different specific numbers of people. By itself, it can be used to address any number of people, but by adding koe (i.e., kia ora koe); kōrua; and koutou one can specify a greeting to, respectively, a single; two; or three or more people.[7] Similarly, by following with tātou, one addresses all the people present, including the speaker themselves.[8]
Commercial use
New Zealand's national airline, Air New Zealand, uses Kia Ora as the name for its inflight magazine.[9][2] Water Safety New Zealand, a water-safety advocacy organisation, has a specific Māori water safety programme, Kia Maanu Kia Ora, which makes use of the literal meaning of kia ora, as their message translates as stay afloat; stay alive.[10]
Controversy
In 1984, an Auckland telephone operator, Naida Glavish,[11] was instructed to stop using kia ora when greeting callers after the post office had received a complaint. She refused to do so and was consequently demoted, with the whole affair attracting much public interest. She was later given back her original job.[12] The Postmaster-General, Rob Talbot, convinced the then Prime Minister Robert Muldoon to overturn the prohibition on kia ora.[13]
In other languages
Kia ora has a similar meaning to the word kia orana, found in many related Polynesian languages such as Cook Islands Māori.[14]
See also
- Aloha
- Talofa
- Māori influence on New Zealand English
- List of English words of Māori origin
- The dictionary definition of g'day at Wiktionary
References
- ^ "Kia ora". Dictionary.com Unabridged (Online). n.d.
- ^ Stuff.co.nz. Retrieved 20 November 2019.
- ^ "The meaning of kia ora". www.newzealand.com. Tourism New Zealand. Retrieved 20 August 2021.
- ^ a b "100 Maori words every New Zealander should know". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "Kia ora!". Te Puia. Retrieved 21 November 2019.
- ^ "Ngā Mihi – Greetings". Kōrero Māori. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "Ngā Mihi – Greetings". Kōrero Māori. Archived from the original on 21 October 2011. Retrieved 7 November 2012.
- ^ "100 Māori words every New Zealander should know". Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Retrieved 27 May 2018.
- ^ "KiaOra Air New Zealand inflight magazine". Bauer Media Group. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
- ^ "Maori". Water Safety New Zealand. Retrieved 3 December 2013.
- ^ "Naida Glavish – she wouldn't comply". E-Tangata – A Māori and Pasifika Sunday magazine. 6 September 2015. Retrieved 19 November 2017.
- ^ Curtis, Makyla (2016). "The Poetics of Bilanguaging: an Unfurling Literacy Ngā Toikupu o Ngā Reo Taharua: e Tākiri ana te Aroā Pānui" (PDF). Ka Mate Ka Ora: A New Zealand Journal of Poetry and Poetics. 14 (1).
- ^ Crean, Mike (22 December 2012). "Rob Talbot dies, top advocate for Sth Canty". The Timaru Herald. Retrieved 15 March 2015.
- ^ "Rarotonga". The Cook Islands website. Archived from the original on 9 August 2011. Retrieved 3 December 2013.