About the Ngata Dictionary

The H. M. Ngata English-Māori Dictionary is the first dictionary to offer an extensive selection of English to Māori headwords, illustrating their use in sentences and phrases drawn from a wide range of contemporary and traditional contexts.

An important aim of the dictionary is to assist learners of the Māori language, particularly students in the classroom, but it will be equally valuable for those already familiar with the Māori language. It is a concise English-Māori dictionary, which is explicitly, but not exclusively, based on Ngāti Porou and East Coast dialect and idiom. The English-Māori Dictionary complements the use of other dictionaries of Māori and English and glossaries produced by other agencies such as Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (the Māori Language Commission).

Sources

Hori Ngata developed his original selection of words as a teaching tool, based on a body of Māori traditional material and Māori Land Court documents being used in university study. This original work has been treated with the utmost respect, and forms the core of the dictionary. The criteria which Hori Ngata used for the format and overall concept of the work invest the dictionary with its particular character. The choice of English words and sentences was made in response to Māori idioms and usage.

Hori Ngata and the Komiti Arohi agreed that the original word list be expanded by a selection from the 1000-word lists published by the English Language Institute of Victoria University. These are graded lists, developed for the teaching of English as a second language, of words in fairly common use over a wide range of material, particularly material that might be met in a New Zealand classroom from forms 1-7, and in the early years of tertiary study. Hori Ngata had also consulted on A Dictionary of the Māori Language of Rarotonga, by S. Savage.

The komiti consulted other contemporary dictionaries and references as needed. These included A Dictionary of the Māori Language, H. W. Williams; The Complete English-Māori Dictionary, B. Biggs; The Revised Dictionary of Modern Māori, P. M. Ryan; the Oxford Māori Picture Dictionary, P. Cleave, K. Mataira, R. Pere, and E. C. Parnwell; Te Matatiki: Ngā Kupu Hou a Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori; Tatou Kohatu Ahu Kuku, Ahu Rangi; Māori Concepts of Space, Time, and Number, edited by Pake Taiaroa Knight Maloney and Peter Cleave; the Heinemann New Zealand Dictionary, edited by H. W. Orsman; and The Concise Oxford Dictionary.

Conventions

The format of the dictionary is simple, with very little explanatory matter, and few abbreviations, symbols, grammatical terms, or other comment.

Following the convention chosen by Hori Ngata, macrons are used to indicate long vowels, with no macrons on certain commonly used words and articles. Ngāti Porou dialect is observed throughout in the spelling of words such as ratau and matau, kai rather than kei, and hai rather than hei.

Names of most animals and plants, place-names, and other terms which do not need a sentence to illustrate usage, appear with the equivalent Māori names only.

Headwords

The intention of the dictionary is to increase the knowledge and use of Māori and, for that reason, Māori usage has influenced the selection of English headwords. These are arranged in strict alphabetical order, for example, go, go about, goad, go after. Where Māori words have been derived from other languages, this is indicated by abbreviations such as Eng, except where the headword is a compound derived from both Māori and English with the Māori element preceding the English, for example, kaipeita.

Within an entry, the English forms are arranged in the order of noun, verb, adjective, and adverb, though these parts of speech do not necessarily correspond with the equivalents given in the Māori. Where the same word has more than one meaning, for example, can, sentences clarifying the different meanings are listed under a single entry. Often, several Māori words are given as equivalents for a single English headword. These may propose slight variations in sense or usage. In cases where the English headword has different pronunciations and meanings, for example, minute, headwords are entered separately.

Rules of English and Māori grammar differ. The passive form of the verb in Māori, for instance, is sometimes used for the active form in English. Passive endings are given for verbs commonly used in this fashion. However, where a passive form would be inappropriate to convey an English word, or a verb is used to perform a noun function, the passive ending is usually not supplied. Various derivatives in Māori can be constructed by the use of affixes, for example, by the addition of the prefixes kai- or whaka-, or of the suffix -anga, to expand their functions. Selection has been guided by the principle that, using this concise dictionary, and with a reasonable knowledge of Māori grammar, students can readily compose such derivatives themselves.

Sentences

Hori Ngata followed the principle that, in this dictionary, the expression of Māori should take precedence. Sentences have been formulated bilingually to illustrate typical Māori usage, not merely to amplify the meanings of the English headwords. Hori Ngata composed English sentences primarily to illustrate and evoke the rhythms and speech patterns of the Māori equivalents. He believed that classical Māori should be included in the dictionary and that good colloquial usage should also be demonstrated. Thus, while some English sentences have been drawn from translated Māori sources, and others from publications related to areas in which Hori Ngata had interest and expertise, the majority were composed for the purpose of this dictionary. The preferences and emphases established by Hori Ngata have been maintained by his son, Whai Ngata.

Appendices

Several appendices have been provided as a convenient reference for users of the dictionary. These appendices include information on the selection of a and o possessive markers; a list of kinship terms; lists of common local species of flora and fauna; the Māori names of larger New Zealand towns; the names of the main islands of New Zealand; points of the compass; and numbers.

Conclusion

The achievement of the H.M. Ngata English-Māori Dictionary is to demonstrate and to reinforce the ability of te reo Māori to express as wide a range of contemporary usage and ideas as its partner, English. It is neither a defining dictionary, nor a mere English-Māori word-finding list. It shows the Māori language in operation. It explains and exemplifies usage as well as meaning and fulfills the original vision of its creator in providing a clear, simple, and powerful guide for a bilingual Aotearoa.

Haere mai e te taonga, e te mapihi pounamu.
Takahia ngā huarahi, horahia te māramatanga
ki roto ki ngā hinengaro maha o te ao.
(Ta Āpirana Ngata)

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