Commercial Māori language projects hold our people to ransom for what is our birth right – our language.
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A Māori Dictionary that consists of headwords from published Māori dictionaries , databases, glossaries and Iwi dictionaries. It is estimated there will be over 150,000 unique headwords with each headword consisting of up to 20 different English definitions sourced from over 270 different published and unpublished publications.
The Papakupu consists of 5 times more headwords than the largest Māori dictionary available to date and more than 8 times more than other mainstream Māori dictionaries.
This is the platform Māori dictionary that will supersede all other electronic and paper Māori dictionaries.
Initially the Papakupu (Māori Dictionary) will be searchable and online with a Māori to English and English to Māori Dictionary for browsing. It is envisaged that it will be made available as a paper based publication in the future and be available as Māori to English and English to Māori Dictionary.
As opposed to concentrating on one specific genre, the Papakupu (Māori Dictionary) has all Māori words including Loan Words, Contemporary, Traditional, specialist vocabulary and a Māori TXT abbreviations Māori Dictionary.
There are currently several Iwi dictionaries that will also be separated from the main corpus.
Each definition and headword is associated with a genre or multiple genre as appropriate to allow for easier word association and quick compilation of specialist dictionaries for those who require it. Some of the genre include ICT, place names, science, Marine, Insects, Food , implements and War.
Experts for each genre will be sought to provide more detailed information and to act as Kaitiaki for the genre. An example is the Plants genre will have a Botanist ensuring the information is up to date and relevant. War terms will utilise the services of a returned serviceman or a current soldier as well as an expert in traditional Māori warfare.
Each headword/definition and example sentences are attributed to the referenced source. If a word appears in several publications then all sources are referenced.
Extra options are available to view a video and images of the headword. In the future an audio feature will also be made available.
Using Social Media and the Internet, anyone will have the opportunity to submit their own images, audio and video that can be associated with the Papakupu (Māori Dictionary) headwords.
More importantly this project is open, therefore any suggestions and feedback is also encouraged and available through multiple avenues including Social Media, email, snail mail and phone.
Many organsitions have to create their own specialist glossaries for their own use. A facility will be available for these organisations to submit their glossaries, with further avenues currently being explored with how to approach these organisations for co operation to share their work.
Background thinking
Personally, I have never understood why we need to have multiple paper Māori dictionaries, sometimes coupled with electronic dictionaries (some of which are pay per search) to adequately study te reo Māori. A student can spend hundreds of dollars and have a small library of Māori dictionaries to learn to speak Māori. A student of English and many other spoken languages only require one Dictionary.
Nor have I understood why all the new terminology (kupu hou) that is created by authoritative entities, appear to end up exclusively in the hands of commercial publishers and in copyright or protected by gate keepers so that the general public have no idea of the existence of the kupu hou until a new and expensive specialised Māori dictionary is published or an expensive subscription to a database is required.
Using my experience and ideas from compiling and developing Te Reo Tupu (1997-1999) and the initial management of the Pataka Kupu (2000-2001) i am now creating what i believe to be the most comprehensive and needed te reo Māori resource possible.
Principal aims:
- To create a single repository Māori Dictionary, that includes all accessible Kupu and definitions. Containing both traditional, Loan words, and contemporary words thus allowing greater opportunity for a student to learn new terminology and to put te reo Māori on a level playing field with other language dictionaries.
- Remove all commercial barriers that currently halt the development and use of te reo Māori by having no restrictions on use and accessibility.
- To provide a resource that is geographically accessible with appropriate security to allow for editing and updating of the major corpus by appropriate experts.
- To provide a resource that is “a living dictionary” using “everyday technology” that allows access anywhere on almost any technical device.