Etymology
According to Williams' definitive Dictionary of the Māori Language, tangata means "man" or "human being", whilst tāngata (with the long ā) is the plural meaning "people"; tangata (without the macron) can also mean "people" in reference to a group with a singular identity. Whenua means both "land" and "placenta" (again referencing Williams, who lists five definitions). Unlike European thought where people own land, in Māori the land is regarded as a mother to the people. The relationship to land is not dissimilar to that of the foetus to the placenta. In addition, there are certain Māori rituals involving burying the afterbirth of a newborn in ancestral land, which may further shed light on the use of the word whenua for both land and placenta.
Read more about this topic: Tangata Whenua
Famous quotes containing the word etymology:
“Semantically, taste is rich and confusing, its etymology as odd and interesting as that of “style.” But while style—deriving from the stylus or pointed rod which Roman scribes used to make marks on wax tablets—suggests activity, taste is more passive.... Etymologically, the word we use derives from the Old French, meaning touch or feel, a sense that is preserved in the current Italian word for a keyboard, tastiera.”
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—Giambattista Vico (1688–1744)