Ngā Kupu Arotau - eweri tāima Loanwords in Māori 1842-1952

Abstract

A loanword is a word adopted from a foreign language. When two groups of people of different cultures and speaking different languages are in contact for a significant period of time, it is inevitable that bilingualism will occur. As one group becomes bilingual, large - scale borrowing of vocabulary from the second language takes place. As a result of this process, modern spoken and written Māori has a significant number of words that have been adopted from non - Polynesian sources, and these have almost always been changed to suit the phonology and orthography of Māori.