Seems like bureaucrat nonsense made Maori speakers upset but nobody really has any intentions on removing the Māori language.
Livid_Theory5379 on
Extremely disingenuous headline.
This is about the previous government changing the names of government agencies to Māori language which has left a lot of people confused as less than 10% of the population is fluent in Te Reo. The new government has reverted some of the changes but otherwise everything is still the same.
This is especially confusing as quite a bit of Māori language doesn’t directly translate. i.e. Nz Transport agency being called Waka Kotahi, which translates to ‘travelling together as one’.
It’s still taught in schools, it’s still used in media, it’s still used by politicians across the entire political spectrum, it’s still being used on bilingual signs, still promoted throughout the country etc. It’s never been more popular. Reverting a few government agency names isn’t putting the language at risk.
I’m extremely happy Māori language is being promoted in the country, it’s a bloody awesome thing and a beautiful part of our cultural heritage but it is a process, you can’t change too much too quickly or people will disengage with it.
Redback_Gaming on
Fuck Racists! Why do stupid people listen to these idiots and keep voting for them! Stop voting far right! It’s just shooting yourself in the foot!
Maybestof on
New Zealand should really adopt the Maori flag, it’s so much better than the current one.
PoopMousePoopMan on
I think it is sad when bits of culture just disappear due to global homogenisation. Similar to how species die off all the time. But we need to be honest about the fact that, unless u have a direct tie to the culture, it’s hard to justify eg, putting lots of public funds towards keeping it alive. For example with language, I would not encourage my kids to learn Māori over Mandarin or Spanish because I would want to maximise opportunities. Chinese is actually a good example for NZ, as in Auckland for example we have a huge Chinese population.
cehsavage on
The names of government agencies must at least be bilingual so the uninformed can understand who they’re dealing with just by hearing the name, how on earth will the language survive now?
dfci on
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really get the push to “revive” languages. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for preserving language, and I absolutely support anyone who wants to learn or study less common languages; but given that the primary purpose of a language is communication, I think the natural evolution in a more and more interconnected world is the eventual reduction of functional languages.
Again, that isn’t to say we shouldn’t meticulously document those languages, because from a historical and cultural perspective they are important, but the languages that are falling out of use are doing so for a reason. People want to use language to communicate with others, and outside of linguist, anthropologist, and people with a cultural tie to those languages, most people are interested in learning and using languages that are going to expand the people they’re able to communicate with.
I’ve done a lot of traveling and every time I go some place where I don’t speak the language I always think about how great it would be if we all just spoke the same language. How much more could I learn about the people I meet, and them about me? For most people language is utilitarian, and living in a world with ~7,000 spoken languages just seems incredibly inefficient.
Languages definitely shouldn’t be forgotten, but I’d argue if they need active campaigns to promote them, they’re probably not really serving the intended purpose of language particularly well.
12 Comments
[removed]
Damn, the maori flag is really cool looking.
NACT1st: *awwww yiss!*
This is what happens when you put a bunch of rightwingers in the beehive.
Very cool metal band, Alien Weaponry, is trying to do their part and has songs in Māori. Highly recommend 😊
[Doc from 5 years ago to get a look at them](https://youtu.be/HvbUSSoKCHA?si=NBJNRkJPEAS21gK5)
EDIT: [A more recent interview going into terminology & how they feel it relates to their music](https://youtu.be/Ds46uWSbl74?si=d1y7TEt5oSlxSIpY)
Seems like bureaucrat nonsense made Maori speakers upset but nobody really has any intentions on removing the Māori language.
Extremely disingenuous headline.
This is about the previous government changing the names of government agencies to Māori language which has left a lot of people confused as less than 10% of the population is fluent in Te Reo. The new government has reverted some of the changes but otherwise everything is still the same.
This is especially confusing as quite a bit of Māori language doesn’t directly translate. i.e. Nz Transport agency being called Waka Kotahi, which translates to ‘travelling together as one’.
It’s still taught in schools, it’s still used in media, it’s still used by politicians across the entire political spectrum, it’s still being used on bilingual signs, still promoted throughout the country etc. It’s never been more popular. Reverting a few government agency names isn’t putting the language at risk.
I’m extremely happy Māori language is being promoted in the country, it’s a bloody awesome thing and a beautiful part of our cultural heritage but it is a process, you can’t change too much too quickly or people will disengage with it.
Fuck Racists! Why do stupid people listen to these idiots and keep voting for them! Stop voting far right! It’s just shooting yourself in the foot!
New Zealand should really adopt the Maori flag, it’s so much better than the current one.
I think it is sad when bits of culture just disappear due to global homogenisation. Similar to how species die off all the time. But we need to be honest about the fact that, unless u have a direct tie to the culture, it’s hard to justify eg, putting lots of public funds towards keeping it alive. For example with language, I would not encourage my kids to learn Māori over Mandarin or Spanish because I would want to maximise opportunities. Chinese is actually a good example for NZ, as in Auckland for example we have a huge Chinese population.
The names of government agencies must at least be bilingual so the uninformed can understand who they’re dealing with just by hearing the name, how on earth will the language survive now?
Probably an unpopular opinion, but I don’t really get the push to “revive” languages. Don’t get me wrong, I’m all for preserving language, and I absolutely support anyone who wants to learn or study less common languages; but given that the primary purpose of a language is communication, I think the natural evolution in a more and more interconnected world is the eventual reduction of functional languages.
Again, that isn’t to say we shouldn’t meticulously document those languages, because from a historical and cultural perspective they are important, but the languages that are falling out of use are doing so for a reason. People want to use language to communicate with others, and outside of linguist, anthropologist, and people with a cultural tie to those languages, most people are interested in learning and using languages that are going to expand the people they’re able to communicate with.
I’ve done a lot of traveling and every time I go some place where I don’t speak the language I always think about how great it would be if we all just spoke the same language. How much more could I learn about the people I meet, and them about me? For most people language is utilitarian, and living in a world with ~7,000 spoken languages just seems incredibly inefficient.
Languages definitely shouldn’t be forgotten, but I’d argue if they need active campaigns to promote them, they’re probably not really serving the intended purpose of language particularly well.