BioLists.com

Link 4:   Te Reo Maori Names, etc

 - - - and see "NOTES (*n)" in this series of Links.

- - - and see "NOTES" - (*n)": in this series of Links.

 Also, search for more Maori Language names in the database - especially for Plants and Birds.

This file, cut down from a BioList, shows a small range of biodiversity names in te Reo Maori, and English language equivalents.  As the BioList database expands, the Maori Language has a lot to offer as a guide for recording and creating names in other languages. Many of its species names are in the form of a single word, and these are often short - Rimu, Miro, Toro, Tutu, Rata, Karo, Kea, Tui, etc. Single-word species names, especially short ones, are rare in some Languages. Maori pronunciation is also ideal, being similar to the standard "scientific" pronunciation. How do you pronounce "Oreganum" -  O-re-ga-num, rather than O-rig-a-num? Science and te Reo Maori keep the sounds separate, typically one syllable for each vowel with no slurring; . "Kahikatea" (2660) has five syllables to be sounded separately (Ka-hi-ka-te-a); easy. With repetition, names in te Reo Maori quickly become memorable. Try this on Chionochloa [Chi-o-no-chlo-a] and Hunangamoho [Hu-na-nga-mo-ho] as above [with :"ng" as in "angry".

Many Te Reo Maori names for Plants and Animals are in everyday use, and many more are known but are not often heard or seen in print. Let's have them all here linked to their Latin/Scientific Names; this then relateds them to their New Zealand English vernacular equivalent and to global vernacular names. With many, the Latin Name covers more than one species. This is a problem that is sorted by the Utility names. Alternatively, users should feel free to invent and use new Common names. Similarly, with species that have more than two or more Common Names, sometimes many regional name, aime to keep all of these in use. With BioLists, protocols will develop to help make greater use of Common Names and promote novelty, diversity and excitement. For example, children should be making up and using fun names. If these catch on, so much the better. The overall aim is to assist the flow of biodiversity information within communities, large and small.

Species' Common (vernacular) names gain status and usefulness when linked to their classified Scientific (Latin) names. All scientific names are universal: here's how this happened. In the centuries before we had science, Latin became a "dead" language, that is it had no cultural roots with the authority to regulate or change it - so it "fossilised". This proved useful; with no "owner", it gained stability which has allowed it to be used widely and become the language of science: it was, and remains, precise, international and timeless. Although the current number of fluent Latin speakers may be less than a thousand, Latin names belong as a common add-on in many language. The universal system of Biodiversity classification links each and every known species to its unique place in the "tree of life". This system grew fast in early decades and is still growing. Each species has its own unique taxonomic position within the evolutionary scale of about 1.8 million named (ie, described) species today with about six or so million more to be found and named. These Latin Names are the unique keys that can open up the world's scientific literature to reveal its accumulated knowledge of our only truly essential resource - biodiversity. In these ways, Latin adds a unique, universal communications link between peoples everywhere - and offers a way to reveal the future. A good future will mean we have learned to respect Latin as well as Science and Nature - in that order.

Biodiversity Classification as we know it has been 260 year in the making, since Linnaeus. And it is 160 years since Darwin and Wallace offered a way to sequence species into meaningful lists - the Theory of Evolution does that. Today, the status of taxonomy as a science is misunderstood (even by some who profess to be taxonomists, or their chief clients, ecologists). Taxonomy is in difficulties. In a saner world, classical (Linnean) taxonomy and its system of classification for all Microbes, Plants, Fungi and Animals, might well be seen as one of Humanity's greatest taonga (treasures). Yet, I would argue that without the integration of Latin (scientific) and Common (vernacular) Names in all languages, the taonga is still far from serving its potential to re-integrate Humanity with the rest of Nature.

I look forward to discussions on Common Names to find the best way forward for taxonomy. I see te Reo Maori as being well able to help with establishing protocols for developing relationships between languages, also on how best to promote regional differences, and possibly for testing protocols for finding new names, and so on.