The Case Of A Change In Meaning And Its Impact

Like everything else, language does not remain static; it changes over time to reflect the current environments (Rewi 2012. An active and functional language. In: D. Keenan, editor. Huia histories of Maori: Nga Tahuhu Krero. Wellington: Huia Publishers; p. 73-92). The Maori language is no exception (Professor Poia Rewi, Dean of Te Tumu, School of Maori, Pacific and Indigenous Studies, University of Otago, provided advice during the writing of this article. He is now Tumu Whakarae (Chief Executive) of the organisation Te Matawai - Te Reo Maori). New words have been added, word meanings have been added to, for example, whanau is now inclusive of friends, work colleagues and networks and not just kin as was previously used. Here, we address the changing nature of words in the Maori language with special reference to the word 'Kaumatua' as it is applied in a research project, Kaumatua Futures and the language generally. We begin by considering language change generally, then look at the Maori language of the early 1900s by searching the database Niupepa online to see how the term Kaumatua was applied. We then focus on the word Kaumatua and how its meaning has evolved by searching literature referencing both language and word meaning changes in general and those which provide a meaning for the word Kaumatua and discuss the role and function of those who are identified as Kaumatua (The word Kaumatua has been capitalised for the purposes of this article only, otherwise capitalisation is not normal usage.).