Kia ora e hoa: dozens of New Zealand and Māori words added to Oxford English Dictionary

New Zealanders will now see the common and casual te reo Māori greeting Kia ora e hoa! – meaning “hi mate” – in their Oxford English Dictionaries, as the institution moves to recognise the “profound and lasting impact” the Indigenous tongue has had on New Zealand’s language.

E hoa, or friend, is one of 47 New Zealand English words or expressions added to the dictionary in its latest update – most of them in te reo Māori, which is an official language of New Zealand. The OED describes itself as the definitive record of the English language.

While some te reo words already appear in the volume, the change reflects “the substantial number of Māori words that have become part of the vocabulary of both Māori and Pākehā (non-Māori) English speakers,” according to a statement from Oxford University Press, the dictionary’s publisher.

Newly added words that New Zealanders might hear or use in daily life include koha – a gift or offering – and kōrero, meaning a conversation or chat (the dictionary does not spell Māori words with macrons, which are commonly used in New Zealand English and signify double vowel sounds).

Other new offerings include words that encapsulate Māori concepts and do not have an easy English equivalent, such as whenua – land, in particular a Māori person’s native land – and rāhui, which is defined as a formal or ritualised prohibition against entering an area or undertaking an activity, typically enacted temporarily in order to protect a resource.

Te reo Māori (reo, or language, is a new word for the OED too) is experiencing a renaissance in Aotearoa (New Zealand), the result of campaigns by language and political activists since the 1970s.

Phrases such as “kia ora e hoa” are frequently used by non-Māori, and are increasingly common in shops or businesses, or to answer phone calls or emails.

Dictionary editors “scoured the archives, novels, newspapers and even Twitter” for examples of each word, the publisher’s statement said, searching for illustrations of their use and development.

“The fact that we have more and more Māori words appearing, which is what the OED changes are reflecting, captures the shifts in national and social identity in New Zealand and who we are as a nation,” said John Macalister, a professor of applied linguistics at Victoria University of Wellington and the dictionary’s consultant on the etymology of Māori.

Not all of the linguistic debuts are in Māori; New Zealanders might also attend an after-ball (perhaps unsurprisingly, a party held after a ball), proceed with something flat stick (as quickly as possible), or greet or thank a friend using the single syllable chur (similar to cheers, but in practice a sort of all-purpose positive acknowledgment).

One of the new additions – taihoa, a request for someone to be patient or wait – captures an inventive combination of English and Māori linguistic sensibilities. Many New Zealanders pronounce the word “tie-ho” – and many might not have known until recent years that they were using a Māori word.

“That’s a great example of something that can only have meaning in New Zealand, can only be created in New Zealand,” Macalister said. “I love it because it brings a history of this country and this society, and people use it without knowing where it comes from.”