He Pātaka Kupu

He Pātaka Kupu – the food of the chief Te Papakupu Reo Māori (Māori Language Dictionary) History Initial thoughts for the dictionary emerged in the early 1990s when Timoti Karetu (then Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori) discussed the idea with many people, including elders and word collectors. The task of creating a solely Māori language dictionary began in 1999, driven by concerns about the declining number of Māori speakers and the diminishing public usage of Māori words. The dictionary was envisioned as a supplementary archive of Māori vocabulary, utilising technology to preserve and support its continued use. In 2001, a team of writers began compiling the dictionary, completing the project in April 2008. The speed of completion for such a large project (a dictionary with 24,000 entries) in only six or seven years is remarkable. Most dictionaries with 12,000 entries typically take twelve years to compile. This dictionary has been named He Pātaka Kupu – te kai a te rangatira. Introduction He Pātaka Kupu fulfils a critical need for Māori language resources for Māori immersion environments. This follows the release of dictionaries for Kura Wharekura students in 2001, namely Tirohia and Kimihia. The shift to a solely Māori dictionary was prompted by the passing of native elders and the growing number of adults actively using the Māori language. The creation of He Pātaka Kupu is a novel and unique undertaking, both in Aotearoa and globally. As a project, its primary aim is to revitalise Māori language spaces within diverse Māori communities. He Pātaka Kupu was created to address the need to: 1. capture the depth, breadth, and vitality of the Māori language as used within the Māori community; 2. capture and collect readily available Māori language information that is at risk of being lost; 3. support the growth of Māori language learning, including language revitalisation, grammar, and Māori dictionary creation; 4. consolidate human resources and strategies for the ongoing growth of the language regionally and nationally; 5. support immersion schools and educational institutions for students and adults. KEY MESSAGES • He Pātaka Kupu was launched on 1 September 2008; • He Pātaka Kupu takes pride in its use of the Māori language to describe itself and its world; • He Pātaka Kupu highlights synonymous and iwi-specific variations of key words. This development has established a research basis that will facilitate the growth of other dictionary projects; • He Pātaka Kupu encompasses the full range of historical and contemporary developments within Māori lexicography; • He Pātaka Kupu is a vital resource assisting ongoing efforts to revitalise the language; • Comparing He Pātaka Kupu's key words with those in the Wiremu dictionary, He Pātaka Kupu contains 24,000 entries compared to Wiremu's 17,000 entries; • It took seven years to complete He Pātaka Kupu. In contrast, it takes 12 years to complete other dictionaries with 20,000 entries.