4 ms·

Tapu is a Maori word, it's a bit more nuanced / not quite the same as taboo but close. It's not like nobody can touch, just not everyone can touch. And not real

• thaumasiotes 5y ago
  It's close because it's the same word. But in English we spell it "taboo". Would you say "colour is a British word, it's not quite the same as color but it's close"?
  • edent 5y ago
    Māori is a completely separate language from English. Although it uses the English alphabet with some accents. The word tapu has completely different etymology than taboo. https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=0&phrase=0&proverb=0&loan=0&histLoanWords=&keywords=tapu https://maoridictionary.co.nz/search?idiom=0&phrase=0&prover... See also https://media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/tapu-sacred-maori-code/ https://media.newzealand.com/en/story-ideas/tapu-sacred-maor...
    • thaumasiotes 5y ago
      > The word tapu has completely different etymology than taboo. No, it doesn't. What do you think the etymology of taboo is?
      • KittenInABox 5y ago
        It is apparently from Tongan or Fijian words, not Maori words. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo#Etymology https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taboo#Etymology I think it's weird to try and correct a person using the accurate cultural terms with a mis-hearing of some european in the 1700s. If anything "tapu" is the technically correct term when referring to a concept in the context of Maori culture specifically, and taboo is a shitty mishearing of a foreigner of a different language. Similar to say, if I was talking about java's methods. In C# they're functions. But since I'm talking about Java, and specifically Java's basic behavior, method is the correct technical terminology to signify the context of what I'm talking about. It'd be weird for a C# person to show up, tell me that "actually, these are functions", if I'm saying "in Java, X is called a method".
        • duskwuff 5y ago
          > It is apparently from Tongan or Fijian words, not Maori words. All of the Polynesian languages are closely related, to the extent that many of them are mutually intelligible. A simple shift in phonology, like /p/ to /b/, isn't enough to render /tapu/ and /tabu/ different words. The connotations of those words may differ from one culture to another, but the basic concept is the same.
          • KittenInABox 5y ago
            But it is true that the word "taboo" came from a foreigner talking about Tongan peoples beliefs, which is important when the topic we're trying to talk about is Maori beliefs. Even if Maori and Tonga people are closely related in culture, they are not the same culture and Tonga people do not have the same co-sovereignity agreements over New Zealand that Maori do.
      • 1-more 5y ago
        They're part of the same language family, but pretty far apart. The Lithuanian, Latin, and Saskrit words for fire are ugnis, ignis, and agni. Are they the same word? Nah. They just share an ancestor. Same thing with tapu and taboo. They are for sure related but if we're gonna talk about the Māori concept and not the English or Fijian one we can signal that so easily by calling it tapu, not taboo.
  • djrobstep 5y ago
    OP is not writing an English word. > Tapu is a Maori word
  • detaro 5y ago
    That the english word taboo is derived from it doesn't make them "the same word", since we don't use it the same way in English.
  • spoonjim 5y ago
    The English word "guru" is derived from the Sanskrit word "guru" but their meanings couldn't be more different. In English it's used to mean someone who's really good at something, like a "digital marketing guru."
  • mdoms 5y ago
    You need to stop, man. It's a different word.
  • lugged 5y ago
    It's not the same word mate. They're literally different words in different languages. It's not a misspelling. Colour and color are literally the same word, different spellings. Tapu and taboo is not literally the same. They may have derived from the same thing but they are now, different words with different meanings. Suggesting tapu is a misspelling of taboo is like suggesting "Koran" is a misspelling of the word "Bible".