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Māori is a completely separate language from English. Although it uses the English alphabet with some accents. The word tapu has completely different etymology

by 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.

by edent 5y ago

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.