#46 | The Waka and the Curach: Te Reo and Irish
2018 has been a landmark year for women’s rights in both Ireland and New Zealand. At home, we have voted to repeal the 8th Amendment. Our Antipodean mates have acknowledged a different aspect of reproductive rights (specifically, working mothers not having their careers scuppered) when their Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, gave birth to a daughter – and the country didn’t grind to a halt. That little girl’s name- Neve* Te Aroha Ardern Gayford – is a nod to two traditions, Irish and Maori, and in today’s episode we take a look at the Maori language Te Reo.
Darach and Clodagh are joined this week by Louth linguist Aoife Finn who is studying Te Reo as part of her PhD. She enlightens the gang on how Te Reo works with fifteen(ish) letters, how the battle for language rights has been fought down there compared to up here and the process for creating neologisms. We also uncover a massive conspiracy theory about Pinot Grigio.
*Niamh spelled in Te Reo phonetics
