tapahi

tapahi

Māori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *tapasi ~ *tapas-i (“to cut” – compare with Rarotongan tapaʻi “to chop down lengthwise, to cleave”, Tahitian tapahi “to cut or split a fruit into two, to cut down a tree”, Samoan tafa, Tongan tafa “to cut open (of boils), to incise, to carve”), from Proto-Oceanic *tapasi (compare with Fijian tava “to cut with a knife, to castrate”) from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *tabas (compare with Malay tebas “to slash or cut down grasses, small plants”, Tagalog tabas “to cut fabric, paper”).[1][2] Doublet of tapa.

Pronunciation

  • IPA(key): /taˈpahi/ [tɐˈpɐhi]

Verb

tapahi (passive tapahia)

  1. to cut, to chop
  2. to reap, to harvest (of crops like wheat)
  3. to amputate limbs

Derived terms

  • tapahanga (the cutting of something)
  • tapatapahi

References

  1. ^ Ross Clark and Simon J. Greenhill, editors (2011), “tapa-si”, in “POLLEX-Online: The Polynesian Lexicon Project Online”, in Oceanic Linguistics, volume 50, number 2, pages 551–9
  2. ^ M. Ross, A. Pawley, M. Osmond, editors (1998), The Lexicon of Proto-Oceanic[1], volume 1: Material Culture, Australian National University, →ISBN, pages 251–2

Further reading

  • Williams, Herbert William (1917), “tapahi”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 446
  • John C. Moorfield (2011), “tapahi”, in Te Aka: Māori–English, English–Māori Dictionary and Index[2], 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, →ISBN