The Parihaka Woman

A Note on Taranaki Dialect

In deference to Taranaki iwi, the magnificent Taranaki dialect is used throughout the novel. Some spellings and word usage will therefore strike some readers as unusual, for example, ‘mounga’ rather than the standard ‘maunga’, and ‘tauheke’ for old men rather than the standard ‘koroua’. As well, because Taranaki Maori do not sound the ‘h’, this usage has been marked with a single apostrophe, e.g. ‘’aere’ instead of ‘haere’, ‘mi’i’ instead of ‘mihi’ and ‘tau’eke’ instead of ‘tauheke’.

Taranaki Maori pronounce the ‘wh’ as in ‘whare’ not as an ‘f’ sound but rather as a soft ‘wh’ as in the English word ‘whine’. This usage is also marked with a single apostrophe, e.g. ‘w’are’.

The exception to the above is that names, such as Te Whiti o Rongomai, Tohu Kaakahi, Parihaka, Horitana and so on, are not marked in this manner. Please note that these names would be pronounced as Te W’iti o Rongomai, To’u Kaaka’i, Pari’aka and ’oritana. In fact in some nineteenth-century manuscripts Te Whiti and Parihaka are rendered as ‘Te Witi’ and ‘Pariaka’.

A further exception is that where quotes have been taken from other sources and commentaries, the quotes are as rendered by the original authors.