Keri Hulme: The Bone People

hine = woman or girl

Tika = right, appropriate, correct

Kahikatea = white pine, a beautiful native tree fond of swamps

Koromiko = useful tree if you've got a crook stomach or diarrhoea

Tine mauriora = lit. sneeze of life fig. I salute the breath of life in you, said at the beginning of formal speeches; with hongi; or at times like this.

Taniwha = a mythical (?) water terror/monster

Tamaiti=child

Taku aroha ki a koe=I love you

Aroha=love

Utu = revenge

Ka nui taku mate=I'm really sick

Anana=exclamation of surprise

Mimi = piss

Kawau pateketeke, K. paka, K. tuawhenua, K. tui=all kinds

of shag Haere mai = as well as a greeting, this phrase means Come

here

Pupu = edible green snail, also called a catseye Taipo = demon, night goblin (a word of dubious origin) Arohanui = much love Paua = succulent marine univalve Terakihi, hapuku = delicious fishes

Tangihanga = funeral, and the ceremonies connected with it Marae = a place for gathering, to learn, to mourn, teach, welcome and rejoice

E tama, ka aha ra koe? = O child, what will become of you? Ae, ko te pono tena = Yes, that's the exact truth

Iwi kaupeka, nei = would you believe, "Funny skinny legs"? Lit. legs — like sticks

Hui = gathering

Hori = lit. George. Used by Maori among themselves in a jocular fashion but is an insult when used by an unfriendly Pakeha

Ponaturi = rather nasty mythical beings who sleep on land but live undersea

Pi Ta = in this case it translates as shitty nestling

Ka Tata Te Po = Night is Near

Hokioi = unknown (and maybe legendary) kind of bird

The song the ghost sings is an old lullaby and translates roughly as "O child, winterborn, ascend/rise up and join your forbears in the heavens"

Hapu = next tribal division down from 'iwi'

E nga iwi! Mo wai tenei? = O people! Who is this for?

Tukutuku/poupou=forms of wall decoration Rimu, rimu, tere tere e=lines from a popular song, "Seaweed, seaweed, drifting, drifting…

Korero=talk, argument

Haere mai ki te kai! = Come and get it! lit. come here for the

food!

He aha koa iti, he pounamu = although it's little, it's jade

Koha=gift

Tenei mo Haimona=This is for Simon

Mere-mere=Venus the evening star

Tapu=can mean forbidden in a secular sense Taipa=Keep quiet

Ngakaukawa, kei te ora taku ngakau. E noho mai = Bitter heart, you heal my heart. Stay here

Kaumatua = an elder/elders

Huhu=NZ's largest beetle, in some areas symbolic of Death

He aha tou mate? = What's wrong with you?/Where is your sickness?

Ka maharatia tenei I ahau e ora ana=I shall remember it as long as I live

He tika tonu ano tena = That is natural, that's the right thing (to do)

Tutu = a useful shrub, to be used with extreme care E taku hine=o my girl, o my woman

Papa=the name of Earth herself; Rangi=the Sky-father Ki a koe, Rehua! = To you, Rehua!

Rupahu = nonsense

Haere, mou tai ata, moku tai ahiahi = Go, the morning tide for

you, the evening tide for me (an old saying)

E kui = a term of address and respect to an aged woman

Mokopuna=grandchild

Mauri/Mauriora = Life principle, thymos of humans; talisman or material symbol of that secret and mysterious principle protecting the mana (power/vitality) of people, birds, land, forests, whatever…

Tangi = weep, mourn

Tauranga atua = resting place for a god Kiwa=god, also very old name for Pacific Haere=Go

E pou = affectionate term of respect for an old person

Moko= facial tattoo pattern, sometimes used as a signature

in the old days

Tipuna = grandfather/mother

Pouwhenua = a long spear-club Whare= house

Pakihi = a term for a swampy acidic barren type of land Kai = food

Aotearoa = the shining bright land, an old name for New

Zealand

Karakia = prayers, sacred chants

Rahui = boundary markers, essentially tapu

Kia koa koe = wishing you joy

Hoha = fuss, nuisance

E taku hei piripiri, E tawhiri= endearments for children

Whanau = extended family group — a general term for 'family' now

E nga iwi o nga iwi = this is a pun. It means, O the bones of the people (where 'bones' stands for ancestors or relations), or, O the people of the bones (i.e. the beginning people, the people who make another people)

Weka = hensized bird with inordinate curiosity. Tastes good, too.

Kehua= ghosts

Karanga = call of invitation, welcome, mourning, onto a

marae

Kei whea? = Where?

Whakautua mai tenei patai aku = Answer this question of

mine

He aha koe i karanga ai ki a au? What did you call me for?

Did you call me?

He aha te mahi e mea nei koe kia mahia? = What do you want

me to do?

Ka ao, ka ao, ka awatea = it is dawn, it is dawn, it is

Te mutunga — ranei te take = the end — or the beginning