dialect differences

I really must again commend Tahu Potiki for his website/blog - there is some really great information there.

For those interested in the dialect differences between Kai Tahu and northern iwi I encourage you to go and read this paper.

... "Harlow (1979) carried out a vocabulary comparison of regional dialect variation in an effort to measure cognacy between Maori dialects. One word needed to significantly differ from another to be considered not cognate so words that had a simple vowel change alone such as inu and unu were still considered cognate. In that study some dialects were considered to be only 65% cognate such as Tuwharetoa and Kai Tahu or 74% cognate such as Ngai Puhi and Waikato. This displays a high degree of vocabulary variation amongst all dialects of Maori with the South Island (Kai Tahu) dialect being the least cognate overall. Not surprisingly the greatest level of cognacy with the South Island is with Ngati Porou and Kahungunu confirming our knowledge of Kai Tahu-Kati Mamoe whakapapa connections and Kai Tahu language features that are shared only with the East Coast dialects.

... "As interaction increased between Kai Tahu, European and other iwi, and missionary driven education introduced a standardised Maori alphabet, the Kai Tahu dialect came under threat. Apart from Watkin’s solitary publication all religious and educational material utilised by southern missionaries was printed using the standardised alphabet.

We can only grow knowledge when that knowledge is shared. Many of us live a long way from our marae and home, but our hearts are still there and that is why using modern forms of communication to build and strengthen communities is so good.

Thank you once again Tahu and keep up the posts.