Abstract

Four New Zealand newspapers were surveyed between 1997 and 2004 for articles containing thirteen selected Māori words. Frequency and distribution of the items are analysed, and attitudes to te reo Māori discussed. The results show there is support for the inclusion of te reo Māori, with attitudes changing in its favour. Frequency is affected by news value, geographical influences, population base, circulation and reader influences. Some words, particularly social culture words, have increased frequencies, other words remain steady, while some are identified as nonce words. Hui (meeting) and hīkoi (march) are found in non-Māori contexts, but the majority of Māori words are found only in articles with a Māori context. Intrinsic meanings, seen particularly for kaumātua, create translation difficulties. Semantic divergence is noted for some English/Māori word pairs.

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