Te Reo Kapekape: Maori Wit and Humour product reviews

My partner and I have had a lot of fun with this book! As serious reference books go, it is quite unique - coupled with the amount of research that has gone into it to ensure accuracy is Hona Black's underlying message that words can be fun. Yes, Te Reo Kapekape can certainly take its place on an academic's bookshelf along with all the other reference books. But I suspect our copy will not stay there for long as we keep picking it up and opening a page at random - purely for enjoyment, and no other reason. Having read one page, our curiosity is piqued and we have to go on to read another. Or another two. Or maybe three!

My own links are with Ngati Tuwharetoa while my partner's are with Kai Tahu in Te Wai Pounamu (the South Island). This has caused many dialectical variations and discussions as to which word of a pair is the "correct" one. Now we are presented with yet another dimension as Te Reo Kapekape contains a few words that neither of us was familiar with! Luckily the text is bilingual so it is easy to check when necessary. Its presentation, with the Maori text on the left and the English on the right, makes cross-referencing a simple matter.

I appreciate the way the author has presented the English versions of the various Maori phrases. Instead of translating literally, he has made every attempt to preserve the idiomatic structure of both languages and present the meanings of the phrases. The sense of the phrases rather than the word-by-word translation is conveyed in a way that is easy to follow. This is no GOOGLE translate! And in this way, the spirit of each language is preserved in the interests of making the reader laugh.

Different cultures have varying attitudes towards humour. Where in one culture a joke might be seen as "dirty", a second might see it as hilarious because it is part of everyday life. Jokes referring to body parts, bodily functions, and sexual indiscretions have been part of oral history since the beginning of time, to be joined by written records once writing had been invented! Many of these references were a vital part of survival given the importance of producing large numbers of children to combat high rates of infant mortality. Far from being undesirable, risque jokes and references could make people relax and more willing to apply themselves to the task of reproduction. False modesty is a relatively modern invention, thanks in part to colonial attitudes and the necessity of keeping the lower classes from breeding too frequently!

Growing up in a multicultural environment, I learned to appreciate my friends' sense of humour and to give as good as I got. Children accept one another's differences, and if some of our jokes and cheeky comments were unacceptable to the "olds", we quickly learned when to share and when to keep quiet! The catchphrase was "Ne!" or "I ne!" when you were scoffing at someone.

I thought when first reading the book that the characters were Black's real family members. They are lively and cheeky, just like members of my own extended family, and highly believable. However, I finally got round to reading the introductory sections and discovered that they were a composite of different people who were based on real life but not necessarily related to Black! Yes, I admit it - I did not read the book sequentially because I started on one page selected at random (Mau tou ene/Go and bite your bum) and just kept reading! Later I went back and read the first sections, and finally got to the Introduction! Never mind. It is a book that is meant to be dipped in as and when the mood strikes. And I am now on my third reading.

Since arriving in New Zealand more than 20 years ago, I've always been fascinated with te reo Maori. My kids would come home from kindergarten and school singing songs and saying words that I couldn't understand, how frustrating! I have been on a personal te reo Maori learning mission for many years now. I do find I struggle with the pronunciation of some kupu and I struggle to roll my r's, something which my kids find hilarious!

In my quest to improve my te reo, I will happily devour any resource that could help me. Te Reo Kapekape (Maori Wit and Humour) by Hona Black, looked like a book that could possibly help me increase my knowledge and kupu. The book is a vibrant pink and, apart from the title and author's name, is blank. However, it is bright and stands out, not a book to go unnoticed on a bookshelf, which is not what the author wants.

The book is split into an Introduction, 4 chapters (Above the hip, Below the hip, Other phrases, Some idioms), and an Index. Te reo Maori is the main language of the book and appears on the left-hand page. The right-hand page is the English translation which makes it quite easy to find certain phrases. The introduction explains how this book gives an unapologetic view of the Maori world and looks at the humour of language through a Maori lens. Maori are not afraid to fling insults at each other, to speak their minds, and reference body parts. It's important to note that body parts and just body parts and are referenced in jest in this book, so if you're easily offended, this book might not be for you! The author has created a fictional family that includes parents, children, aunts, and uncles so that readers can experience how the language flows in the context of a family.

I liked the layout and it would give you the Main Phrase in bold at the top and then more detail below. For example, 'Kissing someone's arse' would be the title followed by the description. There's some dialogue between characters and in that dialogue, there is the sentence 'You're just kissing my arse.' and 'She must be kissing arse' so you can see the different variations in te reo. There is lots of humour in this book, even referring to 'Loose Pants' - people that sleep around! I have learned some very funny phrases that I'll be trying out in the staff room! I found it a great way to test my te reo and I have a couple of fluent te reo Maori speakers that could help me with my pronunciation.

The author states that you can spend all your time reading the book, but unless you practice and verbalise what you've read, the book might as well gather dust and become a post for a spider to hang its house on. "Return the language from the tip of the pen to the tip of the tongue'. I couldn't agree more!