It took me a while to get whāinga (objective, aim, purpose) and whangai (to feed, nourish, foster) straightened out in my head.

I really can’t get hāunga and haunga to stick.

I’m hoping this whakairinga rangitaki (blog post) helps…

You can read the Online Māori Dictionary definitions, but here’s my thinking

hāunga (haa-ung-ah) is a particle that excludes or discounts the object. It’s like “Other than A, B happened” or “Even though A, B still occurred”. I imagine I’d use it at the start of a sentence.

haunga (hou-ngah) is a stative or noun that basically means putrid. The list of words used in the Online definition linked above is quite descriptive:

haunga
(stative) be stinking, smelly, putrid, reeking, fetid, odorous, stale.

As an aside, taru haunga is fennel, which goes really nicely in a salad I make with cherries and orange. You slice the bulb up thinly. I’ve also have pickled fennel bulb on a massaman curry at an excellent local restaurant.

The Reo Project | Day 108

Welcome to my little corner of the internet.

I believe that place matters.

Our connection to whatever little corner of the planet we find ourselves in, or choose to place ourselves on, matters.

I'm relentlessly curious and continually learning.

My interests are scattered across topics including property, strategy, acoustics, psychology, theology, systems theory, quantum physics and leadership. I read, listen, watch, and learn about whatever grabs my attention in the moment.

This is a learning experiment.

I come here to try to make sense of something I’ve come across, by writing about it.

I’m immersing myself in a new language.

I’m learning to speak Te Reo Māori, the language of the indigenous people of Aotearoa New Zealand and one of our official languages. After spending 2020 studying, I’m figuring out how to keep the journey going outside the classroom.

You’re welcome to follow along.