kurī

See also: Appendix:Variations of "kuri"

English

Noun

kurī

1. Alternative form of kuri (“an extinct, bushy-tailed, short-legged dog of New Zealand”).

Māori

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *kuli (compare with Samoan ulī, Tongan kulī, Tahitian ʻurī and ʻūrī, Rarotongan kurī, Tuamotuan kurio and kuri, Hawaiian ʻīlio) from Proto-Oceanic *kuli (compare with Fijian koli). Sense of horse from semantic extension; Elsdon Best famously recorded an oral retelling of Tūhoe elder Te Maitaranui first seeing "man-carrying dogs" (kurī waha tangata) whilst visiting the Bay of Islands circa 1820; see also connection between Hawaiian ʻīlio and lio (“horse”) as well as in North American languages like between Cree ᒥᐢᑕᑎᒼ (mistatim, “horse”) and ᐊᑎᒼ (atim, “dog”).

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /kuˈriː/ [kʉˈɾiː]

Noun

kurī

1. dog
2. (rare, obsolete) horse

   Synonym: hōiho

Further reading

• “kurī” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.

Rapa Nui

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *kuli (“dog”). Rapa Nui is the only Polynesian Language that shows a semantic shift from dog to cat.

Noun

kurī

1. cat

References

• “kurí” in Comisión para la Estructuración de la Lengua Rapanui, Diccionario etimológico rapanui-español (2000).
• Ministerio de Desarrollo Social y Familia. Diccionario de la lengua Rapa Nui. He Puka Rara Rauhuru Vānaŋa Rapa Nui (2022)

Rarotongan

Etymology

From Proto-Polynesian *kuli (compare with Māori kurī, Samoan ulī, Tongan kulī, Tahitian ʻurī and ʻūrī, Tuamotuan kurio and kuri, Hawaiian ʻīlio) from Proto-Oceanic *kuli (compare with Fijian koli).

Noun

kurī

1. dog

References

“kurī”, in Dictionary of Cook Islands Languages, 2016–2026