whā

See also: wha, wha', WHA, and wHa

Māori

Māori cardinal numbers

<  3	4	5  >
Cardinal : whā

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈɸaː/ [ˈfɑː]

Etymology 1

From Proto-Polynesian *fa, from Proto-Oceanic *pat, from Proto-Eastern Malayo-Polynesian *pat, from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *əpat (compare with Malay empat), from Proto-Austronesian *Səpat.

Numeral

whā

1. four

Derived terms

• hauwhā

Etymology 2

From Proto-Polynesian *faqa (“leaf stalk” – compare with Tahitian fā “stalk of banana, coconut or taro leaf”, Tongan faʻa, Samoan faʻa), from Proto-Oceanic *paqa (compare with Fijian ba (“taro stalk”)), from Proto-Malayo-Polynesian *palaqpaq (“midrib of coconut leaf” – compare with Malay pelepah, Tagalog palapa); generalization from lack of coconuts found naturally in New Zealand.

For sense of feather, compare with Malay bulu pelepah (lit. “frond[-shaped] hair/fur”).

Noun

whā

1. any leaf of certain plants like taro and harakeke with a long and thick rachis (stalk)
2. feather

   Synonym: huru

Derived terms

• karawhā
• whāwhā

Further reading

• Williams, Herbert William (1917), “whā”, in A Dictionary of the Maori Language, page 568
• “whā” in John C. Moorfield, Te Aka: Maori–English, English–Maori Dictionary and Index, 3rd edition, Longman/Pearson Education New Zealand, 2011, →ISBN.