Kia ora (, approximated in English as
Meaning
Kia ora can be used to wish somebody life and health
—the word
ora used as a noun means "life, health and vitality".
It might also be used as a
salutation, a farewell or an expression of thanks.
It also signifies agreement with a speaker at a meeting, being as it is from a culture that prizes
public speaking. It is widely used alongside other more formal Māori greetings. The Ministry for Culture and Heritage website
NZHistory lists it as one of 100 Māori words every New Zealander should know, and lists the following definition: "Hi!, G'day! (general informal greeting)".
Kia ora can follow a similar pattern to address different specific numbers of people. By itself, it can be used to address any number of people, but by adding koe (i.e., kia ora koe); kōrua; and koutou one can specify a greeting to, respectively, a single; two; or three or more people.
Commercial use
New Zealand's national airline, Air New Zealand, uses
Kia Ora as the name for its inflight magazine.
Water Safety New Zealand, a
water safety advocacy organisation, has a specific Māori water safety programme,
Kia Maanu Kia Ora, which makes use of the literal meaning of kia ora, as their message translates as
stay afloat; stay alive.
Controversy
In 1984, an Auckland telephone operator,
Naida Glavish,
was instructed to stop using
kia ora when greeting callers after the post office had received a complaint. She refused to do so and was consequently demoted, with the whole affair attracting much public interest. She was later given back her original job.
The Postmaster-General,
Rob Talbot, convinced the then Prime Minister
Robert Muldoon to overturn the prohibition on
kia ora.
In other languages
Kia ora has a similar meaning to the word
kia orana, found in many related Polynesian languages such as Cook Islands Māori.
See also
-
Aloha
-
Talofa
-
Mihi (Māori culture)
-
Māori language influence on New Zealand English
-
List of English words of Māori origin
