They were developed by a team comprising te reo Māori linguist Uenuku Fairhall, te taiao researcher Corey Ruha, Upflow’s geothermal expert Andy Blair, geologist Dr Paul Siratovich, and consultant Aroha Campbell QSM.
The intention behind the words was to identify and translate key concepts in geothermal energy.
These range from easy-to-understand ideas, like the wrinkled skin from spending a long time in a warm geothermal pool, to the complicated scientific concept of enthalpy, the total heat within a system.
Campbell said the new words weren’t easily aligned with Māori systems of mātauranga (knowledge). Similarly, scientists can find it hard to understand and relate to Māori concepts and thinking.
“We came up with six words to bridge the gap between Western science and te reo Māori.”
“It’s about changing mindset.”
The te reo Māori words have already been put to the test in a place where the language is not often heard: Iceland.
Last year, researcher Ruha and five other Māori students attended a summer university in Iceland, taking the words with them as a way to test and communicate them in another culture.
They reasoned that many loan words from other languages are already used to describe geothermal concepts, from lahar, which comes from a Javanese word, to the Icelandic origins of geyser.
The next stage of the Waiwhatu Project is to get the words into social use, and then pass them to the next generation.
The six words and their meanings:
- Kūwhewhewhewhe: wrinkling of the skin
- Tokarewa: magma
- Rangitoto: lava
- Waiwhatu: geothermal fluid
- Māpuna: reservoir
- Ngaohū: enthalpy
