Why Stuff has become Puna for Māori Language Week

Friday, 7 September 2018

We've adopted Puna as Stuff's brand during Māori Language Week. 'Puna o te kī ' means a spring of profound words.

We're marking Te Wiki o te Reo Māori with a new look for Stuff's logo. For Māori Language Week, we've rebranded as Puna.

Stuff is what you might call an elastic brand - it can mean different things to different people. That's why we didn't choose a literal translation.

Rather, we were seeking a word that captured Stuff's inclusive, colourful character as a website that both reflects and challenges New Zealand communities.

* Reo rua ā mua: How Kiwis might talk in 2040

* What's the point in learning te reo, a language spoken only in NZ?

* Why Stuff is introducing macrons for te reo Māori words**

The translation puna was provided to us by Helena Winiata, director of Ngahuru Ora Consultants.

As a verb, 'puna' means to well up or flow. As a noun, it's a spring of water, a well, or a pool.

But puna also has a deeper, allegorical meaning as a place for reflection, somewhere to find enlightenment through contemplation. Used in a phrase, 'puna o te kī ' means a spring of profound words. Puna mātauranga means pool of knowledge and puna kōrero means pool of literature or speakers.

This week, we hope to honour that poetic epithet through our stories that explore the health and heart of te reo Māori.

This time last year, Stuff introduced macrons for te reo Māori words. This year, the official Te Wiki o te Reo Māori theme is 'Kia Kaha te Reo Māori' - 'Let's make the Māori language strong'. Over the course of the week, our coverage is exploring how te reo Māori makes us unique, tallying the language's incursions into the New Zealand English vocabulary, looking at how Kiwis might talk in 2040, and following the money to see how te reo education is supported.