Toponymy of New Zealand

The name of the country “ New Zealand ” ^[1] in European languages ​​began to take shape in the middle of the XVII century - at first it appeared in the records of Dutch cartographers as lat. Nova Zeelandia , in honor of one of the provinces of the Netherlands - Zealand ( Dutch. Zeeland ), then, in the Dutch spelling - Nieuw Zeeland ^{[2] [3] [4]} . Later, in the XVIII century, the British navigator James Cook used an English version of this name in his notes - English. New Zealand , and it was it that became the official name of the country. The Russian name "New Zealand" is an accurate translation of a historically established name.

The original name of the country in the language of the indigenous inhabitants - Maori - has not been preserved, but it is known that the North Maori island was called Te Ika-a-Maui ( Maori Te Ika-a-Māui ), which can be translated as " fish belonging to Maui ". Maui - in Maori mythology, a demigod who caught a huge fish in the ocean, which later turned into an island. South Island had two common names: Te Wai Pounamu ( Maori Te Wai Pounamu ) and Te Waka-a-Maui ( Maori Te Waka a Māui ) ^[5] . The first name can be translated as “ jade water ”, and the second as “ boat owned by Maui ”. Until the beginning of the 20th century, Severny Island was often called the native inhabitants of Aotearoa ( Aotearoa ), Which can be translated as “the country of a long white cloud ” ( ao = cloud, tea = white, roa = long). According to the Maori tradition, an outstanding seaman of antiquity , while sailing from Central Polynesia, saw a large white cloud on the horizon - a sign of an approaching land and, landed on this land, called it “ Aotearoa ” ^[6] . Later, it was this name that became the generally accepted name in the Maori language for the whole country ^{[7] [8]} .

Maori Place Names

In the toponymy of New Zealand, two main layers can be distinguished: indigenous (Maori) and European. According to V. A. Zhuchkevich , the proportion of indigenous (Maori) names in the toponymy of New Zealand is much smaller compared, for example, with the proportion of indigenous toponyms of Australia , toponyms of English origin prevail in the country ^[10] . Maori toponyms characterizing the natural features of objects are monotonous and differ in a small number of language tools used to form their own names. But the “memorial” names are diverse, many of them are very complex and convey a summary of the events that took place in one place or another (see, for example, Taumatafakatangihangakauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaifenuakitanatu ^[11] ).

Maori place names were transmitted from generation to generation through oral traditions. Before the development of New Zealand by Europeans, Maori toponyms reflected the features of geographical objects and historical events, or mythological plots , and their meaning does not always lend itself to literal translation ^{[12] [13]} . After the Europeans mastered the archipelago, many toponyms began to represent Maori adaptations of the words of European languages ​​or distorted original Maori toponyms ^[12] .

According to the traditions of the Maori, the islands of the archipelago and many coastal objects were given the name of the legendary ancient sailors - Coupe, and . Another ancient navigator, named Bay after using the trunk of a Manuku tree to prove his right to this area, and Bay after eating a fern in this place (“ - kai ”means“ food ”) ^[14] . The Maori name for , Te-Wanganui-a-Tara, is given in honor of Tara, the grandson of Coupe and the ancestor of several local willows ^[15] . Some objects of New Zealand were named after the islands visited by the ancestors of the Māori during the resettlement from their mythical ancestral home - Hawaii . These include, for example, Maketu , , island from the name of the island of Rarotonga ] and Tauhiti (from the name of Tahiti ). The names Fakatane , Rangitoto , Taupo , Urevera , and reflect the long-forgotten incidents that occurred during the arrival of the Maori in the archipelago ^[12] .

Obviously, the Maori toponymy has a layer of names associated with Polynesian mythology . This is evidenced by the presence of the formant " -tane " (on behalf of Thane , the Polynesian god of forests and birds), present in the toponyms and . The names of the classes of objects often act as formants: “ -ara ” (“road”), “ -mowna ” (“mountain”), “ -vanga ” (“bay”), “ -nui ” (“large”), and others. Toponyms with the “ -vai ” (“water, river”) formants are widespread: Waiu , Vaiwera , Vaikato , etc., “ -roto ” (“lake”) - Rotomagana and others. So, Wanganui means “wide river mouth ", And -" good water for fishing kanay " ^[16] .

The Christianization of the Maori led to the renaming of the settlements of Hiruharam , Petane, and Hamaria , which were named , Betania, and Samaria, respectively. The names of the settlements of Ranana , Athena and Karaponia , in turn, are the Maori transliteration of the names of London , Athens and California ^[12] . Moriori , the descendants of the Maori ^[17] , migrated to the Chatham Islands (located about 680 km southeast of the main part of New Zealand) and named them Rekoha (“foggy sun”). The Maori, who lived in Rekoha until 1835, found this name unacceptable and renamed it, after which the Chatham archipelago became known under the Maori name Varekauri ^[18] .

European place names

The formation of the European layer of toponyms began during the expeditions of A. Tasman in 1642-1644. Some of the names appropriated then, such as “Bay of Assassins” (now Golden Bay ), did not last long, while others, such as (in honor of Maria, wife of the governor of the Dutch East -India van Diemena ) and the islands of the Three Kings , are used to date. In honor of Tasman himself, one of the country's regions , a mountain , the largest glacier , lake , national park and bay ^[19] was named in New Zealand.

James Cook gave a large number of names during his voyages, including the Bay of Islands , Bay of Plenty , Power Bay, Cape Farwell , Queen Charlotte Bay , Taranaki Volcano and Banks Peninsula . In connection with the Maori attempt to abduct one of the crew members, Cook named one of the capes of the North Island (literally: “cape of the kidnappers ”) ^[20] . This name was replaced by the New Zealand Geographic Names Council only in 2018 with the Maori Te-Kauwae-a-Maui (Maui fishing hook). A number of objects were named after Cook himself - Cook Strait , Mount Cook , etc. The third largest island of the archipelago - Stuart , which Cook initially considered the peninsula, was named in honor of Captain William Stuart, who during the expedition on the ship "Pegasus" 1809 proved that this land is an island ^[21] .

The French navigator J. Dumont-Durville also left his mark in the toponymy of New Zealand. In 1827, passing a dangerous strait between the South Island and the island, later named after him , Dumont-Durville called this passage French Pass (literally, “the French passage”) ^[22] .

The main array of New Zealand place names of European origin was formed in the period from the 1840s to 1910s, when the names of geographical objects were assigned mainly by surveyors during land surveying . During this period, European immigrants replaced most of the original Maori toponyms with their own, although some of the original names were preserved (mainly in the north and in the central regions of the North Island). Many settlements were named after the first settlers - Helensville, Dargavill , Morrinsville, Bulls, Masterton, Levin . was named after the hero of the local folklore - sheep-stealer , and - from the Maori protest movement against the colonial authorities . Mountains and gorges. as a rule, they received names in honor of their discoverers (“Haast, Lewis”) or scientists (“Newton, Lyell”). Other names were descriptive, such as Woodville, Island Bay, Riverton, Whitecliffs and Bluff ^[23] . Most European place names are of English origin. In the Otago and Southland regions, there is a certain layer of toponyms of Scottish origin ( , Invercargill , , ), as well as and the Avon River in Christchurch . Belfast is located near Christchurch, named after the Irish city of the same name, and in the region of Acaroa there are toponyms of French origin. Scandinavian migrants have left their mark on toponymy, in particular, the names and ^[23] , and some toponyms of the suburbs and streets of Auckland and Wellington bear the “imprint” of the presence of Australian immigrants (Footscray and ) . Toponyms originating from the languages ​​of the peoples of Asia are extremely rare, such as near Wellington and the Christchurch suburb of Kashmir , reflecting mainly the ties between the British colonies ^[24] .

Among European toponyms are derivatives of the names of organizations that have mastered the country (Hutt Valley, Wakefield, Port Chalmers, Ashburton ), ships ( ), names of government officials (Featherstone, Rollston , Invercargill ), politicians (Foxston, Fox Glacier , Gisborne ), church hierarchs ( Selwyn ) ^[25] . A number of places were named after famous British military leaders and battles - Auckland , Napier , Hastings , Havelock , Wellington , Picton , Marlborough , Nelson and Blenheim , as well as British monarchs and politicians - , , , Queenstown , - in honor of Alexandra of Denmark , wife of the English king Edward VII , and - in honor of the emperor of Austria-Hungary Franz Joseph I ; the mountains named after Queen Victoria are located near and . A large number of objects are named after Sir George Gray , who served as governor and prime minister of the country - ^[26] , Greymouth , , ^[27] and others.

Several place names of New Zealand come from the oikonyms of Great Britain - such as Dunedin (in honor of Edinburgh - Dùn Éideann in Scottish Gaelic ^[28] ), New Plymouth , Canterbury , etc. ^[29] .

The assignment of geographical names in New Zealand was initially controlled by the Royal Geographical Society , but in 1894 these powers were transferred to the Governor-General of New Zealand ^[13] . In 1894, the country's Prime Minister Joseph Ward introduced an amendment to the legislation, according to which, when naming new geographical objects, preference should be given to Maori names, as well as correcting old names with errors (although this was not always observed in practice). In 1924, the New Zealand Honorary Geographical Council was created, which advised on the naming of geographical objects, and in 1946, the New Zealand Geographic Names Council (NZGB) was created, which is responsible for the control of geographical names in New Zealand and its territorial waters ^[30] , including the names of urban settlements, localities, mountains, lakes, rivers, waterfalls, harbors and other natural objects, as well as the study of toponyms in the Maori language. The Council has the authority to change or accept both English and Maori names ^[13] . According to the laws of the country, anyone can offer the Council a variant of the geographical name, after which the Council consults with local Māori communities and holds a public hearing before deciding whether this name can become official ^[31] . Geographic names can also be officially approved by an Act of the Parliament of New Zealand , and the Council must maintain a public register of all official New Zealand geographical names ^[13] .

The Council encourages the use of the original Maori names, and for some entities, double names are officially approved - in English and Maori. They can be used both individually ( Taranaki or Egmont volcano), or as a pair, where both names should be used together ( ) ^[32] . In 1998, as a result of the settlement , the highest mountain in New Zealand officially received the name Aoraki / Mount Cook ^[33] . There are also several English double names - for example, Wellington Harbor ( English Wellington Harbor ) is officially known as Port Nicholson ( English Port Nicholson ) ^[34] .

Maori members regularly conduct campaigns to correct inaccurate or distorted Maori place names. So, in 2000, a group of local ivies proposed renaming the suburb of Wellington, to Whataitai, referring to the legend of the sea monster Taniwha , which supposedly lives in Wellington's harbor. This proposal was rejected by the Geographic Names Council ^[35] . In 2009, the Council recommended renaming the city of Wanganui to Whanganui , as the city was originally named after the English River . Whanganui River , and the word " Wanga " is absent in the Maori vocabulary ^[35] . In 2009, the government decided that both options would be adopted as alternative official names ^[36] . The origin of Wanganui is said to reflect the dialectal pronunciation of local Māori, who pronounce “ wh ” (“f” -shaped sounds in other dialects), as [ˀw] is the laryngeal “w”.

In 2015, the Council asked the representative of the public from the region of Canterbury complained about the " politically correct " name three geographic features in your region, in which there are the root of " nigger ": Nigger Hill Niggerhed and Nigger-stream ^{[37] [38]} . Following consultations with representatives of the tribe who reside in the area, alternative names were proposed, approved by the Minister of Land Information , which was officially announced on December 15, 2016 after being published in New Zealand Gazette ^[39] .

in Russian

• Zhuchkevich V.A. General toponymy. 2nd edition, revised and amended. - Minsk: High School, 1968 .-- S. 432.
• Pospelov E. M. Geographical names of the world. Toponymic dictionary / resp. ed. R. A. Ageeva. - 2nd ed., Stereotype. - M .: Russian dictionaries, Astrel, AST, 2002. - 512 p. - 3,000 copies. - ISBN 5-17-001389-2 .
• Dictionary of geographical names of foreign countries / A. M. Komkov. - M .: Nedra, 1986.- 459 p.

in English

• King, Michael. The Penguin History of New Zealand. - Penguin Books, 2003. - ISBN 978-0143018674 .
• Mein Smith, Philippa. A Concise History of New Zealand. - Australia: Cambridge University Press, 2005. - ISBN 0-521-54228-6 .
• Hay, Jennifer; Maclagan, Margaret; Gordon, Elizabeth, Jennifer. Dialects of English: New Zealand English. - Edinburgh University Press, 2008. - ISBN 978-0-7486-2529-1 .

• Place Names & Street Names - Information on the New Zealand Geographic Names Board , databases and official information from the
• New Zealand Gazetteer of Official Geographic Names - links to databases of all official geographical names of New Zealand