2. (modifier) traditional tattooing.
Ka mauria te tohunga tā moko nei e Ngā Puhi mai i Hauraki ki te Tai Tokerau (TWK 51:10). / This tattooing expert was taken by Ngā Puhi from Hauraki to Northland.
3. (noun) traditional tattooing - Māori tattooing designs on the face or body done under traditional protocols.
He tohunga nō neherā mō ngā mahi whakapaipai i te tangata, mō te tā moko, mō te aha (M 2004:62). / An ancient expert in the art of personal decoration, of traditional tattooing and other arts.
tā
1. (verb) (-ia,-ngia) to dump, strike, beat, thump, throw down, tackle.
Ka tāia ia ki raro, ka mekea te whatu, ka natia te kakī, heke ana mai te toto i te ihu, i te waha (TP 9/1911:11). / He was thrown down, punched in the eye, strangled and blood flowed from his nose and mouth.
See also tānga
2. (verb) (-ia) to apply moko, tattoo.
Tika tonu mātou ki te whare hei kākahutanga i ō mātou kahu Māori, e takatū ana mō te haka, tā rawa te kanohi ki te moko (TP 1/12/1902:3). / We went straight to the house to change into our Māori costumes, prepare for the performance and apply the moko to our faces.
3. (verb) (-ia) to paint.
Ka wehi taua iwi ki ōna kanohi ānō i tāia ki te tākou te whero (NM 1928:11). / The tribe was afraid of his eyes, it was as if they had been painted red with red ochre.
4. (verb) (-ia) to print, publish.
I tāia anō te waiata nei i te tau 1856 e Shortland ki tana pukapuka: 'Traditions and Superstitions' (M 2004:112). / This song was also published by Shortland in his book: 'Traditions and Superstitions'.
Synonyms: kāone, mātātuhi, perehi, hāraunga, whakakawenata, paki, whakaputa, whakaputaputa, pānui
5. (verb) (-ia,-ngia) to carve, cut, etch, fashion.
He pounamu, he aurei, i hoatu e te tangata ki te tohunga kia tāia, arā kia hangā hei matau (W 1971:354). / Greenstone and cloak pins were given by the person to the expert to be carved, that is to be made into fish hooks.
6. (verb) (-ia,-ngia) to whip (a spinning top).
E kī ana a Te Matorohanga i tākaro rawa hoki ngā atua, i tā pōtaka, i neti, i whai, i tākaro i ērā atu tākaro (TTT 1/9/1923:8). / Te Mātorohanga says that the atua also played games, whipping tops, toy darts of flax strips, string games and other games.
7. (verb) (-ngia) to bail (water out of a canoe).
8. (verb) (-ia) to be overcome (by sleep) - only used in the passive form.
9. (noun) tattooing.
He toka tapu a Pōhaturoa nō Ngāti Awa, he tūāhu tuku iho mō ngā karakia mō te whakawhānau tamariki, mō te mate, mō te pakanga, mō te tā moko me ētahi atu tikanga whai hua ki a Ngāti Awa (TTR 1998:178). / Pōhaturoa was a sacred rock where ceremonies of birth, death, war, tattooing and other important matters to Ngāti Awa were performed.
10. (noun) whip for a spinning top.
Ka whakamahia he miro harakeke ki te takahurihuri i te pōtaka. Ka kīia tērā taputapu, he tā. Ka tākaitia te pōtaka ki te tā, ā, ka hihiko te kukume, koirā hei takahurihuri i te pōtaka. Kātahi ka tāia haerehia kia hurihuri tonu (RMR 2017). / Flax strands are made to spin the spinning top. That piece of equipment is called a tā. The whip is wound around the spinning top and then it is pulled energetically. That is what rotates the spinning top. Then the top is whipped so that it continues rotating.
11. (noun) maul, mallet.
Ko te tā me ngā whao ngā tino taputapu a te kaiwhakairo (PK 2008:801). / The mallet and chisels are the main implements of the carver.
Synonyms: kuru, ketuketutanga, kaunuku, mōro
