rotarota
1. (verb) (-ia) to sign (with the hands), use sign language.
Kātahi ka haere whakamomoka taua tangata ki tētahi wāhi e tino mārama ai tana titiro atu ki te mahi a taua tangata. Nā, tino kitea ana e ia te mahi a taua tangata tiaki raiti, e rotarota ana ki ētahi Poa i runga i tētahi maunga i tawhiti atu e tū mai ana (TPH 30/3/1900:5). / Then that man went covertly to that place so that he could see clearly what that man was doing. Now, he saw clearly what the light keeper was doing was signalling to some Boers on a mountain standing in the distance.
2. (noun) signal with the hand.
Nō tō rāua kitenga atu i taua taipō ka mutu tā rāua kai, kātahi rāua ka tahuri ki te karakia. Ka mutu kātahi ka rotarota mai te taipō nei ki a rāua, ko te rotarota tēnei: ko te ringa i haere i te pāpāringa mauī ki te pāpāringa katau (TPH 29/9/1900:5). / When they saw that ghost they stopped eating and then began to say ritual chants. When they stopped the ghost made a hand sign to them and this was the gesture: its hand went from its left cheek to the right cheek.
3. (noun) verse for children.
Ko te rotarota he momo rerenga o te kupu e pārekareka ana ki te kōhungahunga. Ka whai wāhi atu ko ngā nuka reo, pērā i te huarite, te oropuare tārua me te orokati tārua (RMR 2017). / Rotarota is a type of verse or phrasing which is appealing to young children. It may contain literary devices such as rhyme, assonance and alliteration (RMR 2017).
