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Historical loan words

tāhū

1. (noun) ridge pole (of a house), ridge-beam (of a house), main theme, subject of a sentence.

Ko Tākitimu te whare pai ngā waihanga, engari nō taku kitenga i a Porourangi heoi anō kua ngaro ōku mahara ki a Takitimu, kua riro katoa kua whaiāipo ki a Porourangi; i te tamatāne o te āhua, o te tū o te whare; i te rite, i te ātanga, o ngā whakairo, o ngā pou, o ngā pakitara, o te tungaroa, me te whatitoka, me te roro, me te matapihi, me ngā arapaki, kāore he rite i i kitea e ahau i te motu katoa nei, hāunga hoki ngā tuhituhi o ngā heke me te tāhū. (TP 1/7/1902:6). / Tākitimu was built beautifully, but when I saw Porourangi my thoughts about Tākitimu were forgotten and I fell in love with Porourangi; the youthful masculinity of the house's appearance and structure; the architecture and beauty of the carvings, posts, walls, the back wall and the door, verandah, window and the ornamental lattice-work, and not to mention the paintings of the rafters and the ridgepole.

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Synonyms: tāuhu, tāhuhu


2. (noun) direct line of ancestry through the senior line.

Ko ēnei tāngata, ko Tuamatua rāua ko Uruika, ko rāua te tāhū nui o Te Hekengarangi, te tino kāwai ariki: ko rāua te tāhū iho, tae iho ki ngā uri (W 1971:360). / These two people, Tuamatua and Uruika, are the direct line of ancestry of Te Hekengarangi, the senior line: they are the direct line down to the descendants.

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3. (noun) subject of a sentence (grammar).

I te rerenga 'Kei te kai rātou', ko te kupu 'rātou' te tāhū. I te rerenga 'E ngongoro ana te ihu', ko 'te ihu' te tāhū (PK 2008:810). / In the sentence 'Kei te kai rātou', the word 'rātou' is the subject. In the sentence 'E ngongoro ana te ihu', the subject is 'te ihu'.

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4. (noun) plot (drama).

Kātahi te tāhū whīwhiwhi, me whakamāmā pea (RMR 2017). / What a complicated plot. Perhaps it should be simplified.

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