Mana – (Maori) prestige, authority, control, power, influence, status, spiritual power, charisma; an impersonal force or quality that resides in people; supernatural force believed to dwell in a person or sacred object.
Some words don’t translate exactly from one language to another. My understanding is that mana means more than any of the English words in isolation.
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That may be the case, but let us consider for example the Malay equivalent of manana, which is considered by many to fail the same sense of urgency.
Mana is a pseudo word in English used by many with nil understanding. Therefore ill informed use, often by journalists, should be looked at with suspicion.
As Maori will automatically assume non Maori cannot undertans the meaning, we should desits from using this word .
This may well make dialogue easier all round
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apologies for spelling/typing errors
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Adam – English is full of words borowed from other languages, some used as the language from which they came intended and some not.
I think most who use mana understand what it means, I’m just not sure that it translates exactly into a single word in English.
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You are right HP – Mana translates into many meanings:
http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/index.cfm?dictionaryKeywords=mana&search.x=35&search.y=8&search=search&n=1&idiom=&phrase=&proverb=&loan=
And used in a lazy way even by Maori
The same with English words: http://brianedwardsmedia.co.nz/ latest about -Absolutely, awesome.
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Thanks Richard.
It seems to me that mana is one of those words which means more in itself than the sum of the words which are used to translate it.
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