Marae - Ai Matsuno
Marae means a meeting place, especially a communal or sacred place that serves religious and social purposes in Polynesian societies. This word also means cleared and free of weeds or trees. Māori see their marae as their place to stand and belong. Marae are used for meetings, celebrations, funerals, educational workshops and other important tribal events.
Example sentence(I created): I saw my classmates at the Marae yesterday.
Why I think this word interesting is that there is no concept both in Japanese.(I think, in English, church may have close meanings with Marae.) We don’t have any word which represents a sacred meeting place. One of the reasons is that, in Japan, it is uncommon to conduct religious events such as meetings, celebrations, funerals and so on in the same place.
(I tried to post an image, but I couldn’t. Sorry.)
Nice word to now about it, it's amazing that they have such a different word to describe the same thing on a several situations
ReplyDeleteIt is interesting cause we do not have such a culture.
ReplyDeleteInteresting post, Ai. The marae is the spiritual and cultural heart of the Māori tribe (iwi) or sub-tribe (hapu). I wonder if Ainu tribes had marae 'back in the day'?
ReplyDeleteDavid :-)
This word relates with my word "Koha". Because someone give the Koha at Marea.
ReplyDeleteI also think this word is interseting! You explained this word while comparing to Japanese culture, and it made me more curious about Māori culture!
ReplyDelete