Today’s photo: Detail from the Waka Huia performance, WOMAD 2009

Part 1: Today's word

An anomaly is a kind of exception – something which doesn’t fit into a pattern and is difficult to explain.

The status of Switzerland within Europe, at once a central part and yet at the same time not a member of key institutions, remains something of an anomaly.

The private pension scheme of Education Ministry employees is an anomaly within the Public Sector.

Part 2: Test

Here are FOUR sentences with the word of the day. But only THREE are correct. Which is the Odd One Out?

The Court of Appeal attempted to remove the anomaly whereby the law appeared to protect the profits made by criminals.

Further research demonstrated that what at first appeared a strange anomaly was in fact perfectly consistent with the cultural beliefs of the tribe.

The restriction of citizenship to those whose grandfathers (but not grandmothers) are from the country is a historical anomaly, which needs to be corrected.

There is one major anomaly to the prohibition of the cultivation of the drug – it may in fact be grown in controlled environments for scientific purposes.

Part 3: Practice Questions:

British visitors to New Zealand are allowed to stay longer than those from other countries. Do you believe this historical anomaly needs to be corrected?

In many countries, people can marry at 16, but are unable to vote until they are 18? Do you see this as an anomaly?

Part 4: The Phrasal Five

get by
have enough money
I wouldn’t say my salary’s great, but I get by.

get sb down
make sb depressed
This weather’s really getting me down. Will it ever stop raining?

get down to sth
start doing sth seriously
I think it’s time to turn off the music and get down to work. We’ve got a lot to do.

get through
get connected
I tried to phone him at work but I didn’t get through, so I left a message on his mobile.

get together
meet
I have to go now, but we must get together and have a good talk one of these days.

Part 5: Kiwi Quiz Question

How many different words for ‘you’ are there in Maori language?

Part 6: Today's online listening

This is an interview from Radio New Zealand with Russell Gray from the University of Auckland about the origin of Pacific peoples and the Austronesian language family

Vocabulary for the article:

mutation
redundancy
Polynesia
Melanesia
Micronesia

Questions for the article:

Where are the Pacific peoples thought to have originated 5000 years ago?

Taiwan
Madagascar
China
Australia

What proportion of the world’s languages are in the Austronesian family – spoken in the Pacific region?

half
sixty percent
one-fifth
a tenth

Which of these countries has a language in the same family as Maori?

Australia
Taiwan
Maldives
Mexico

In order to identify if similar words in different languages have come from a common source or ancestor linguists look for

a genetic identity of meaning
a systematic correspondence of sounds
a chance mutation of form
a written record of change

Words for family relationships are more likely to have come from the source language because such words are ...

less common in everyday use
infrequently borrowed from another language
the same in all languages
difficult to pronounce

In order to analyse the data and generate the most likely family trees of the Austronesian languages ...

computers were bought from a British university
methods were borrowed from atomic physics
vocabulary information about each language was digitally coded
the team conducted an experiment lasting several months

The Maori word for ‘rainbow’ is an example of ...

literacy
mutation
innovation
redundancy

The linguistic evidence supports the view that timing of the emigration from Taiwan was dependent on ..

cultural and technological innovation
population explosion
knowledge of astronomy
armed conflict

Genetic evidence suggests that during the emigrations from Taiwan into the Pacific ..

Sixty percent of Austronesian men had a Melanesian mother
Austronesian women took male partners from the local populations
Austronesian migrants suffered from bacteria in the gut
Austronesian family groups stayed with the family of the father

Russell Gray believes that genetic and language evolution

are always linked
are mismatched
need more research
constitute a single process

Today's musical suggestion

Pokarekare Ana performed by Naomi Bradfield

Pökarekare ana (They are agitated)
ngä wai o Waiapu (The waters of Waiapu)
Whiti atu koe hine (But when you cross over girl)
marino ana e (They will be calm)

E hine e (Oh girl)
hoki mai ra (Return to me)
Ka mate ahau (I could die)
I te aroha e (of love for you)

Tuhituhi taku reta (I have written my letter)
tuku atu taku rïngi (I have sent my ring)
Kia kite tö iwi (So that your people can see)
raru raru ana e (That I am troubled)

Whati whati taku pene (My pen is shattered)
ka pau aku pepa (I have no more paper)
Ko taku aroha (But my love)
mau tonu ana e (Is still steadfast)

E kore te aroha (My love will never)
e maroke i te rä (Be dried by the sun)
Mäkükü tonu i (It will be forever moistened)
aku roimata e (By my tears)

Courtesy of Maorilanguage.net)