Talk:Hotu Matuꞌa

Proposal to rename page as "Hotu Matua"
I had never seen Hotu Matua spelled "Hotu Matu'a" until I came across this page. Currently, googling "Hotu Matua" returns 19,500 results, whereas googling the name spelled as "Hotu Matu'a" returns less than half that number at only 9,330 results. Therefore I just added to the article that what this page refers to as "Hotu Matu'a" is more commonly spelled "Hotu Matua". However, since "Matua" is more common, it may be appropriate for someone to rename this page "Hotu Matua". Adrigon 04:40, 7 March 2007 (UTC)
 * Oppose This search reveals that the most correct form contains an apostrophe, as in the original Rapanui name. I created a redirect in Hotu Matua so that no users searching for that form will miss the article.-- Hús  ö  nd  19:43, 13 March 2007 (UTC)

I myself would actually prefer that pages be titled under the "more correct" ethnic Oceanic spelling also, but ironically have been opposed on that as well, due to Wikipedia's WP:UE guidelines about "popular convention" being cited. I accepted that. But that search you cite returns less than 1'000 results. And if this page is going to be titled with the more ethnic glottal stop, then there are other pages I would like to be (re)named more ethnically and "correctly" as well. Adrigon 23:16, 13 March 2007 (UTC)


 * "Popular convention" doesn't mean inaccuracy. Sources for "Hotu Matua" denote either misknowledge of the correct form or carelessness of the writer. These reasons are unacceptable in an encyclopedia. The accurate name is "Hotu Matu'a" and I would support your proposals to bring accuracy to many other Oceanic names.-- Hús  ö  nd  00:19, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

If the more indigenous spelling is the only truly "accurate" and thus acceptable spelling--rather than both actually being correct but one being more appropriate for titles on Wikipedia based on common usage in an English context--then that does indeed establish the existence of a precedent favorable to ethnic names which have been spelled in ways that resulted in/given what would therefore be misnomers, by others from elsewhere. Ergo I suppose I'm safe in assuming that this would apply even if it does occur within the culture to which the name comes from, such as in the name of the Hotel Hotu Matua located on Easter Island? If that is the case, then please visit Talk:Chamorros. Adrigon 02:07, 14 March 2007 (UTC)

It was requested that this article be renamed but there was no consensus for it to be moved.

A possible source for the article
If anyone wants to work on this article, is a link to The enigmas of Easter Island: island on the edge By John Flenley, Paul G. Bahn, a RS. Dougweller (talk) 17:53, 7 August 2010 (UTC)

Heyerdahl's research
I´m slightly baffled - in his (admittedly) popular work - Aku-Aku, Thor Heyerdahl makes a point out of mentioning that blood and hair probes from the Rapanui population were analyzed with the best technology available at the time, that the results were very clear to the fact that part of the Rapanui population was ethnically totally unrelated to polynesians - but showed profiles related to small communities in South America, who again might share ancestors with people in Northern Europe. It is common knowledge that tribes/people move in the most astonishing ways over time - given time enough. This paired with some very practical evidence, like engineering skills, points to the fact that Easter Island probably was colonized be two different peoples, coming to the island from different sides. As one of these peoples were technologically more advanced, they called the shots for a number of years- till they overdid it and pressure on the isolated ecosystem brought flaming rebellion. On top of a bitter civil war, slavehunters and white adventurers tries to get their part of the carcass until the Catholic Church claimed the remainder. And slowly the population began to climb up again. But the knowledge lost in the madness was...lost! Judging from present web-sites, it appears that the rapanui - whatever the size of the earlobes - are right in the middle of a modern tourist inferno. And all Thor Heyerdahl tried to do, was to accumulate the wisdom abour old times, carefully preserved through generations from mouth to ear and protected by heavy superstition = social pressure. In Scandinavia we have - in excavation after excavation - found out, that the "knowledge of old people", preserved through generations, is often a lot more precise than contemporary, political statements. — Preceding unsigned comment added by Ptcohrt (talk • contribs) 6 May 2012
 * Note: I moved this text here from the article- gadfium 23:51, 5 May 2012 (UTC)

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Saltillo
Hi! Should we write with saltillo also Tu'u ko Iho? Is ʻOkina (ʻ) a mistake? -- Basilicofresco  (msg) 10:02, 31 July 2021 (UTC)


 * I believe so. According to Kieviet (2017) A Grammar of Rapa Nui, p. 19,
 * The glottal plosive is represented by a straight apostrophe ꞌ.[fn] ... the glottal does not have a lowercase/capital distinction; if a glottal-initial word is capitalised, it is the vowel after the glottal which gets the capital: ꞌAꞌamu ‘story’.
 * [fn] ... the development of Unicode has obviated the need for a special font; the code point UA78C (‘Latin small letter saltillo’) is now available for a symbol ꞌ which is not confused with an apostrophe by word processors.
 * The 'okina is Hawaiian, and in a different form Tahitian. I've seen people push it as Polynesian, but it seems to be more local than that. Also, Spanish conventions may be at play here.
 * BTW, for the convenience of editors reading the article code, we have a template saltillo that won't get confused with an apostrophe while editing.
 * — kwami (talk) 19:20, 31 July 2021 (UTC)