Editing Kōwhai (section)

==Name==

The [[Māori language|Māori]] word ''kōwhai'' derives from the [[Central Pacific languages|Proto-East Central Pacific]] word ''kōfai'', used to refer to leguminous trees that grow pods and typically have distinct flowers. It is related to words in some other [[Polynesian languages]] that refer to different species that look superficially similar, such as {{langx|haw|'ōhai}} (''[[Sesbania tomentosa]]''), {{langx|ty|ofai}} (''[[Sesbania grandiflora]]'') and [[Marquesan language|Marquesan]] ''kohai'' (''[[Caesalpinia pulcherrima]]'').<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.temarareo.org/PPN-Kofai.html |title=*Kōfai [Proto Central Eastern Polynesian] |website= Te Māra Reo: The Language Garden |date=2022 |publisher=Benton Family Trust |access-date=30 September 2022}}</ref> ''Kōwhai'' is also the Māori word for the colour yellow.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/search?keywords=kowhai |title=kōwhai |work=Te Aka}}</ref><ref name="MeaningTrees"/> This is unique to Māori, as many other Polynesian languages use a word derived from [[Proto-Polynesian language|Proto-Eastern Polynesian]] ''rega-rega'', such as {{langx|smo|lega}} and {{langx|rar|renga}}, and may represent the word for the flower replacing the older word.<ref>{{cite Q|Q131748073}}</ref> The spelling ''kowhai'' (without a [[Macron (diacritic)|macron]]) is common in [[New Zealand English]].{{cn|date=October 2024}}