Ko te aronga kē o tētahi kupu, ko te whakaaro kē rānei ka pupū ake i te hinengaro o te kaiwhakarongo (o te kaipānui, o te kaituhi, o te kaikōrero rānei). Arā, ko te tikanga ki tua atu i te tikanga hāngai o te kupu. Ko te tauaro o te tohutua, ko te tohupū, arā, ko te aronga mata o te kupu, tōna tikanga hāngai rānei. Hei tauira, ko ngā kupu ‘huru mā’. E tohupū ana i ngā huruhuru mā o te tangata. E tohutua ana i te hunga kaumātua.
An alternative meaning of a word, or alternative idea which is evoked by that word in the mind of the listener (reader, writer or speaker). The opposite of connotation is denotation, that is the literal meaning of the word. As an example, the words ‘huru mā’ denote a person’s white hair. They connote an elder.
tohu - to point out, indicate
tua - beyond
Ki a koe, he aha te tohutua o ngā kupu ‘ringa raupā’ i roto i te whakataukī nei?
Kikī ana te reo Māori i ngā kupu tohutua.
E rua ngā kupu tohutua kei roto i te tuhinga nei hei rapu māu.