> Wrong. A "tangi" is, specifically, a Maori traditional funeral. The average non-Maori New Zealander would say "funeral". I stand to be corrected on this, but I also think that the average Maori would also say "funeral" when speaking English, unless it was in reference to an actual tangi and not just a standard funeral. "Tangi" has crossed over into standard NZ English, but still only refers to the traditional Maori ceremony, which is usually several days long.
>

Thanks for the clarification. Just what IS it about the traditional tangi that seems to have captured the Western imagination? I know nothing about it, other than it was a Maori thing.

"Tangi" seems to have crossed so far over into standard English that the OED (Oxford English Dictionary) is considering adding it to the standard English lexicon. Once it gets into the dictionary defined as "funeral," you know, then it's all over -- it might lose any special or particular meaning that that term may have had. :-(

Wolfspirit