THE MAORI TONGUE.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 194, 18 August 1931, Page 17

THE MAORI TONGUE.

With regard to the reference made in a recent issue of your valuable paper re the above by "Maori" (wherein he refers to the difficulties occasioned to interpreters during court trials), "Maori" makes special reference to "patua," "strike," in Te Rua's trial, and "tane" in George Rameka's trial. As the former word "patua" has already been dealt with fully, during the hearing of the Rua case, I will, therefore, confine my remarks to "tane!" Your correspondent obviously does not agree with my rendering of the word "tane." He has even gone so far as to say (under the cloak of his nom de plume) that he would defy anyone who would say to the contrary that the word "tane" means "husband." If the latter remark was made in all seriousness, it only goes to show his imperfect knowledge of the language. Standing before the public and boasting as a man competent to judge a question of this nature, "Maori" states that he has had twenty years' experience of court work. Surely, he should therefore know better by this time, that the word referred to, "tane," denotes "male," and nothing more. For the information of "Maori" the common form for "husband" is denoted by "tane tuturu." There are various forms by which "husband" could be described, but none so definite as "tane tuturu." J. RUKUTAI. \ I wonder if your correspondent "Maori," in Tuesday evening's "Star," really knows the Maori language, because if he did he would have known that the word "tane" has another meaning besides "husband," that is "male." I quite realise the difficulties with which an interpreter is confronted, more especially when translating the speech of a Maori orator, for, as everyone knows, certain metaphors permissible in Maori, cannot, according to the strict laws of. modern etiquette, be rendered by equivalent mataphors. Quite a number of words in Maori have ambiguous meanings. Take the word "mata"; it may mean cither "a spear head," "the edge Ot a sharp instrument," or even "raw" or "uncooked." The Maori language contains numerous words of such a character. E.H.N.