THE MAORI CONSONANTS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXV, Issue 126, 30 May 1934, Page 6

THE MAORI CONSONANTS.

As "Listener's" insistence that there is no "g" in Maori is liable to confuse students of the language; and, also, as 'he himself states his willingness to learn, I will try to show that the "g" sound abounds in Maori. From whanautanga (birth) to tangi (death lament), from angaanga (head) to ngaengae (heel), tlio Maori tangata (man) uses the "g." His ingoa (name), his kainga (home), ringa (arm), rangi (sky), runga (up), hanga (build), hangi (oven), kanga (curse), konga (ember), kungongingongi (salmon), manga (baracouta), origo (scarce), punga (anchor), panga (throw), tunga (toothache), whanga (bay), whango (hoarse), ctc. There is precisely the same "g" sound in a Maori saying ringa roa (long arm) and a pakeha saying ring-a-rosy. All the words given above were in common, everyday use, and many more. As I pointed out in my P rc " vious letter, the Maori has a different" intonation to a pakeha. The modern Maori, who has an English education, has to use a different intonation when he reverts to Maori from that which he uses for English. To conclude, I related "Listener's" contention to a Maori friend of mine, asking for his opinion. He gave it tersely, in one word —"Porangi" (madness), another "g." Wanganui is not in the Maori language. KORO-HEKE.