AWATEA.

Auckland Star, Volume LXVII, Issue 238, 7 October 1936, Page 12

AWATEA.

There seems to have been some misunderstanding as to the meaning of the word Awatea, the name of the luxury ship provided by the Union Company. The Venerable W. L. Williams, 8.A., the eminent Polynesian authority, accepted the word from as far back as 1844. In his work of 1871 (printers, Williams and Norgate), he shows it as a noun. He accepted it as the result of well authenticated genuine Maori usage. Ho gives its meaning as "broad daylight"—"Kua awatea kua puta rawa to ra," and for a second meaning tho "middle of the day." It is hard to imagine a more dependable authority than the reverend gentleman, who also admits in his works many examples used by him were adopted from the "Mythology and Traditions of the New Zealanders," that very admirable work by Sir George Grey, printed in London in 1854. He also took for purposes of authenticity, from the lips of reliable chiefs the phraseology of the day. I cannot trace authority for the meaning that has been advanced at some of the functions. "The eyei of the dawn." This seems to be a stretched or enlongated interpretation. At all events authoritative corroboration seems to be lacking. If we dissect the word wo may arrive at Awa —river, teawhite, nsed that is as an adjective, in short, white river. I do not feel quite happy about this solution, and am content to accept the reverend gentleman's conclusion. Comments have been made with reference to the naming of / the steamer Rangitiki. Enthusiasts contend that it should be Rangitikei. There is some room for doubt as to these two words. A search through authoritative sources provides the following (but, rightly or wrongly, I do not know). Rangi; Heaven, sky, region above the clouds. Tiki: Something within that region that is perceptible to the eye — probably such as modn, stars,- etc. Rangi: Heaven, sky, etc. Tikei: Something within that region that is not perceptible to the eye —probably air, etc. If one digs deeply enough into the fundamentals of Maori vocabulary, the

obsession of definiteness gives place to a realisation of the many possibilities and multiplicity of opinion in regard to the various interpretations which frequently are dependent upon topographical origins, matters of genealogy, or mythology, etc. etc. One can only be arrogantly assertive (if he wishes) upon certain aspects,- such as consonantal combinations or arrangements, and vowel terminals of the syllables. Other than these we must step warily. Admittedly some of the steamer names have been subjected to a barbarous mutilation, one in particular caught my eye, where the single "g" unknown in Maori grammar, had been used as_ a consonant instead of in conjunction with the preceding "n" to complete its consonantal value—an inflexible rule. These errors made in innocence would no doubt receive appropriate treatment were representations made to the shipping people. Such amendments would be welcomed by all. The fascinating study of the 'Maori race, with their arts and crafts might well be substituted in our schools for some of the so-called academic subjects. We pakelias —self-styled and satisfied intellectuals, wo promulgators of a Western culture born of certain accepted social orders and fundamental economics, see around tis nothing but chaos, distress and bitterness. Generations ago the Polynesian warriors, by communal practice and spirit, solved the problems that beset the enlightened (?) white races today. Were they not nearer to the example set by the Carpenter of Galilee? We might well, I think, in our bewilderment, accept with modesty their 1 example, and take counsel from these Vikings of the Southern Seas. NORMAN A. STEVENS.