CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS.

Auckland Star, Volume LXX, Issue 246, 18 October 1939, Page 6

CORRESPONDENTS' VIEWS.

AOTEAROA. (To the Editor.) Leaving out of consideration those who have no knowledge of the Maori language, no one but a nitwit would pay" any attention to the erroneous and mis-' leading assertion by Mr. R. J. Walker that "in Maori there is. no such thin it as accent, all syllables being pronounced with even stress." The two standard authorities on the matter are, I think, Williams and Maunsell. The following is a quotation from page 11 of the 1930 edition of Williams' Maori dictionary, "Accents have not been marked; but it may be noted that the disyllabic character of the language tends to cause in utterance a stress on the first syllable of each normal disyllabic element of a word." From Chapter I. of MaunseJTg "Grammar of the New Zealand language" (Robertson, Sydney, 1882) the following examples have been taken, and they serve to indicate the importance of the indisj>ensable element and function of accent: Tangata, a man, three short: tangata, men, one long, two short; taringa, the ear, three shorttarings, tlie waiting for. one long, two short: t.ihn, to burn, two short; taiiuhu a ridfrt'|Ktl<". one lonjr, two shortnuiraiiiii, the moon. three rdiort-

mamma. li :hl, u 110 long, two shorttlio striking. tli roe shortpa tun :;a-poa kit. place pigs are killed] one hmg. two short: tutu, a r-liruli, two nliort; tutu, disobedient, short-long; tutu, a bird stand, two long. These examples, which could be much extended, will no doubt suffice. 11l Maori, as in all languages, there are plcntS' of words and names in which there is an even balance of the (syllables, but in the great majority of eases the element of accent definitely occurs. Your eorrtepondent says that I criticised sfr. Cowan's pronunciation of the name "Ao-tea-roa." I did no such thing, I have 110 doubt Mr, Cowan knows just «s well a«s I do the correct pronunciation. Mr. Cowan indicated very clearly the correct vowel sounds, and left it at that. I merely went a step further andexplained which syllable* should be emphasised, that is to say, the first (ao) and the third (a). W. T. MORPETH.