THE MAORI LANGUAGE.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CVIII, Issue 12911, 3 September 1902, Page 9

THE MAORI LANGUAGE.

HINTS ABOUT PRONUNCIATION. HOW IT HAS BEEN CORRUPTED. (By W. H. SHERWOOD ROBERTS, Oailiaru.) I must express my regret that- more care has not been exercised in correctly spelling the Maori names of places. The errors are more frequent- in the Middle Island, than in the North, in consequence of there being so few ‘Maoris in the former ; and I think it is a. greater pity that many of the melodious Native names have been lost

altogether by substituting some imported name, of interest only to- the person inflicting it on the locality, nr having no

appropriate meaning. It has been slated that Maori words are difficult- of pronunciation, but that is quite a mistake, for they are particularly easy if properly divided into syllables. I have observed that an infant just beginning to use its tongue will clearly and correctly pronounce an easy Maori word, when it can hardly make its commonest English understood. Of course the long words must be learned and correctly divided, but simplicity is the main characteristic of the language-. The “ng” may bo a little difficult in some words, and for that reason the. Hawke's Bay and east coast Maoris change it- into “n,” and the southern Maoris into “k."

Mr T. H. Smith, formerly Judge of the Native Land Court, who agrees with me in most of these remarks, has told us how to pronounce “nga” correctly. He says: “ The child who sings ‘ Ringa, Ringa, Rosie’ twice gives the sound of the -Maori ‘ nga,’ the sound of ‘ng ’ in combination with the other vowels, thus—‘ flowing ever,’ 'bringing over,’' spreading-out,’ not, however, with tho hard ‘g ’ sound, -e.g., we must not say ‘ flowing-gever,’ ‘bring-ging-gover.’ ’’ “ Ringa-ringa’’ is pure Maori, and means “a hand.” “Te” or “E” before a proper name means “ the,” and is equivalent to the English “ Mr,” or a term of respect. Maori words are frequently very expressive. Ivinay mention the word used for a sharp white frost—kai-rakau, meaning literally “ eat the tree,” words expressive of tha damage sharp frosts do to the young green leaves. A twisted style of carving was called whaka.-riro, literally " make like a worm.”

I consider it very important to preserve the Maori names of places, as they generally have a. history attached to them, having been derived from some incident, which occurred at the spot; but to bs able to connect them with that history or to translate them, it is necessary to have them spelt correctly, as the alteration of a vowel or omission of a letter changes the meaning. Too much carelessness Las prevailed, in. the past., so that now the true signification of the name is lost- That is one reason why I wrote tho “ Maori Nomenclature,” in hopes of raising an interest in tho matter. and of obtaining corrections, as great uncertainty attends the attempt to fix the real meaning of many Maori -names. It. is even now very difficult to decide-on the. meaning, a,nd will become more so in the future, for the Whare-kura, the schools in which the sons of the ariki (chiefs) were! formerly taught the ancient mythology, legends, history, astronomy, genealogies, and ether knowledge from memory, by tho learned toliunga (wise men), have now been.' done away with, and replaced by our English schools. Soon ail the tohunga will die, and with them the traditions and legends of tho ancients, except the few that Europeans have collected and printed, for the rising generation of the Maori cares as little for the old legends as our European children do. A great many Maori words are obsolete, as is the case in all other languages, so. that words in some of their ancient songs are not understood by the presentgeneration. Some words were not allowed, to bs used in the ordinary vernacular, but were reserved for the priests and learned chiefs. That may be on© reason why the names of places, words in some, of tho waiata (sorgO. legends and incantations 1 are unintelligible now. But it is evident tfcat the language at present- is not so pure as it- was.

When a chief elected to call himself by the name of any article the name became tapu to him alone, the article receiving l a, different name, thus the original word would bo lost, except in the songs and legends of earlier times. Several words have a great many meanings, the correct one to be ascertained only by the context,) and as that does not exist in place, nam.fsit is very difficult to fix the interpretation, unless one is acquainted with the history of the origin of a name. The old Maoris who knew that history have mostly passed! to the Rcinga, the place of departed spirits, and the few who remain will give little 1 information unless well paid, and their there is some doubt as to its correctness.

The main difficulty in interpreting a. compound word is dividing it into its oiigina.' form, for the same, name -may be. divided into a number of different words, and each word would have n. different meaning, andperhaps many meanings. Another difficulty is- the careless way in which early settlers spelt and pronounced the Maori names, mutilating and distorting them to such an- extent that it is now almost impossible to guess at tbe propel spelling and pronunciation. They are not a ]l as had as “ Fenupit,” which was substituted for Whenua-ldt© (the-land seen), a place in the North Island, or Tarwhite, in Tory Channel, which was a. corruption of Te Awa-iti (the little river), hut the orthography of many place names is incorrect.

Professor Lee, being unable to catch the exact Maori sound, which is difficult to acquire when the student is aged, spelt many words incorrectly in his first- Grammar and Glossary of 1820, according to the sound he allotted to tbe vowels, and at the present- day people are even more careless in spelling Maori names. Take “Tokaralii.” for instance. It- is variously spelt “ Toboraki,” “Tokorahi,” “Tokaraki," and so on, and the different spellings would mean at least- three distinct interpretations. There is “ Kurow,” on the Wnitaki ; as if ends with a consonant, it must bs wrong. It ought to- be “ Kolrurau.” meaning a hundred mists. It was so spelt in 1869. Kartigi ” is a greater error, as the first syllable ends in a consonant, and “g” is never used alone in Maori. It should be- “ Kat-iki " (vanquished), and was so spelt in earl} - writings. “ Kauroo ” should be “Kauru,” the eatable part of the root- of the cabbage tree. “ Manuherikla ’’ is wrong, and the occasional pronunciation, “-Mami-rika,” abominable. Mr C. O. Davis said it should be either “ Manu-here-kia ” (kia for Ngia), meaning “until the bird is tied,” or “ Manu-hiri-kia,” “ until the guest,” or “ the future guest.” Mr W. J. Habens says “ Manu-here-kia ” is the correct way of spelling it. The spelling of ordinary words is quite as bad. "Pa” has an “h” unnecessarily stuck at the end of it, and “kainga-” nr “ kaika,” generally has tbe “a” chopped off, or an “e” substituted. “Hute,” used for money, is a corruption of “utu” (compensation). “Taipo ” is an erroneous spelling of “ tipua ” or ”tu-pna,” a. demon. The. name of the swamp turkey, pukeko, is mis-spelt. “ puknki,” which means a wen, or the- source of a river. A great many words which ought to end in “o” have “a” instead, a,s “ Tuamarina” for “Tua-marino,” and “ R-onga-here ” for ‘‘Rongo-here.” The range of mount ains in Nelson known 'as “ Marine,” should be “Mari-no,” signifying “calm.” As to, the English meaning of words, so much depends on the pronunciation, that tho more I study the names of places the more puzzled I become, and the greater the regret that more care has not been used inearly days, when the old Maoris could have given.‘a. reason for tho name that would set the question, at rest. (To be continued.^