THE KUMARA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume CXVII, Issue 17284, 27 September 1916, Page 9

THE KUMARA.

TO TUB EDITOR. Sir.—ln a very interesting article, entitled "The Maori in Franco," which appeared in to-day's '•Times," the word "Kumara" is used to denote the Native potato. Is this the proper worclP In Auckland the word used' is " Kumera." The Right Hon R. J. Seddoii told me years ago, that the town, of which he was then Mayor, was named after a small wild flower like a convolvulus. "Kumara," by the way. is accented on the second syllable, " Kilmer a ; ' on the first.. Are the two words identical? Perhaps some Maori scholar will kindly answer this question.—l am, etc., JAMES PLUNKET. -

Aikmau's Road. September 21. (Kumara is the correct spelling of the Maori word for the sweet potato; it is the same throughout Now Zealand. The accent is placed on the first syllable; the West Coast settlers' opinion pronunciation of the name of Kumara township, with the stress on the second syllable, is incorrect. Sometimes the Natives use the word Kumara to signify any vegetable with edible roots, and a kind of wild convolvulus has been included in this general term, but trm proper name of this plant' is pohue. There is a small shrub called the kumara-lcu, or "new kumara"; in this word also the accent, is on the first syllable, 1" the absence of any definite Maori tradition as to the naming of the place known as Kumara, it may be assumed that it carries the usual mooning, "sweet potato." --• Ed. "L.T.")