PRONUNCIATION OF MAORI

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXIX, Issue 21277, 2 September 1932, Page 15

PRONUNCIATION OF MAORI

Sir, —Since the appearance of my letter of August 23 I have had a communication from an old resident who has held a native interpreter licence for 20 years. From this'gentleman's letter I gather that there are 10 vowel sounds in Maori, nine of which are in common use. I have been told that when t lie Maori tongue was being rendered into English writing a system of pure phonetics was adopted. This being so, all wo now lack is the knowledge of whether a given vowel is short or long, and the only feasible way of overcoming this difficulty is to put accents on all vowels with either the long and short of Latin or the . acute and grave accents of French. the vowel sounds are in constant use in English, but there is no way—other than usage—of distinguishing one from the other. "Wh" and "ng" at the beginning of a word have no English equivalent; correct pronunciation of these appears to be a matter of knack, not. too easily acquired. According to my correspondent the vowels arc: —"A" short and .long as in the English pilpa; "e" short and long as in m6t, obey (rare) ; "i" short and long as in lilt, marine; "o" short and long as in oppose; "u" short and long as in put, rude. " Pakeha-Maori " says it may become fashionable to pronounce correctly—a consummation devoutly to be desired. Correct Maori from a pakeha would sound like affectation or pedantry now. By the way, if the written Maori is purely phonetical, the "h" in pakeha must be aspirate. I ha.ve never heard it pronounced otherwise than pakPa. RICHARI» S. Jardin.