“ALMOST A MYTH"

Sun (Auckland), Volume IV, Issue 1080, 18 September 1930, Page 16

“ALMOST A MYTH"

PURE MAORI DOOMED TO EXTINCTION MANY FOREIGN INFLUENCES Unless more sympathy is shown and greater effort made to preserve Maori, the pure language is doomed to extinction in a future not far distant. In an address at the University College last evening, under, the Anthropology and Maori Race Section of the Auckland Instit- I ute and Museum, Mr. Patrick Smyth, of St. Stephen's Maori j Boys’ College, emphasised this I point. “Tho pure Maori speaker is almost | a myth,” said Mr. Smyt'ne. He was speaking on the evolution of j written Maori and made a plea for the preservation of the language in accordance with its original construction and features. Mr. Smyth pointed out that practically nothing had been done by the education authorities of New Zealand to assist in saving pure Maori from extinction. As it existed today, the • Maori language was cluttered with increasing numbers of words adapted from English, though this was inevitable. At the same time, that development should not prevent efforts to record Maori in its original form. Rather it should stimulate such work. Little effort was made by Europeans and even by many Maoris to pronounce place-names correctly. There should be instruction in that direction. Only a few teachers in the native schools knew the Maori language. Yet Maori was a subject taken for public examinations, though there was no official provision for teaching it. “The music of the Maori language is continually commented on.” Mr. Smyth added. “It is recognised as a most euphonius speech, even at the present time. We can but dream of what its bea.utj’ must have been before its contact with English, and the development of harshness consequent upon the effort to transfer its oral beauty to print in an alphabet supplied from a foreign tongue.” Complete representation was impossible, of course, but, with the experence of years, the harshness softened, as much of the liquid and soothing tone was gained in utterance by scholars who learnt the Maori tongue. Maori should be given as much prominence as French or Latin as far as New Zealand was concerned, said Mr. Smyth. The speaker said that such was his desire to help perpetuate the language that he was willing to give free tuition after November to those wishing to learn Maori. There was n surprisingly large number of peoplo desiring to learn the language, he said but who had not the opportunity to learn. Mr. Smyth also mentioned that Maoris, giving evidence in court though evidently good English scholars, frequently asked for an inter preter to state their case in Maori This was often scathingly commented on. Such comment was not quite fair as the Maoris felt they could state their case better in their own language.