VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

Taranaki Daily News, 26 January 1934, Page 9

VOICE OF THE PEOPLE

VIEWS ON CURRENT TOPICS PURITY OF MAORI LANGUAGE. ADVICE OF GOVERNOR-GENERAL. (To the Editor.) Sir,— Coining recently from a pro- ’}• vince where a wordy 'argumentis ii progress concerning the purity of thi Maori language and the spelling and pronunciation of Maori words, I was intrigued to notice an automobile association signpost boldly directing all 1 and sundrj to Koru “pah.” I had discovered—l thought correctly —that one of the cardinal principles oi the written Maori language was that every syllable, and therefore every word ended with a vowel. According to this rule “pah” should be spelled “pa.” Of course .this is only a minor defect ; 5 in an otherwise excellent signposting / system which has proved of great convenience to the motoring public. Signposts are so public, 1 however, and the general public so easily led into errors that it seemed d- pity that in a province so rich in Maori associations as Taranaki even so small a mistake should receive official sanction. Maori names play a very prominent part in the geography tof New Zealand, and unless the advice of Lord Bledisloe is followed there seems to be every like-' lihood before many generations-have passed of the Maori names of places being entirely different, at least as far as pronunciation is concerned, from what , they were before the' first white man commenced to “Europeanise” the language—l am, etc., ’’ / :• PAKEHA. New Plymouth, Jan. 25. “COLONEL BOGEY” EXPLAINS. (To the Editor.) Sir,—lt is at least permissible for me to reveal the reason for Colonel Bogey s silence in the war and wool controversy in your newspaper. The old gentleman, as one might have guessed, was called away under sealed orders—shortly after writing his initial letter —to the British i?aval and military conference at Singapore. From Singapore he has sent me the following cablegram: Please apologise Cavalcade, L.M.S., Merino and old friend Pinacoat (stop) unavoidable absence (stop) watching developments (stop) on stop (spot). Fight on (stop) Bogey.—l sin etc. JAMES BOGEY Junr. New Plymouth, Jan. 25. OPUNAKE WAR MEMORIAL. ' (To the Editor.) Sir,—As a week-end visitor to Opunake I was much grieved to see that the fine war- memorial on the seafront had been disfigured by what can only be described as a crude scheme of lighting. If those responsible had seen or inquired how other memorial monuments are illuminated they would have found there is only one satisfactory method, namely, flood-lighting, which besides giving much the best effect does not in anyway mar the appearance in daytime.—l am, etc., VISITOR. New Plymouth, Jan. 23, 1934.