Art. XX.—Moriori Connection.

Transactions and Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, Volume 12, 1879, Page 237

Art. XX.—Moriori Connection. By J. Turnbull Thomson, F.R.G.S., F.R.S.S.A., etc. [Read before the Wellington Philosophical Society, 23rd August, 1879.] The basis of this paper rests on a Moriori vocabulary, prepared by S. Deighton, Esq., R.M., Chatham Islands, furnished to the Native Department, Wellington, at the instance of Government, and it forms a proper sequel to the several papers I have written on the “Whence of the Maori,” etc. For distant readers it is necessary that I should explain that the Moriori tribe is by tradition said to have occupied the New Zealand islands before the coming of the Maori. A small remnant now only exists in the isolated and remote Chatham Islands, situated some 200 miles to the east of the main group; and to record what yet exists of their language has for some years been the desire of the authorities of the department in charge of native affairs. By the courtesy of Mr. T. W. Lewis, secretary to the Native Department, I have been entrusted with the analysis of a copy of the above-mentioned vocabulary with the view of ascertaining its philological connection with kindred races. The vocabulary consists of 168 words, principally radical or primary. But, for the purposes of a comparative vocabulary* Some of the words are phrases, and for some I have not been able to find the Maori equivalent., the words are reduced to 155 in number, and of these 115 are pure Maori; hence the Moriori can only be said to be a dialect of this Polynesian race which now inhabits New Zealand—it is distinctly not a separate language. Under these circumstances, it would be tedious and out of place to transcribe the whole of Mr. Deighton's valuable vocabulary. I have therefore eonfined myself to making a comparison of those Moriori words which are not pure Maori, showing where they are to be found amongst other Malagas-Malayo-Polynesian, or Barat races.

Of course it must be understood, that the investigation is circumscribed by the limited number of dictionaries or vocabularies in my possession; thus, though many of the words are not found in them, yet it is not to be taken for granted that they will not be dug out from the strata of the many yet unknown languages spoken between Madagascar and Polynesia; all experience showing that radical words are never wholly lost, for if one branch of a race accepts new words, another branch yet retains them. Coming to remarks on the comparison, it will be seen that there are thirty-nine out of the one hundred and fifty-five words which are not Maori, or else, if Maori, are variations of the language sufficient to claim distinctive notice. Of the first word, i.e., the personal pronoun I, the Moriori analogue is found in three of the principle groups in Polynesia, and also in fourteen of the tribes of Non-Aryan Hindostan. But the analysis of this portion of the subject will be best made, by such readers as are interested, for themselves. I shall therefore confine myself to generally stating, that there are fifteen Moriori words out of the thirty-nine which are not reproduced in the limited list of works which I possess. Five words will be seen to belong to the Fijian Group, four to the Samoan, twelve to the Hawaiian, two to the Murihiku dialect of New Zealand, eleven to the Malay, two the Malagasi, seven to the Non-Aryan tribes of Hindostan, but, stating it differently, these seven words are found seventy-seven times in these Barat tribes. The inferences to be drawn, so far as inferences can be made from such limited data, are consistent with the principle elucidated in the previous papers, viz.: that the furthest and earliest waves of migration accord most in the roots of their languages with the centre from which they migrated. Thus as we know the Moriori to have preceded the Maori, we accept him to be one of these earliest waves. The analogy between it and the Hawaiian (an acknowledged most primitive tribe) is, therefore, striking; but the more so is this the case when we scan the root-words of the archaic focus of the race in Ancient or Non-Aryan India. The deductions therefore accord with those of preceding papers.

English. Maori. Moriori. Other Languages. I au; ahau ko au koi au, Fijian; o-au, Samoan; owau, Hawaiian. And non-Aryan Hindostan—go, Sunwar; go, Thulungya; go, Bahingya; ku, Laos; go, Vaya; go, Lepcha, Sikkim; ka, Dhimal; ku, Mithan Naga; ngo, Abor Miri, and Sibsagar Miri; kau, Ahom, and Khamti. Who wai ko wai o-cei, Fijian; o-ai, Samoan; owai, Hawaiian. And non-Aryan Hindostan—ka, Bhutani and Lhopa; kai, Kocch; owai, Tablung Naga; khai, Laos; okoi, Ho(Kol); okoe, Santali; okowe, Mundala. To-day aianei a ta ranei hari ini, Malay; anio hiani, Malagasi. And non-Aryan Hindostan—ai, Kiranti, Rodong, Rungchenbung, and Dungmali; nani, Dhimal; anyi, Mithan Naga; daini, Singpho; yane, Burman; wei ni, Kami; wai ni, Kumi; hanne, Tounghthu; wanni, Laos. Bone iwi imi Eye kanohi konehi Non-Aryan Hindostan—khan, Brahui; kan, Thochu; khan, Uraon; kane, Rajmahali; kan, Gondi; kanak, Rutluk; kannuka, Khond; kan, Tamil; kanna, Malayalma; kannu, Telugu; kannu, Karnataka; kann, Tuluva, Kurgi, and Toda; konn, Toduva; kannu, Kota, Badaga, Kurumba, and Irula; kan, Malabar. Head upoko uraki Non-Aryan Hindostan—mura, Kocch. House whare wheau Mosquito waeroa koringa Non-Aryan Hindostan—ninga, Kolami; ningal, Naikude; kirigi, Gadaba. Mountain maunga makutere Slave herehere mokai; tutua Stone kohatu pohatu pokahu, Hawaiian; batu, Malay; vato, Malagasi. Non-Aryan Hindostan—hathou, Gyami. Bad kino etae wahike tei (filth), Malay. Red kura ura he ula ula, Hawaiian. Non-Aryan Hindostan—ulan, Sokpa; hola, Kiranti; harra, Lohorong; arra, Ho(Kol); arah, Santali; erra, Telugu. Island motu whatu Butterfly pepepe purehurehu he pule lehua, Hawaiian. Face mata iahu

Feather hou; raukura uru manu huruhuru, Murihiku, New Zealand; he hulu o ka manu, Hawaiian; hulu, Malay; volomborona, Malagasi. Thumb koromatua to nui ka lima nui, Hawaiian. Root akaaka paki aka puhaka, Murihiku, New Zealand; pogai a'a, Samoan; ke aa, Hawaiian; akar, Malay. Dung wai-rakau tutae de, Fijian; tae, Samoan; tei, Malay. Grass otaota rau daun (leaves), Malay. Know matau kitee kila, Fijian; e ike, Hawaiian; kinal, Malay. Life oranga ti oranga olaga, Samoan; ke ola ana, Hawaiian; orang idup, Malay. Heart ngakau manawe neti ati, Malay. Passing wani, etc. ti ahenga Rotten pirau pere Sing waiata kara mia Truth pono tika Worm toke tunga Waves piupiu rehu moana North nota? whakuru he kukulu akau, Hawaiian. South tonga uru he kukulu hema, Hawaiian. East rawhiti maranga West hauauru raki ra, Fijian. Hill puke takupu he mauna uuku, Hawaiian. Naked kau ko re kirianake Thatch tapatu tua rau lau, Samoan; daun tua (old leaves), Malay. Abundant nui ku ai Arm ringaringa ririma lima, Hawaiian.