JOHN STEVENS AND MAORI PRONUNCIATION.

Manawatu Herald, Volume XXX, Issue 378, 15 February 1908, Page 2

JOHN STEVENS AND MAORI PRONUNCIATION.

Incorrect Maori spelling or mispronunciation of Maori words has the same effect upon our respected member, Mr John Stevens, as the proverbial red rag has to the bull. Mr Stevens has an affection for the Maori which we are not prepared to concede is below that of the late Judge Manning. As a lad he romped with the dusky children ; during the troublous times he moved among them fearlessly ; he studied their language, and understood their prejudices, and admired their virtues. As a student, he knows the Maori, and in the House our dusky brethren have not a more staunch friend than Hoaui Tiwini. Mr Stevens has a fund of Maori stories, both grave and gay, stored in the chambers of the mind, and when in the mood, can be extremely interesting. If he could only be induced to deliver a lecture on the above subject, it would be well worth handing down to posterity in book form. However, Mr Stevens was a little indignant yesterday afternoon at the mispelling of the Maori name which designates that lovely piece of native bush leased by the Messrs Robinsons’ between Motuiti and Himatangi, which acts as a beacon to the mariner whose haven is Foxton. The correct spelling of the word is Umarupapaku (not Omarupuku). This word, said Mr Stevens, was rather too much for the pakehas to pronounce in the days gone by, so they got as near as possible to it in English, viz, “Old Mother Parker.’’ Another locality between Foxton and Palmerston, Ngawhakaraua, was likewise anglicised as the “Half Crown,’’ and still farther on Tiakitahuna was rendered “Jacky Town” in the vulgar. But as we previously mentioned such mispronunciations are as sacrilege to Mr Stevens, so we warn any one ‘‘ to stand off the grass ” when attempting to tongue the resonant, musical and expressive Maeri language within his hearing.