MAORI MEMORIES.

Wairarapa Times-Age, 12 April 1938, Page 8

MAORI MEMORIES.

ANOTHER PLEA FOR MAORI SPEECH. (Recorded by J.H.S. for “Times-Age.”) If this question has been prevnously dealt with, one may be excused for its repetition, because another and more vital reason for it has come to light. In an address at the Citizens’ Luncheon Club, Palmerston North, recently, Mr C. J. Adcock, M.A., pointed out most convincingly the reason why the League of Nations has so far failed to realise its great objective —peace. Each of the many delegates makes his fervent appeal in a language foreign to 90 per cent of his listeners. It is translated in academic terms, devoid of emotion and inner meaning of the original, and falls flat. “Esperanto” was Mr Adcock’s remedy for this babel of tongues. It is, he said, the simplest of all languages, and being derived from the root of many European tongues, it is the most easily learned. Personally, I must confess that I know nothing of it, but the following experience of the simple beauty of the Maori language convinced me of the truth of Mr Adcock’s argument.

An eloquent advocate in the Maori Land Court, stricken with blindness, required the services of a private secretary. A student of languages just arrived from Oxford University was engaged. He had never heard a word of Maori in his life, but it was explained to him that the sound value of the five vowels was the same as in Italian, and that the nine consonants were used as in English. Five sheets of foolscap closely typed from shorthand notes, taken from the interpreter’s verbal recital at over 100 Maori words per minute, without one error, was the result. In no other language, except perhaps Esperanto, would this be possible.