THE MAORI LANGUAGE

New Zealand Listener, Volume 20, Issue 508, 18 March 1949, Page 5

THE MAORI LANGUAGE

Sir-Why are we prohibited from investigating the origin of the Maori language? Surely it is well known that the early missionaries had it constructed in England from vocabularies supplied by

/ Kendall who took Cook’s vocabularies as a base. All those early vocabularies are no more than English words pronounced as Maori and linked together with ki, ka, ko, te, etc. Marsden never had any difficulty in making his wants known in simple English. For 70-odd years I have lived amongst Maoris and always found that they spoke a corrupt form of English interlarded with words derived from this missionary tongue, such as tongater, waihine, etc. To credit them with originating our place-names is absurd, because in charting the coast the names inserted are names created by the surveyors, missionaries and explorers. Marsden created the name "Manakau," it being the phon-

etic sound of "Main Cove." We likewise created the name "Waitemata" or Wydimatta by a phonetic rendering of "Wide Isthmus." Otago received its name from a phonetic rendering of "Outer jharbour," Outakau. Wellington also was known as Poriki-a phonetic rendering of Port Nicholson. Porirua was probably derived from Poro Louis in’ Mauritius; Paikakariki, to give it its original form, appears to have been named after the beautiful creek that springs out of the rocks there; the water was apparently excellent for voyages and probably became known to early whalers as "Pai-cask-creek" hence the missionary-Maori name of Paikakariki. If we would .only face facts instead of attempting to build up a fable of native ancestory founded on greed and a misconception of who originally owned the land we all claim as ours then there would cease to be any divergence of opinion on native subjeets..

KI ORA

MAUI

(Auckland).

(We submitted this letter to the Very Rev. J. G. Laughton, Whakatarie, who discussed it with Sir Apirana ‘Ngata before replying as follows: One cannot escape the impression that your correspondent has written with his tongue in his cheek. One could scarcely believe that anyone with even a scant knowledge, of the Maori language would have. written seriously in the strain that he has done. The Maori language was a highly developed vehicle of thought before ever the first white man sighted these shores. If Marsden and his assistants had been able to express themselves adequately to their Maori listeners in simple English, why did the missionaries engage in their great and laudable labour to master. the Maori language? Your correspondent evidences his ignorance of the language he professes himself qualified to discuss by his mis-spelling of such basic Maori words as tangata (man) and wahine (woman) which he calls tongater and waihine. ‘"Manukau" (not ‘‘"Manakau" ) shotld be ‘"Manuka,"’ the name of the widely known New Zealand shrub, otherwise known as tea-tree. The name has no pos« sible connection with "Main Cove." ‘Waitemata"? means "water of obsidian." It is ridiculous to connect the name with a possible transliteration of ‘‘Wide Isthmus," which would be "Waite Ihimaha’’ or something similar, bearing very little resemblance to the real name. "Otakou" is the historic Maori designation of that locality and the English appellation "Otago" is a transliteration from the Maori. The only name coined from English in the list presented by your correspondent is ‘‘Poneke’’ which, as he states, is a Maori phonetic rendering of Port Nick. It should be noted, however, that this modern designation has replaced the real Maori name of Wellington Harbour which is ‘Te Whanganui a Tara," "the Great Bay of Tara.’’ The full name of Porirua is "Te Awa Rua o Porirua." Porirua was a legendary reptile (taniwha) stated to have been driven from the East Coast. The name is clearly as old as antiquity, _"Paekakariki"®. (not Paikakariki") is: the settling place of parrots, a very natural appellation to appear amiong the place names of a people expert in bird snaring. If, as he advises, "we would only face facts" your correspondent would moni have ees the theory put forward in