Marking Vowels

The way in which the distinction between types of vowels is marked is of less importance than the insistence that they be marked. One method of marking long vowels is to place a macron over a vowel which is long. This seems to have been adopted by W. W. Williams in an early edition of the Dictionary. Criticisms of this method are chiefly based on the fact that an ordinary linotype machine does not have a macron and printing costs are increased if macrons are used. Moreover, the placing of macrons breaks the flow of handwriting in much the same way as does the crossing of t's.

A second method of marking long vowels is by doubling the vowel. The users of this method state that it fits the pattern of the language rather well, but is more an academic reason for preference. In contrast to the macron, the use of double vowels does not break the flow of handwriting and does not present any printing difficulties. Examples of the two methods:

• tangata = man (singular)

• tangata = men (plural)

• taangata = men (plural)

Prefixes

There are a very large number of prefixes in Maori. A few only are generally recognised as inflexional. Kai prefixed to a transitive verb forms a noun connoting the agent, thus, arahi (to guide) prefixed with Kai – Kaiarahi (a guide or person who guides).

The genus of the language admits of the free combination of words in phrases which approximate to compound words, and it is difficult to formulate a rule for determining whether such a combination should be regarded as a single word or not, and whether or not the use of hyphens is desirable.

Transliteration

There is a certain readiness among young Maori speakers to abandon genuine words in their native tongue for some barbarous transliteration of their English equivalents. The study of words adopted spontaneously by the Maori is very interesting, such words often assuming forms which differ widely from such rigid transliterations as would be made by a European. It is by no means always an easy matter to recognise such a word and trace it to its origin. Examples are matere, lookout at sea (from masthead); kaihe, ass (from jackass).

Examples of more obvious transliterations are:

• motorcar = motukaa

• flour = parroa

• table = tepu

• pen = pene

• money = moni

Preservation of Classical Maori

The present-day Maori language as spoken throughout New Zealand has, of course, lost many of its genuine and ancient words. This situation has evolved because of the necessity for the Maori people to exist in a non-Maori and rapidly changing world with the constant adoption of transliterations into the language. Regardless of this state of affairs, however, the Maori people have in most tribal districts been able to retain much of the classical language of their forbears, though the ability to express thought in the ancient language is limited to a few elders among the various tribes. Preservation of much of the classical language has been possible through the whare runanga, this is, the Maori school of learning based on a system of one tutor to one student. Another method of facilitating preservation is the strongly practised custom of formal and spontaneous oratory patterned strictly upon ancient form and classical language. It is almost impossible to interpret and translate correctly into English this language, which is so full of allusions.

Genealogy – Whakapapa

Most Maori traditional narrative includes some whakapapa or genealogical record of a connection between the various characters in the story. The web of the tale is often so entwined as to require the explanation afforded by the whakapapa.

Songs

In song the poetical genius of the Maori in language becomes evident. In modern times the language is regular and phrases are frequently broken up like an infant walking. In former times, especially in pre-European society, a wealth of meaning was clothed within a word or two as delectable as a proverb in its poetical form and in its musical sound. In ancient songs, particularly in karakia, there are a number of words which it is now quite impossible to elucidate. It must be supposed that these words were formerly current in the language.

To the modern mind there is a need for explanations of phrases, names, and archaic words. It has been found that there are some sacerdotal words in the songs, and some references to ancient Maori mythology. Many classical songs have been recorded in a number of books, with variations in the words from one book to another. This was inevitable, because they would go from lip to lip among the people throughout the land; on reaching some tribes a word or a name would be varied; and, because of the long period during which the circulation went on, some words were dropped or some were added. With a European as recorder, or a Maori not sufficiently literate, some of the words were wrongly spelt.

Today the number who sing the ancient Maori songs is gradually declining. Thus a new generation is growing up which, as a general rule, does not appreciate or value these ancestral treasures.

Dialectical Differences

Many interrelated factors, particularly the isolated location of certain groups and the general hostility that prevailed among many tribes, allowed for the development of dialectal differences during the centuries that followed the original settlement period. Generally there are two main dialects of contemporary Maori in New Zealand, namely, the western and eastern dialects. For historical reasons the Waikato-Ngapuhi dialect complex has come to be regarded as standard Maori. Briefly, some examples of dialectal differences in word usage are:

• kaika = home (South Island)

• kainga = home (most other tribes)

• tangata = man (most tribes)

• tanata = man (among Tuhoe)

• kei te pai = good (most tribes)

• kai te pai = good (among Tuhoe)

• karekau = in the negative (East Coast, Tuhoe)

• kao = in the negative (Taranaki)

Some Present-day Observations: Vocabulary

Reference has already been made to the increasing amount of transliteration in the Maori language and the replacing of genuine Maori sounds. This is a disturbing trend: for example, the use of the word whara for fellow instead of tangata (man), or manna (mother) instead of whaea. In personal names also can be found the use of Maori words that are actually transliteration:

• George = Hori

• John = Hoani or Hone

• Samuel = Hamiora

• Edward = Eruera

Another disturbing feature from the point of view of the purist is the varying degrees of originality of language among the tribes. This state of affairs has been in part due to the proximity of tribes to European urban areas; for example, the South Island, Wellington, and the Wairarapa were mainly European majority areas. Tribes such as Ngati Porou and Tuhoe are far superior as far as purity of the spoken language is concerned. In these areas also there is less usage of English words and mannerisms in speaking.

It is difficult to estimate the number who now speak fluent Maori, perhaps 70 per cent of the 170,000 Maori people. But the most disturbing feature is the fact that probably only 60 per cent of the young Maori population (probably less) under 20 years of age can and do speak Maori.

Teaching of the Maori Language

Since 1930 Maori studies, which include Maori history, arts, music, games, and other elements of Maori culture, have been growing in importance as an essential part of the curriculum in several subjects both for Maori and for European pupils. The Maori language itself is being taught today in nearly all Maori district high schools and in some State and private secondary schools; tuition is also available from the Correspondence School as far as staffing allows.

Maori is accepted as a subject for School Certificate and University Entrance, and Maori Studies (Stage I and II) is accepted as a subject for an arts degree in two universities. A 1965 estimate implies that over 2,000 pupils were being taught Maori. It would appear that since English is the language of the community at large, it is essential for the Maori primary pupils to master English as a basic subject. Maori can at best be but a second language for the vast majority.

by Ihakara Porutu Puketapu, B.A., Administration Officer, Department of Maori Affairs, Wellington.

• A Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of New Zealand, Kendall, T., and Lee, S. (1820)
• Grammar of the New Zealand Language, Maunsell, R. (1894)
• Complete Manual of Maori Grammar and Conversation, Ngata, A. T. (1948)
• Te Reo Maori – a Guide to the Study of the Maori Language, Smyth, P. (1943)
• The Maori-Polynesian Comparative Dictionary, Tregear, E. (1891)
• A Dictionary of the Maori Language, Williams, H. W. (1957)
• First Lessons in Maori, Williams, H. W. (ed.) (1940)
• Journal of the Polynesian Society, Vol. 64 (1955), “The Compound Possessives in Maori”, Biggs, B.

MAORI LANGUAGE

The Maori language of New Zealand is a Malayo-Polynesian language, a family of languages commonly divided into four sub-families, namely, Indonesian, Melanesian, Micronesian, and Polynesian. The New Zealand Maori language is part of the Polynesian sub-family of languages which form a very closely related group spoken for the most part within the Polynesian triangle. Thus Maori speech is a dialect of the language spoken throughout Polynesia and hence conveniently called the Polynesian language. The Polynesian group can be divided into east and west Polynesian sub-groups. New Zealand Maori is an eastern Polynesian language. The Maori dialects of Rarotonga, Tahiti, Hawaii, and all the islands of French Polynesia are very closely related to the Maori language spoken in New Zealand. There is rather less relation with the western Polynesian languages in Tonga, Samoa, and Niue, and still less to the Melanesian languages of Fiji.

New Zealand marks the southernmost limit of the Malayo-Polynesian family of languages. Within the last thousand years, either through accidental voyages or by purposive migration using traditional navigational methods, Polynesian speakers fanned out from the Society and Cook groups to Hawaii in the north, to the eastern Archipelagoes of French Oceania, and to New Zealand in the south.

In respect to actual origin, in spite of comparisons that have been made between selected words from Polynesia and the speech of some American groups, the linguistic evidence suggests that the spread of the Polynesian language was from the direction of Asia and not America. The existence of different dialects in New Zealand points to the speculation that the different waves of early settlement were from different dialect areas in central Polynesia. Only intensive archaeological and linguistic research within Polynesia as a whole can determine this.