Kumara: A Question of Pronunciation.

A correspondent, Mr. W. G. Whitton, writing from Ohura, raises the question of the pronunciation and meaning of the name, Kumara, in Westland. He mentions that he travelled through Kumara in 1872, four years before the gold rush there, when he was driving from Hokitika to Greenstone. “What is now the main street,” he narrates, “was then a lovely avenue of tall rima from Sandy's Hill to the old Zigzag. In 1876, when I revisited the place, it was a lively town with a population of 5,000, and forty-nine pubs., most of them just dance houses. Many of the buildings were only calico on frames. Now the population is about 250, with four or five pubs.” Regarding the place-name, Mr. Whitton says:

“Kumara was not named after the sweet potato of the Maori, but after the native clematis, which grew very plentiful there, and the old residents always stressed the second syllable.”

“Tohunga's” reply is as follows: In the absence of Maoris of Westland who could be questioned about these names, it is not possible to endorse my correspondent's version of namemeaning and pronunciation. Pakeha residents, unless they are Maori linguists, cannot be depended on for the correct pronunciation of a name; they usually stress the wrong syllable. I do not think Kumara was used to signify anything but the sweet potato. But there are various plant-names of which Kumara forms the first part. There is Kumara-hou (“New Kumara”), which is applied to four different plants in various districts, i.e., the shrub Pomaderris elliptica; the small tree Quintinia serrata; the shrub Olearia Colensoi, and the herb Angelica Rosaefolia.

There arc also Kumara-kai-torouka, the shrub Olearia furfuracea; and the Kumara-rau-nui (large-leaved kumara), the shrub Qlearia Colensoi. None of these names is accented on the second syllable.

Kumara (sweet potato) and Kumarahou are accented on the first syllable. The others are not particularly stressed; all syllables are given the same value.

It does not appear that Kumara is anywhere a name for the clematis. The words for that plant are pikiarero and pua-wananga. Possibly the flowers of the Kumara-hou shrub were confused with those of the clematis by some of the early pakehas.