The Maori Tongue.

The Governor-General of the Dominion, whose sojourn with us, unfortunately, is nearing its end, has never tired of urging the preservation of the Maori language and traditions and customs unspoiled by pakeha contacts. I hope that Lord Bledisloe's wise counsel will bear fruit; the cause needs a voice of great mana, for the influences operating for the degeneration of the pure Maori tongue are strong. Popular usage among the natives of the younger generation has debased the good coinage in words, and the conversation of the people is full of pidgin-English and pidgin-Maori expressions which are quite unnecessary, because there are quite suitable pure Maori words as equivalents. Examples: There is an often-chanted poetic lament in which the word “huri” occurs, meaning to revolve or circle, in reference to the Southern Cross constellation, Maahutonga. But the Maori of to-day must improve on this by substituting for “huri” the English word “round,” Maorified into “rauna,” so corrupting an ancient song. Another example noticed often in Maori speech and writing is “heeki,” the native pronunciation of the word egg. The correct Maori for egg is “hua-manu,” literally “bird-fruit.” (“Hua-rakau” is “tree-fruit.”) There is a genuine Maori word for a knife or other cutting instrument, “maripi,” but the modern Maori and the younger generation of interpreters as often as not make it “naihi.” There are many hundreds of such examples of mingled slackness and ignorance. The correct use of the language should be taught in the native schools.