410 Transactions. — Miscellaneous. 



a 



tima " ; number " noma," &c. : " b's " would become "p's " ; 

 "l's"and"d's," "r's." The soft "o" and " s " would be repre- 

 sented by the aspirate, the soft " ch " by " t," and so on. In 

 writing a Maori-ised English word there is no attempt to spell 

 it English fashion ; the new word is adopted, assimilated, and 

 treated in every way as a worthy member of the family of 

 Maori words. 



It could not reasonably be expected that the language of 

 an uncivilised people should furnish equivalents for the words 

 and names in use among civilised races, nor is it, in my 

 opinion, wise or expedient to force new meanings upon old 

 words — to use them, I mean, to convey ideas which are 

 foreign to their original meaning. A new idea will, I think, 

 be better embodied in a new word, of which the meaning may 

 be taught or explained by the use of many other words. In 

 introducing a new object to a stranger, its proper name should, 

 I think, be introduced with it, in preference to seeking to fit it 

 with a fresh one taken from the stranger's vocabulary. I 

 think, by following such a rule in imparting to the New-Zea- 

 landers the knowledge which we, as a civilised race brought 

 into close contact with them, were bound to place within their 

 reach, the work would not have been rendered more difficult, 

 and some inconveniences would have been avoided. The 

 facility with which a Maori picks up and naturalises a 

 foreign word favours the adoption of such a mode of dealing 

 with the problems which arise in the attempt to present to 

 the mind of the uncivilised man the information and thoughts 

 which are the inheritance and possession of civilised men. In 

 illustration of my meaning, I might refer to words and names 

 used by the missionaries in teaching their converts the 

 doctrines of Christianity. 



The word taken as equivalent to that which we use as the 

 name of the Supreme Being is " Atua," which in its original 

 meaning is used to designate malevolent beings with super- 

 natural powers, to whose agency were attributed all the ills 

 and misfortunes which afflict human beings, whose powers 

 were invoked only to injure an enemy, w r ho hated mankind, 

 and who were ever on the watch for opportunities of wreaking 

 vengeance upon the unfortunate mortal who wittingly or un- 

 wittingly gave them umbrage. Their powers were restrained, 

 controlled, and directed by tohungas, by means of incantations, 

 some more and some less potent or efficacious. 



Again, the words taken for worship, spirit, heaven, hell, 

 hope, conscience, baptism, and others, are words which, until 

 the new 7 significations with which they are arbitrarily invested 

 are learned and become familiar, certainly do not signify the 

 same things as do the words for which, as equivalents, they 

 have been used. 



