438 



Transactions. 



These tkree words are said to have been from the vocabulary of the 

 Mamoe Tribe of aborigines, of the Napier district. The following Maruiwi 

 words have also been preserved : — 



Here we have words simulating Maori in sound and form ; also a 

 few resemble some Maori or Polynesian equivalents. Kohi mai, carrying 

 the same meaning of " Come hither," is an expression of the Moriori folk 

 of the Chatham Islands, as noted in Deighton's Vocabulary. Kana and 

 hakana bear some resemblance to kanaka, the Hawaiian form of tangata — 

 person. Punui contains the Maori nui — big ; kohai is near to Maori 

 ko tvai — who. Hine is Maori for " girl," while mai (hither) is a common 

 Maori form. The other terms do not resemble any known Maori forms. 

 The two words for " woman " are peculiar ; and loaihi might perhaps be 

 compared with Maori wahine, but mahau, as meaning " woman," is quite un- 

 known to us. The question of the authenticity of these terms is one that 

 can scarcely be settled, unless they are encountered in the vocabularies of 

 one of the islands of the Pacific. 



There is one point of view that should not be neglected in connection 

 with this subject. We have noted that these so-called Maruiwi words 

 resemble Maori in form and phonology. This seems an important point, 

 until one remembers that any isolated folk of the culture stage of the 

 Maori would, necessarily and inevitably, so treat any foreign word that 

 it would conform to their own usages of sound and pronunciation. Thus 

 they would convert any sound foreign to their own tongue into the nearest 

 equivalent they might possess. Hence the sound of " 1 " would be replaced 

 by " r," " s " by " t " or " h," " b " by " p," and so on. Should any 

 word end in a consonant, then a vowel would be placed after the consonant. 

 Had we left these islands after having introduced new objects and ideas, 

 the Maori would not now be able to transmit our names and words so 

 borrowed in their correct form. A horse would be hoiho, scriptures would 

 be karaipiture, measure would be mehua, and mantelpiece would have 

 become manatarapihi. Thus the so-called Maruiwi words that have been 

 preserved may or may not be the original forms used by the aborigines. 

 The evidence of place-names is on the same footing ; indeed, there is con- 

 siderable doubt as to which were original names. It is quite possible that 

 some unusual forms, such as Nuhaka and Mohaka, are " Maorized " forms 

 of Maruiwi names. At least we can say this much : that, taking the cir- 

 cumstances into consideration, the evidence of language, in the matter 

 of the origin of Maruiwi, is not to be relied on. 



