Te reo M¯aori: getting a grip on the grammar

Te reo Ma¯ ori, the Ma¯ ori language, is a very different language from English and other European languages – so different, in fact, that it was used as a code language by New Zealand troops in Italy during World War II, since it was considered (then, at least) virtually undecipherable by any but Ma¯ ori speakers. Indeed, te reo is so different from any European language that it took 150 years for a grammar which clearly explains the nature of the differences to be fully developed.

To be sure, in te reo, words are used in groups which may be called phrases and sentences, as they are in English. And there are words which may, for instance, be said to function as nouns, verbs and prepositions. But that, without too much exaggeration, is about where the similarity between the languages ends.

The good news is that, when considered on its own terms, te reo is in several ways simpler and frequently more logical than English – as is well demonstrated in the Te Rangatahi series of books, which began with Hoani Waititi’s initial publication of Book One in 1962.

But it wasn’t until 1969 – one and a half centuries after the 1820 publication of the Church Missionary Society’s A Grammar and Vocabulary of the Language of New Zealand (the first substantial attempt to explain the grammar of te reo Ma¯ ori to speakers of English) – that a grammar fully appropriate to te reo ‘‘on its own terms’’ was made widely available, with the first edition of Bruce Biggs’ Let’s Learn Maori.

The author explains: ‘‘In Let’s Learn Maori, an entirely different grammatical theory is used and a much simplified system of classification results. All words are divided into two classes, bases and particles. The particles . . . are the grammatical words; they are few in number . . . All other words are bases.’’

This ‘‘new’’ grammar provides a much simpler way for speakers of English to understand the construction of phrases and sentences of te reo Ma¯ ori than does a kind of ‘‘patch and mend’’ approach using traditional English grammar.

Since 1969, much has happened, including the establishment of Kohanga Reo (‘‘language nests’’ for young children) in 1984, and of Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Ma¯ ori (the Ma¯ ori Language Commission) in 1987 under the leadership of Dr (now Sir) Tı¯moti Ka¯ retu, as well as, in the same year, the recognition of te reo as an official language.

Two major grammar books have appeared: Winifred Bauer’s The Reed Reference Grammar of Ma¯ ori (1997 – a more accessible version of her 1993 work), and Ray Harlow’s A Ma¯ ori Reference Grammar (2001). New technology has provided for several excellent online learning programmes.

Despite these developments, however, for many New Zealanders understanding the grammar of te reo remains problematic.

Understanding the grammar is not what makes a fluent speaker. Only practice in the language can do that.

Indeed, to a native speaker of any language, the principles, as such, of the grammar may seem quite incidental, or even irrelevant. For native speakers, the patterns of their first language have simply become familiar through practical usage from their earliest years. And it is this method of learning which it is sought to replicate in kohanga reo and kura kaupapa.

Te Ataarangi courses for adult learning similarly employ a direct method. The learning is by imitation of the tutor’s speech, in the same manner as a first language is acquired. If te reo Ma¯ ori is to flourish into the future, it would seem to be most likely through initiatives such as these, and through its wider use, in homes and in the world at large.

But an understanding of grammar does provide a bridge between languages, and is important for several reasons. Dr Karena Kelly, in her essay Iti te Kupu, Nui te Ko¯ rero: The Study of the Little Details that Make the Ma¯ ori Language Ma¯ ori, has expressed concern that if not enough attention is given to the finer points of the grammar, there is a real risk of te reo becoming ‘‘more and more like a clone of English, a mere hybridised shadow of the vibrant language we call te reo rangatira (the chiefly language).’’

In columns to follow, the intention is to offer, in progression, a series of concise and clear descriptions of basic principles underlying the construction of phrases and sentences in te reo – with specific focus on how these principles differ from those of English. No prior knowledge of grammar is assumed.

Intermittently, also, opportunities may be taken to make comments on various aspects of te reo – particularly regarding the importance an appreciation of its riches can have for speakers of other languages.

Considered on its own terms, te reo is in several ways simpler and frequently more logical than English.