The Presence of Maori Words in New Zealand English

Abstract

This is a study of the presence of words of Maori origin in written New Zealand English from 1850 to the year 2000. This presence resulted from contact between English-speakers and Maori-speakers. In this study, the Maori word presence is taken to include both loanwords and hybrids, or words that contain a Maori and an English element. A brief outline of the contact between the two languages is provided in Chapter 1, as is an outline history of the recognition and study of New Zealand English. As this is a lexical study the focus is on the origins and study of New Zealand English vocabulary, and previous descriptions of the Maori influence on that vocabulary. The study is corpus-based. Chapter 2 describes the methodology that was applied, including the use of indicator years to take synchronic snapshots of language in use during the 150-year period under review and the system used for classifying the Maori words found. Three main sources were examined to provide data for this study. Those three are selected newspapers, parliamentary debates, and the School Journals. They provided a corpus of almost five and a half million words, the largest yet assembled for the study of New Zealand English. The largest chapter in this thesis, Chapter 3, describes the Maori word presence in the corpus. The final section in Chapter 3 looks at the diachronic variation in the Maori word presence from 1850 to the year 2000. Two main trends emerge: an increase in the proportion of Maori words found in written New Zealand English, and a steep rise in recent years in the contribution of social cultural terms to this presence. A presence in the corpus does not mean that a word is necessarily known to speakers of New Zealand English. The issue of the familiarity of Maori words to speakers of New Zealand English is addressed. The principal tool for measuring familiarity used in this study was a survey questionnaire. The findings suggest that more Maori words are familiar to speakers of New Zealand English than has previously been suggested. Often Maori words co-exist with an English-language synonym. Why should speakers of New Zealand English prefer a word of Maori origin when an English language alternative exists? The reasons for a particular choice cannot be established empirically. However, six factors affecting choice are proposed (where an alternative exists and when situational factors allow the possibility of choice). Finally, the relationship between social change and language change is examined. A number of factors that may have contributed to the growth in the Maori word presence in New Zealand English are identified, and include geographic and demographic factors, as well as the state and status of te reo Maori. Attention is also given to speakers' attitudes, as attitudes to the Maori people and to the Maori language are linked to the willingness to use words of Maori origin in New Zealand English.