The comunication with other people it is an important thing, we can comunicate with different part of our body, for example using our facial expression, our arms and hands and finally emitting sounds with our mouths. When we emit a sound, we can create an entire dialogue with others, and that we call it language.The language is something that represent ourselfs as a person, group, etc. But we are in constant threat with the change that the language can has.
The Māori were the first aborigines who lived in New Zealand, they lived in a region called Aotearoa and they spoke the language called Te reo, which evolved with the arrived of people from other local villages and islands, the Māori had no written language but they were able to communicate through symbolic meaning embodied in carving, knots and weaving.
The settlers did their arrival in Aotearoa and for them it was necessary to have communication with the Māori to trade with them. The missionaries were in charge of writing the language of the Māori, but saw that the Māori taught each others how to write and read through charcoal, leaves and carved wood. Suddenly the missionaries' children and Pakeha's children, were growing and interacting with the Māori ’s children, and so there was an exchange between the two languages (the language which caused more impact on Māori speakers was english). English became the dominant language in new Zeeland (Pakeha language) therefore the Te reo was confined in the Māori communities. For Māori the Te reo was not only a way of expression , it was also something that they felt pride and it identified them as a community.
It was suppressed in many school to used the Te reo, as the Māori should increased the English language to live in the community with the Pakeha. Later , schools continued to teach Te reo and many maori encouraged their children to learn English .
The Te reo underwent several changes, like any living language, the Te reo was influenced by other languages and English became the main source of borrowed words from Māori that were altered in its phonetic and grammar (teihana = station / hōiho = horse).
This article (1) talks about the danger of the Te reo in New Zealand , this language was the origin of a community, it is what identifies the Māori , and it is something that was born with them as natives of New Zealand , in my opinion , the language as well as traditions , beliefs , etc. These are something that identifies us, as individuals and as communities, but with the influence of others, these aspects change and we as a society imposes to follow. So it was, when the Spaniards came to colonize Chile and influenced the Mapuches, Spaniards also borrowed words from the Mapuches and adapted according to the sound or write ( pichintún = pichi = poco/ pilcha = pelcha = vestimenta)
In conclusion, the influence of other communities must be a positive aspect, this well be a multicultural society, we can learn from others something new and adapt it to our community, but what should not happen is to miss what we are and what we have, because it’s something that identifies us, it is our home and we should notlose it. The Te reo is a language of an ancient community, a community that still exists, so the te reo should not be extinguished because it was the first language that was spoken in New Zealand and ought continue as such.
What do you think about the Māori language problem? How would you feel if your source language was replaced by another? As a future English teacher, Are you worried about losing your source language for the English language?
Pakeha: European New Zealander
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