Acoustic Analysis of Maori: Historical Data

Abstract

We present initial results of an acoustic analysis of the vowel system of a native speaker of Maori, RTH, who was born in 1885. RTH was recorded in 1947 by the Mobile Disc Recording Unit of the New Zealand Broadcasting Service and the tape forms part of the Mobile Unit (MU) Archive at the University of Canterbury. RTH speaks in Maori and translates his material into English, though the English contains sections of whakapapa (genealogy) which are almost pure Maori. In this paper, we compare analyses of his vowel system when he is speaking in Maori and in English and also when he is using Maori words during his translations into English. RTH would have learnt his Maori at a time when influence from English was minimal. This analysis is therefore the first step in providing a reference acoustic analysis for the Maori language and for establishing the long-term influence of English on the pronunciation of Maori and vice versa. The analysis of RTH will be combined with an analysis of the other Maori speakers included in the MU archive together with other first language Maori speakers born in the late nineteenth century.