| Description |
Typescript. (a) Gives map showing distribution of dialects on the islands of Aoba (Nduindui, Lolokara, Walurigi), Maewo and Pentecost. Comment on Walurigi words. Notes differences between central and north Maewo dialects. Notes that A.E. Teall was fluent in the Oaba language. (b) Gives information on ethnography, religions and other matters on Maewo. Also names informants and indicates linguistic knowledge of some Missionaries on Maewo and Aoba. Minor notes on the dialects.
Contents of the letters follow (keyboarded by Hans Schmidt):
|Contents of the letters follow (keyboarded by Hans Schmidt):||MAEMAE1_00001|[Letter from Rawson to Capell, February 19, 1934, 2 pages]||332 Whelley,|Wigan,|Lancs.,|February 19, 1936||Dear Mr. Capell,|In reply to your letter of the 15th. As you are dividing the island of Oba [Ambae] into three divisions according to dialect, I hope the following rough sketch will tell you where Lolokara is.||Oba:||Duidui Walurigi|Lolokara||Maewo: Tanoriki|Maewo|||Mr. E. Corlette is, I understand, a D.Sc. of the London University. He is a son of the late Archdeacon Corlette of Sydney, and his brother was, and maybe still is, one of Sydney’s leading Physic[i]ans. Mr. E. Corlette may be well on in years now. He owns rather a large part of Oba in the Lolokara area, and has had people from that district living with him on Malekula.|In regard to the examples of words. I was more familiar with the Walurigi dialect than the other two. All the words given in the Walurigi dialect are correct. I would make comment on the word “qeta.” I would say Corlette’s spelling is probably more correct than the others. In some parts the q is the difficult kpw sound. On North Raga, Miss Hardacre and others who lived there for many years said it was bw. Probably gw is correct for Lolokara.|The South Maewo people have for many years mingled and intermarried with the North Raga people, and appear to have the same dialect as the North Raga people. Whether they ever had a dialect of their own, I do not know. But the central Maewo people have a dialect which is different from that of North Raga. I do not know whether I was the first to become aware of this, but it came to light in the year 1930, when we opened up a part of central Maewo which had never been touched before. I do not think there is a vocabulary of central Maewo in existence. In this I am not speaking of the coast people but of those way back in the bush.||MAEMAE1_00002_L|I have no Oba vocabs. I left all behind me at Lolowai, Oba. The Oba dictionary of the Walurigi dialect was in a very dilapidated condition through use when I left. Teall who spoke the dialect fluently may possibly be making another.|Please forgive my long letter. The work in the islands is very fascinating.|[signed] C. Rawson||MAEMAE1_00003_L|[Letter from Rawson to Capell, March 3, 1936, 3 pages]|332 Whelley,|Wigan,|Lancs.,|March 3, 1936|Dear Mr. Capell,|In regard to the dialect of Central Maewo of the Northern New Hebrides. The teacher there in 1930 was Rupert (I do not know his native name). He understands Mota. I hope he is still there. You could get to know [that, him?] through the Ven. A.E.Teall, Lolowai Bay, Oba.|The existence of a separate dialect in Central Maewo came to light through the following circumstances. I was there in 1930, and was baptizing about 50 adults. All these had been taught the answers to my questions. Then I was to perform the marriage ceremony of the teacher Rupert to a Central Maewo girl. This was to have been the first Christian marriage service in Central Maewo. When it came to the betrothal promises, the bride to be could not or would not answer. This was a normal native girl. I tried in North Maewo, Walurigi, Mota, and broken English. The service could not proceed. A few days after I arrived back on Oba, the Rev. R. Godfrey went over and married them. On his return he said it was doubtful if the bride understood in spite of being taught what to say. If this dialect had been the same as North Raga, or the adopted North Raga of South Maewo, Godfrey would have understood, as he spoke North Raga fluently. It will be interesting to know whether it is a separate dialect, or a variation of North Maewo, or Lolokara, or even a variation of Duidui. I cannot be sure of the following, but I think I had with me Leonard Levuhi, a Duidui boy, Joe Riha, a South Raga boy, ands boys from the Walurigi district. To all of the boys with me, the speech of these people seemed strange.|When we began to open up Central Maewo, the Bishop thought we might have more printing done for them in the North Maewo dialect. This went no further when I reported the speech of Central Maewo to be different from North Maewo. In the year 1930, the total population of North Maewo was exactly 100. I had counted every known person living on that part of the island. The number is not likely to increase owing to disease and a certain amount of polygamy. All the people of North Maewo speak Mota in addition to their own dialect. I estimated the population of the whole of Maewo in 1930 to be no more than 450. A certain Dr. Tully who visited Maewo in 1931 for the purpose of injections, said there were nearer 700 than my figure. He felt there were more people in Central Maewo than we were aware of.|.. The Rev. Judah Butu is really a North Raga man, but speaks a Central Raga dialect fluently, and may know North Maewo, as he worked there for a few years.||MAEMAE1_00004_L|In regard to the Lolokara dialect being spoken with variations in North Raga and South Maewo. I have been consulting with my wife who spent some years on North Raga. We find similarities in certain words in all three of the oban dialects with North Raga. Whether one can say that any one dialect is the purest of any of these islands in the immediate neighbourhood of the other, I leave it.|In regard to the same word having different meanings according to the inflection. The same group of words may sometimes be used to express either the indicative mood, or the interrogative mood, according to the wish of the person. So much I know.|You will find the language question of the Northern New Hebrides very complex and confusing. It certainly is not straight forward. Language and customs change. So that what may be true now, may not be true in ten years time. I have found several customs quoted in Codrington´s Anthropology, which do not apply now. Have you come across the word “tagaromindumindu” in the Walurigi dialect? It is an old old word which is never used now. It means "midday."|Wishing you success in your difficult study,|Yours sincerely|[signed] C. Rawson||
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