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Article published In: Historiographia Linguistica
Vol. 33:3 (2006) ► pp.303–334

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‘…to this rule there are many exceptions’

Robert Maunsell and the Grammar of Maori

 | Downing College, Cambridge
Published online: 27 February 2007
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https://doi.org/10.1075/hl.33.3.03tom
Summary
This article assesses Robert Maunsell’s (1810–1894) Grammar of the New Zealand Language (1842). In particular, it is shown that, contrary to established belief, Maunsell’s Grammar was not exclusively based upon European or Hebrew grammatical models, but rather that it constituted an intriguing synthesis of different aspects of both traditions. Consequently, the relationship between Maunsell’s work and influential English texts such as Robert Lowth’s A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762) and Lindley Murray’s English Grammar (1795) is explored in considerable detail in an attempt to indicate exactly how the 18th century English grammatical tradition influenced the demanding task of analysing an indigenous language encountered in a British colony in the early 19th century.
Résumé
Cet article fait le point sur la Grammar of the New Zealand Language (1842) de Robert Maunsell (1810–1894). En particulier, on y montre que, malgré ce que l’on croit généralement, la grammaire de Maunsell n’avait pas uniquement pour base des modèles grammaticaux européens ou hébraïques : elle constituait plutôt une intéressante synthèse de différents aspects de ces deux traditions. En raison de ce fait, on explore en profondeur la relation existant entre l’oeuvre de Maunsell et d’influents textes anglais tels que A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762), par Robert Lowth, et la grammaire anglaise publiée par Lindley Murray en 1795. Le but étant de tenter d’indiquer comment au juste la tradition grammaticale anglaise du XVIIIe a influencé la dure tâche d’analyser une langue indigène parlée dans une colonie britannique au début du XIXe.
Zusammenfassung
Der Beitrag charakterisiert Robert Maunsells (1810–1894) Grammar of the New Zealand Language (1842). Dabei wird besonders hervorgehoben, daß sie, im Gegensatz zu der allgemein vorgebrachten Meinung, nicht ausschließlich auf der europäischen oder hebräischen Grammatiktradition basiert, sondern eher eine hochinteressante Synthese beider Traditionen darstellt. Konsequenterweise wird in dem Beitrag daher auch den Beziehungen nachgegangen, welche zwischen Maunsells Grammatik und wichtigen englischen Texten bestehen wie A Short Introduction to English Grammar (1762) von Robert Lowth oder der englischen Grammatik von Lindley Murray (1793). Das Hauptinteresse des Beitrages liegt also auf dem genauen Anteil, welche die englische grammatische Tradition des 18. Jhdt. bei der komplizierten Aufgabe gespielt hat, eine Eingeborenensprache im 19. Jhdt. zu analysieren, die in einer Britischen Kolonie gesprochen wurde.
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