Bruce Grandison Biggs (4 September 1921 – 18 October 2000) was an influential figure in the academic field of
Māori studies in New Zealand. The first academic appointed (1950) to teach the Māori language at a New Zealand university, he taught and trained a whole generation of Māori academics.
Early life
Born in
Auckland
Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about ...
of
Ngāti Maniapoto
Ngāti Maniapoto is an iwi (tribe) based in the Waikato-Waitomo region of New Zealand's North Island. It is part of the Tainui confederation, the members of which trace their whakapapa (genealogy) back to people who arrived in New Zealand on th ...
descent, Biggs attended New Lynn Primary School and
Mt Albert Grammar School – the contemporary of
Rob Muldoon
Sir Robert David Muldoon (; 25 September 19215 August 1992) was a New Zealand politician who served as the 31st Prime Minister of New Zealand, from 1975 to 1984, while leader of the National Party.
Serving as a corporal and sergeant in t ...
and of lifelong friend the future historian
Keith Sinclair. He qualified as a teacher at
Auckland Teachers College and served during
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
in the
New Zealand Expeditionary Force in Fiji, where he became fluent in
Fijian and collected word lists, grammar notes and folklore. After the war he married Joy Te Ruai Hetet and they had four children. They taught in
Te Kao and Wairongomai, near
Ruatoria. During these rural postings Biggs began to learn the
Māori language.
University career
In 1950 he won appointment to the first position in a New Zealand university dedicated to the teaching of the Māori language. The idea for this position came from
Ralph Piddington, then head of the Anthropology Department at the
University of Auckland
, mottoeng = By natural ability and hard work
, established = 1883; years ago
, endowment = NZD $293 million (31 December 2021)
, budget = NZD $1.281 billion (31 December 2021)
, chancellor = Cecilia Tarrant
, vice_chancellor = Dawn F ...
. From 1951 to 1955 Biggs taught Stage 1 Māori language while completing his BA studies in education and anthropology. Proposals to advance Māori language study above Stage I level initially received much condemnation from academics in other disciplines: they expressed (unfounded) concerns about the lack of a sufficient body of written material on which to base a syllabus. After completing his MA, Biggs took leave to study
structural linguistics at
Bloomington, Indiana
Bloomington is a city in and the county seat of Monroe County in the central region of the U.S. state of Indiana. It is the seventh-largest city in Indiana and the fourth-largest outside the Indianapolis metropolitan area. According to the Mo ...
, where in 1957 he completed a PhD thesis entitled ''The Structure of New Zealand Maaori''.
Linguistics
In 1958 Biggs and
Jim Hollyman founded the Linguistics Society of New Zealand and its journal ''Te Reo'' and soon after Biggs began teaching linguistics courses in the Auckland University anthropology programme. Within ten years Auckland had become the centre of Polynesian linguistics, and Biggs taught for two years at the
University of Hawaii
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, th ...
in 1967–1968 before returning to New Zealand in 1969, where he remained until he retired in 1983.
Orthography for Māori
Biggs was a major proponent of the ''
double vowel
A double is a look-alike or doppelgänger; one person or being that resembles another.
Double, The Double or Dubble may also refer to:
Film and television
* Double (filmmaking), someone who substitutes for the credited actor of a character
* ...
'' orthography for Māori, in which long vowels are marked by a doubling of the vowel (e.g. Maaori). This approach has the advantage that it can readily be used using existing technology. However the
Māori Language Commission
The Māori Language Commission ( mi, Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori) is an autonomous Crown entity in New Zealand set up under the Māori Language Act 1987 with the following functions:
# To initiate, develop, co-ordinate, review, advise upon, an ...
, the official body overseeing the language set up by
Māori Language Act 1987, choose to standardise on the use of macrons to represent long vowels (e.g. Māori), which have the advantages of retaining the familiar appearance of words, and of not disturbing alphabetical order.
Legacy
Biggs taught a number of people who went on to become well known academics in Māori studies, including Pat Hohepa,
Hirini Mead,
Ranginui Walker,
Sir Robert Mahuta,
Koro Dewes
Te Kapunga Matemoana "Koro" Dewes (7 April 1930 – 17 August 2010) was a kaumātua of the Ngāti Porou iwi of New Zealand. He was a pioneer of Māori education and an advocate for the Māori language.
Dewes attended Horoera Native Primary School ...
, Roger Oppenheim, Richard Benton,
Wharehuia Milroy
James Te Wharehuia Milroy (24 July 1937 – 7 May 2019) was a New Zealand academic and expert in the Māori language. He was of Ngāi Tūhoe descent. Together with Tīmoti Kāretu and Pou Temara, Milroy was a lecturer at Te Panekiretanga o te ...
, Bernie Kernot,
Merimeri Penfold,
Tamati Reedy,
Dame Anne Salmond, David Simmons, David Walsh, Peter Ranby,
Pita Sharples
Sir Pita Russell Sharples (born Peter Russell Sharples, 20 July 1941) is a New Zealand Māori academic and politician, who was a co-leader of the Māori Party from 2004 to 2013, and a minister outside Cabinet in the National Party-led governme ...
, Parehuia Hopa,
Margaret Orbell, Bill Tawhai, Bill Nepia and
Margaret Mutu.
Biggs was elected a Fellow of the
Royal Society of New Zealand
Royal may refer to:
People
* Royal (name), a list of people with either the surname or given name
* A member of a royal family
Places United States
* Royal, Arkansas, an unincorporated community
* Royal, Illinois, a village
* Royal, Iowa, a c ...
in 1969. He served as President of the
Polynesian Society from 1979 to 1993, and in 1985 received the Society's
Elsdon Best
Elsdon Best (30 June 1856 – 9 September 1931) was an ethnographer who made important contributions to the study of the Māori of New Zealand.
Early years
Elsdon Best was born 30 June 1856 at Tawa Flat, New Zealand, to William Best and the for ...
Memorial Medal.
In the
1986 New Year Honours, Biggs was appointed an
Officer of the Order of the British Empire, for services to Māori studies and linguistics. He was promoted to
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding contributions to the arts and sciences, work with charitable and welfare organisations,
and public service outside the civil service. It was established ...
, for services to education and the Māori people, in the
1996 New Year Honours.
Selected bibliography
Biggs published over 100 books and articles on Māori language and culture, Polynesian comparative linguistics, Polynesian languages and literature as well the
Fijian and
Rotuman languages. His most well-known books include:
* ''Maori Marriage'' (1960)
* ''The Complete English-Maori Dictionary'' (1966)
* ''Let's Learn Maori'' (1969) (revised editions 1973, 1998)
*
References
External links
Royalsociety.org.nz* Pawley, Andrew. (2001). Bruce Biggs, 1921–2000: A Tribute. ''Oceanic Linguistics'', ''(40)1'': 1–19.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Biggs, Bruce
1921 births
2000 deaths
University of Hawaiʻi faculty
Linguists from New Zealand
University of Auckland faculty
People educated at Mount Albert Grammar School
University of Auckland alumni
Ngāti Maniapoto people
New Zealand Māori academics
New Zealand Commanders of the Order of the British Empire
New Zealand military personnel of World War II
Linguists of Māori
Māori studies academics
Linguists of Fijian
20th-century linguists
New Zealand expatriates in Fiji