M MThe thirteenth letter in the Eng- lish alphabet. In form it is de- rived from the Phoenician /W, through the Greek and Latin M_ with little variation to the present time. Its form in the Runic futhark, for example, is p^, where it stands as the twentieth rune and is called Miiiin. The Greek name for the letter, mu, comes from the Phcenician mu, 'water.' This was probably the original form of the word, the Hebrew mem being a translation. Phonetic Chabactek. Phonetically m is a la- bial nasal sound made by pursing the lips to- gether and vibrating the vocal chords, at the same time allowing some nasal resonance. Popu- larly m and n are classed with liquids and .semi- vowels. The sound in, particularly in the initial position, has been subject to but slight variations from the time of Indo-Germanic unity to the present, as Indo-Germanic *matcr, Sanskrit mutiir, Greek iJ-ii^^p, Latin mater. Old Irish mafhir. Old Churcli Slavic mati, Anglo-Saxon mOflor, English mother. Sometimes m is sub- ject to tlie same doubling as other consonants. In common speech it is occasionally pronounced with an almost vocalic value, thus helm as hcliim, chnxm as ch(i:um. As A Symdol. In Roman notation il = 1000: M with a dash over it = 1,000,000. In academic degree M. stands for ilaster (mar/istrr) , as A.M.: for ;Mcdicine in M.D. (iledicinn- Doctor) ; for ilemljcr in il. P., Member of Parliament. MAARTENS, miir'tens, Ma.vrten (1S.5S-). A niiVflist of Dutch birth and English training, wliijse real name is J. M. W. van der Poorten- Selnvartz. His stories were written by him in Englisli and first won fame in his adopted coun- try and language, having been only lately trans- lated into Dutch, ilaartens's boyhood was passed in England, his school years in Germany, bis imiversity period in Holland, where he studied law. He' has since resided near Utrecht, observ- ing Dutch life minutely, yet with a cosmopolitan detachment that has led" some to regard his de- scriptions as untrue, or at least disproportionate, and so unjust. His-first novel. The Sin of Joost Avelingh (1889), was clever and successful both •with critics and with the public. The public was fascinated l)y the storj-, the critics were won by the well-knit analysis of motive. The same quali- ties unite in An OM Maid's Love {IS'.)) and .1 Question of Taste (1891), which mark a stylistic advance. Ood's Fool (1892) is, however, a novel Vol. XII —38. ^ distinctly superior to either of its predecessors. The (Jreuter (Hory (1894| was first to gain for Maartens that general and cosmopolitan recogni- tion that has been accorded also to .My Lady yobody (1895) and to his later novels. Maar- tens is both an artist and a moralist. In all his books the moral idea dominates and gives distinction and dignity to the diction. MAAS, mils. An affluent of the Rhine. See ilElSE. MAAS, Joseph (1847-86). An English singer of Dutch descent, bom at Dartford, Kent. He was solo chorister in Rochester Cathedral ( 1857- 02). and then a clerk in Chatham Dockyard until he went to Milan to continue his vocal studies under San Giovanni (1809-71). His first appearance in London was at a concert in Saint .James's Hall, and the following year he appeared at Covent Garden as the hero in liou- cicaulfs Babil and Bijou (1872). .fter an American tour with Miss Kellogg's Englisli Opera Companv he was chief tenor in the Carl Rosa companv (1878-81), next with Mapleson at Her Majesty's Opera, and in 18S.3 took the leading rOle in Lohenprin. He was most popular. hoy- ever. as an oratorio or concert singer, for his acting was not on a par with his artistic vocal- ization. He sang at the Pasdeloup concerts in Paris (1884). and in the Bach-Handel Festival at Brussels (1885). and was tenor soloist in the first presentation of Dvorak's Spectre Bride and of Stanford's Three Holy Children at the Bir- mingham ^Musical Festival the same ye.-ir. Mas- senet wrote .ipoUo's Inroeation specially fur Maas. who sang it at the Norwich Festival (18S4). and he also gave the first rendering of the Chevalier des Grieux in Massenet's ilanon (Drury Lane, 1885). MAAS, Lons (1852—). A German-Ameri- can pianist and composer. He was born at ies- baden. l)Ut was brought up in London, studied with his father and at the Leipzig Conseratory. was a pupil afterwards of Liszt, and canie to America in 1880. He made Boston his head- quarters, conducted the Pliilharmonic Society (1881-82), tauaht at the conservatory, pave re- citals in dilTerent cities of the United States, and composed a nuiiil>er of songs, as well as or- chestral and pianoforte pieces. His Anienean svmphonv. On the Prairies, was given in the Boston Music Hall (188.3). MAASIN, m:-ii'sin. A seaport of Lcyte, Philippines, situated on the extreme southwest
