PLACE NAMES

Evening Post, Volume CXXVIII, Issue 26, 31 July 1939, Page 8

PLACE NAMES

KAfWARAWARA & WAIWHETU (To the Editor.) Sir, —Your correspondent "Romulus" in Wednesday's' "Post" is quite right as regards the confusion which allows Kaiwarra, Kaiwarawara, and Kaiwharawhara to appear Side by side as names for the same place. The third, as he notes, is the correct form, Kaiwarra being merely a shortening and misspelling, and Kaiwarawara tne form used by such Maori tribes as were not '\h"-consciou_, such as the Whanganuis, who by their speech caused the name of the town to be written Wanganui by the pakeha. Strange to say, those same Whanganuis, as I am told by Sir Apirana Ngata, restore, the • _i" when they sing, so that it must be in their minds even when they substitute a catch in the breath for it in their speech. There is a hill at the back of the present Kaiwarra and it is. correctly spelt Kaiwharawhara—wharawhara being tne fruit of one of the bush-astelias (.perching lilies) used as food. In the year 190. there was a committee on nomenclature appointed by the Government, on whicn naturally there was Maori representation, and that committee ruled that Kaiwharawhara was the correct form: many of us would be glad to see that form generally adopted. On the 11th of this month another correspondent, "Korero-Poneke," wrote about the name Waiwhetu. I intended to reply at the time—wrote my note in fact—but take the opportunity of writing now, as the same -'wh" sound is in question. This correspondent was not concerned about the retention of the correct form of the name, which is the one officially used, but thought it pedantry to keep to it. when it is popularly called Waiwetoo. Does he then also call it pedantry to pronounce Yes "Yes" because it is so often popularly pronounced "Year" or "Yep"? Surely not. Now I live quite close to the stream Waiwhetu which has given its name to the district, and every time I cross i: I think, not only of the name (thouga not as Waiwetoo), but of the beautiful bush, of great trees and small, of ferns and starry clematis, which grew there a hundred years ago; think of the descriptions of the scene by people who canoed up the Hutt and up the Waiwetu also. How unanimous they all were in their praises of the beauty of the whole valley. Well, the bush has gone, but another beauty is* taking its place, and anyone who knows the Hutt Valley knows how it grows in beauty more and more. That beauty should win "Korero-Poneke" as a champion of the name Waiwhetu. It is an easy name to say—Wai-whetu, the "wh" breathed like an "f" without letting the lip touch the teeth, and the last letter "v" pronounced long, like "oo" in fact. Pronounce it like that, and "Korero-Poneke" will find that it very nearly is what,he writes—Waiwetoo, but not quite; no accent on the "oo"; that makes a little subtle distinction, and makes all the difference. As to the ; meaning of the name, "whetu" is a star, "wai" water; so that, 'it means starry-water; ' and I think "Korero-Poneke" will admit that that is an admirable name for a stream reflecting not only the beauty of the sky at night, but also" the beauty of man "s gardens by day. And next time I | cross the stream I shall also be thinking of "Korero-Poneke" and the pte tures this note may awaken in his mind.—l am, etc., - | JOHANNES ANDERSEN.