How To Pronounce Our Maori Names

Sun (Auckland), Volume I, Issue 266, 31 January 1928, Page 8

How To Pronounce Our Maori Names

Some Simple Rules Written for The of t name places retain the!. Z<S4i ‘*f nomenclature ,and very it is undoubtedlv a ere,,, - 1 - 5 ' there is nothing done b^tifi I **** tional authorities to see correct or near-correct tl. is taught to -ssrsfirs^ .schools. AVe were days since, “on the air” thl. could be simpler to say' the average Maori words. of the vowels were mLw™, as a rule—a. e and u-and person of average intelligent®* easily pronounce these correal. slight practice. “A” as in our words "act.” “hand-®** but pronounced approximate m arm and “party,” with -»«* "ah’’ (a) being unduly t pronounce the first part of “u gere ” for instance, as we the hrst part of ■’mangle,’’ is the?" common error—and one of th, . worst. The Maori “a" never has T. short sound, we are assured “*• The “e” is rather more difficult the sound of this vowel is » nr „s : mately, the same as in “edge"-?f ward,” “airy,” etc. To pronoun/ “Orewa," for instance, as is entirely contrary to Maori UR ? This is a very common error hmA that can be corrected in a' monSby anyone with an “ear.” Finalh the “u” is always “ooi,” and “Mow wai” is correct, while entirely incorrect, and “Manewreev, (Manurewa) contains two errors—* “oo” is (wrongly) called “vew" (J) the “e” is sounded “ee” (long) instS of short as in “edge.” The other glaring fault the san, authority states is the dropping of fa? vowels—a gross error—as in savS, “Motatap” (Motutapu, sacred is i, “Wakatip” (Wakatipu), “The Maui (Mauku, no “the’ 1 ). The only really difficult thing » Maori pronunciation is the “nra - ’ , the beginning of many words, and the learner must be content to say, as i, always does, “na” for this “nga." tv" real difficulty for the average perse, is to accent the right svllable iMaori, and unfortunately the averse person generally manages to drop « the wrong syllable. He (or she) persists in stressing, te instance, the second syllable, a “manuka,” “Marama,” "Moaaa,’ “Karanga” (calling), instead of tfe first. This is due simply to want y “ear,” and this in most cases could easily be corrected with a little cars and attention. The confusion to th* ordinary person is greatly increased we are told, by people with a smattering of Maori, rushing in to correr others—possibly on the ground that their grandfather or great-aunt lived among the Maoris at one time, and spoke the language—when the corrected person often knows more than the obliging teacher. MO AN A