Sir,-I have wondered for some years why the Maori word "Aotea" seems never to be pronounced correctly. I don’t mean in the inimitable manner of the true Maori, but with the pakeha’s approximation. It was shocking recently to hear of a vessel that was to berth at "Eh-oh-tee-ah" Wharf. I was inclined to blame Auckland for it, the name of the steamer Aotea being almost invariably ‘pronounced in this atrocious manner; but Aotea Wharf is older than the steamer, so possibly Wellington is to blame after all, There should be no need to state what the pronunciation’ should be, as to anyone at all acquainted with Maori the errors in the first and third vowels are self-evident.
E. H.
McKAY
(Auckland).
Sir,-I take The Listener and always read the letters about pronunciation, as I wish to speak correctly.‘ Please will C.E. (Wellington) kindly say how exactly does he pronounce "Tangi." MAORI (Te Kuiti).
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19461206.2.14.7
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New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 389, 6 December 1946, Page 5
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153Untitled New Zealand Listener, Volume 15, Issue 389, 6 December 1946, Page 5
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