SPELLING OF WHANGAREI
Sir,-In the years to come, the Maori language will be replaced by English and will, as Sir Peter Buck has stated, become only a subject of academic study. But the Maori place-names will always survive. We shall always have Roterua, Waitangi, Whangaroa, Tauranga, etc., and it is most desirable that these names should not be maltreated in pronunciation as many of them are today, as they offer the only means of showing the real beauty of the language. ‘We learn from Grey’s Mythology that some of the place names in Taranaki were given by Turi-Aotea after his canoe, Waingongoro where he snored, Tangahoe after his canoe paddle, while @ traveller named Hau is recorded in an old cradle-song as having named the places further down. "When he came to a river he found it wide, and so he called it Whanganui. The next water was turbid and so he named it Whangaehu. Then a tree was felled, and so Turakina, etc. Finally, when he saw the shining waters of the lake, his eyes glistened with delight, and so Wairarapa. That was the rejoicing of your ancestor, O my daughter." I have read with interest the letters in reference to Whangarei, and, at some tisk, offer another contribution based upon the information given me recently by a well-known Ngapuhi man in whose district the place is situated. First of all,: however, there is no word in Maori be‘ginning with "Wanga," and this can -be ruled out, "Wanganui" is the local pronunciation which would not be followed by other Maoris. There are two words speft:* ‘whanga," one a noun meaning a wide stretch of water, an estuary or river, and the other a verb meaning to "lie in wait." The story goes that in the days of old there were flying creatures in our land. Two of them, Rei-tu and Rei-pae, came up from Waikato, having arranged to meet near those hills called Manaia. Rei-pae, ‘however, turned off to Kaipara and be"came an ancestor of the Ngatiwhahia tribe. The other, Rei-tu, waited for her, but then went on to Whangape, to become the ancestress of the Rarawa. The place where Rei-tu waited was known as "Whanga-a-Rei’’-the waiting by Rei, and the name thus given is now Whangarei. and is pronounced. "Whang-ah-
ray."
WILLIAM W.
BIRD
(Onehunga).
Permanent link to this item
Hononga pūmau ki tēnei tūemi
https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/periodicals/NZLIST19540430.2.12.1
Bibliographic details
Ngā taipitopito pukapuka
New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 771, 30 April 1954, Page 5
Word count
Tapeke kupu
386SPELLING OF WHANGAREI New Zealand Listener, Volume 30, Issue 771, 30 April 1954, Page 5
Using this item
Te whakamahi i tēnei tūemi
Material in this publication is protected by copyright.
Are Media Limited has granted permission to the National Library of New Zealand Te Puna Mātauranga o Aotearoa to develop and maintain this content online. You can search, browse, print and download for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Are Media Limited for any other use.
Copyright in the work University Entrance by Janet Frame (credited as J.F., 22 March 1946, page 18), is owned by the Janet Frame Literary Trust. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this article and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the New Zealand Listener. You can search, browse, and print this article for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from the Janet Frame Literary Trust for any other use.
Copyright in the Denis Glover serial Hot Water Sailor published in 1959 is owned by Pia Glover. The National Library has been granted permission to digitise this serial and make it available online as part of this digitised version of the Listener. You can search, browse, and print this serial for research and personal study only. Permission must be obtained from Pia Glover for any other use.
Log in