[Leccy-Lee]

Hmm well i am needing some help here figuring out the prounication of maori words and mainly town and suburb names etc etc. Getting damn embaressing at my new job chatting to colleagues and clients standing there saying "oh yes i saw that place in 'na na' " and they all stare like i am odd, and still look bemused when i repeat it several times and say "not sure how you say it" and they still look bemused, until i write it down and they all chuckle and say "oh you mean naenae!" And so this contuines hourly during the day with different street names etc!

To the point the boss even said friday eve "We need to get you taught and up to speed with saying names etc around here, saves you sounding lost eh" :uhoh

So any ideas? Any books or websites with nice phonetic spellings of names etc (mainly wellington area suburbs etc) so i can sit in my van at night and speak to myself silly until i dont quite sound like a fool!

:laugh :laugh

[IanW99]

Not sure if it will help much with suburb names, but this link does at least allow you to play the sounds of the letters / words

http://www.korero.maori.nz/

Ian

[Carol]

Generally....

a = ar
e = air
i = ee
o = oh
u = oo

[diforsyth]

It does't help when the Kiwi's have regional variations and in some cases are hell bent on refusing to speak/pronounce Māori. I'll give an example - Whangarei. I know a Māori who grew up in that area and pronounces it similar to "Fang-are-eye" whereas a Pakeha Aucklander pronounces it similar to "Wong-a-ray".:(

David.

[Island Moose]

"Prounication? Oh hell, getting embaressing!"

Well, at least you can always count on your spelling...;) ...:cheers

[Sam B]

What makes it even more complicated is that often the correct Maori way of pronouncing a word is NOT how everyone else says it. E.g. most kiwis pronounce Taupo as towpoh (rhyming with cow-poh) when actually the correct Maori pronunciation is toe-paw. So when I try to pronounce things right, I STILL get funny looks, because it's not how most people say it.

If you want to do it right-right, the 'o' is apparently said as 'or', 'ai' is like capital 'I', 'au' is like 'oh' but I can guarantee your colleagues will STILL say you're doing it wrong....

[kanatakiwi]

also remember the G is silent after an N. so its not Ton-ga :o its Ton(g) -a. (think of the word 'tang'.) thus not Wai-tang-gee but Wai tang- ee. Also as a rule of thumb (which has exceptions of course) the emphasis is usually on the first syllable. so its Wai' tang-ee
not Wai-ang'-gee.
if you get what I'm trying to say. ...:nice1

[Tia Maria]

LeeBennet wrote:

"oh yes i saw that place in 'na na' " and they all stare like i am odd, and still look bemused when i repeat it several times and say "not sure how you say it" and they still look bemused, until i write it down and they all chuckle and say "oh you mean naenae!"

I can't particularly help you on this one apart from to suggest watching the weather forecast for some place names.

But your description made me laugh as it reminded me of the Friends episode where Phoebe was trying to teach Joey French :laugh

Cheers

Tia

[victoria]

My OH often has the mickey taken out of him by boss & work makes alike.He's told to speak english but you can see the twinkle in their eyes. Also one name can have 4+ different pronunciations.For exmple Paraprarumu, they say Paparam,Pram, Parpar-oo-moo & Prr-oo-moo.You can't win Lee!

[IanW99]

We call Paraprarumu, Paraparam :) its just easier :exit

Ian

[Carol]

We call Paraprarumu, Paraparam :) its just easier :exit

Ian


Or even "Pram"
:nice1

[zardell]

Hey Lee.

I'm not very good at pronouncing some of the place names either, but the people I talk to go overboard to help me and we have a good laugh when I still get it wrong !!

Don't worry too much about it - I've found that people just appreciate the fact that I'm having a go and prepared to learn, albeit slowly !!!

Stick with it Matey - you'll be fine and just remember everybody had to be taught how to pronounce the words at some point.........:nice1

Just getting to NZ and struggling to stay here was a hard enough battle for you Mate and you have all my respect, so what's a few badly pronounced place names between friends.

Julie

xx

[kanatakiwi]

As others have mentioned in earlier posts, there is a certain percentage of Kiwis who mangle Maori words, and there are those who make an attempt to get it right.

Listen to the news readers, who are mostly Pakeha, but who have excellent Maori pronounciation, so you can follow their lead.

As a new resident of NZ, I think its important to try and get it right. So while its Ok to make a hash of the language at first, we at least have an excuse. There are lots of Kiwis who don't even make an effort and think its funny to mangle the words.

For us newbies here, it would be best if we can learn from someone who says words the right way, rather than learn all the bad pronounciation that is floating around. Like any attempts with a new language, an honest attempt is always appreciated.

From Day 1 I never understood why my Pakeha friends thought it was ok to say A-Oh-Tea-a -Roa, instead of OW-Tia-Roa. :uhoh That's not a hard one. for us Aucklanders, things happen at Ow-Tee-A Square, not at A-Oh-Tee-A Sqaure.

And Paraparaumu. I mostly hear it pronounced Para-para-umu. :o Its actually Para- par-oh-mu. Once you know its easy to say it properly.
And yes its ok to call it Para:D Better to abbreviate it, than mispronounce the full word.

I guess I am just advocating that you learn from someone who has it right to begin with.

[KerryS]

From Day 1 I never understood why my Pakeha friends thought it was ok to say A-Oh-Tea-a -Roa, instead of OW-Tia-Roa. :uhoh That's not a hard one.

I think this comes from the fact that the National Anthem is sung so badly! I cringe everytime I hear it.

[mgbridges]

It's the WH's that keep catching me out. The nearest bus stop to me is on Kowhai Road. The bus driver looked at me strange when I asked to go to Cow-Eye Road. "Oh, you mean Coe-Fie Road" he said eventually.

And don't get me started on "routeing"!!

Martin

[stu70]

It's the WH's that keep catching me out. The nearest bus stop to me is on Kowhai Road. The bus driver looked at me strange when I asked to go to Cow-Eye Road. "Oh, you mean Coe-Fie Road" he said eventually.

And don't get me started on "routeing"!!

Martin

"routeing"?What about it?

[marcia]

Ok this isn't maori pronunciation, but i cringe everytime i hear people especially on the radio saying the following words

Known, drawn, can't think of the other, but basically words ending in 'wn'

they say for example - the victim was 'know-en' to them, its one little thing which really gets to me when I hear it! :o

We have the same problems here with people not being consistent with the 'wh', the kids learn to say it a certain way in school, but when you speak to other people they look at you as if you are mad until you write it down or spell it out!

[zardell]

basically words ending in 'wn'

they say for example - the victim was 'know-en' to them, its one little thing which really gets to me when I hear it! :o





Thanks for that Marcia - you know what I'll be listening out for now don't you.....:D

One that really gets me is the Kiwi way of using the word 'woman' when they really need to be using the plural form - 'women'.

Aaah well, if thats my only whinge for the day I must be settling in !!!!

Julie

xx

[DMcG]

On my first trip to NZ, we came via Oz and landed at Cairns airport.
To this day, I'll remember the announcement about "people for flight blah - please report to the chicken desk". I had a momentary vision of all these chickens crowded around a check in desk at the airport :laugh

To Stu70: a certain item of computer hardware in the UK is called a "router", pronounced "root-er" and network traffic "roots" through it; which I gather means something quite different here :o

Dougie

[Questor]

Or even "Pram"
:nice1

Yep definitely P'ram
Just don't get me started on Pauatahanui - I've heard at least 5 different pronunciations from native Kiwis, none of which sound right to me :)

[KerryS]

Ok this isn't maori pronunciation, but i cringe everytime i hear people especially on the radio saying the following words

Known, drawn, can't think of the other, but basically words ending in 'wn'

they say for example - the victim was 'know-en' to them, its one little thing which really gets to me when I hear it! :o


I absolutely hate this - it drives me insane! It is my biggest peeve with NZ pronounciation. Absolutely bonkers - where do they get the additional letters from. Oddly they don't say it with Brown though.
As bad as that awful singer and her 4 syllable Um-ber-rel-la...

[gil]

Our kids have been taught that Maori vowels go "Are there three or two?" Easy to remember for us foreigners...

Gil

[lockstock]

We're really looking forward to all this - after 5 years I can at last pronounce Gwernyfed and Llanwrtyd properly. Working on Llanfihangel y Creuddyn but given up on Felin Gwm Isaf. At least back in Somerset all I had to worry about was Middlezoy, Charlton Mackrell and Stogursey!

[lockstock]

On the point of general Kiwi pronounciation and dodgy vowel sounds, we were watching Location, Location,Location the other day (again) and one of the sellers was a Used Car Salesman Playboy Wannabe anxious to sell his beachside appartment. He tried to tell the agent how to do his job and drew his attention to the large deck outside (I'd have called it a balcony but there you go) Anyway, although exasperation was creeping into the agent's very Kiwi voice, to UK ears the phrase 'Yes, I know you have a large deck' was most unfortunate.
I think you had to be there.:exit

[gil]

On the point of general Kiwi pronounciation and dodgy vowel sounds, we were watching Location, Location,Location the other day (again) and one of the sellers was a Used Car Salesman Playboy Wannabe anxious to sell his beachside appartment. He tried to tell the agent how to do his job and drew his attention to the large deck outside (I'd have called it a balcony but there you go) Anyway, although exasperation was creeping into the agent's very Kiwi voice, to UK ears the phrase 'Yes, I know you have a large deck' was most unfortunate.
I think you had to be there.:exit

:laugh:laugh, puerile, I know, but that still gets me every time!!

[zardell]

:laugh:laugh, puerile, I know, but that still gets me every time!!



Ditto..........:laugh

I just hope that the word decade doesn't come up too often in serious conversations.

Reduces me to a giggling schoolgirl every time.

Julie

xx

[lockstock]

[I just hope that the word decade doesn't come up too often in serious conversations. Julie xx[/QUOTE]



Oh no. Oh very no. ROTFL

[zardell]

[ ROTFL


Yep - thats me over there, on the floor !!.......LOL:laugh

Julie

xx

[tecso]

I am experiencing similar problems with new classmates I meet at university. I'm from the US, and not only do they ask me to repeat myself alot - I also can't understand anything they say when they start rattling off place names!

So, here are the few words I've learned to start this off:

Maori = mao (like Chairman Mao)-ree
Remuera = rem-you're-ah
Kourie tree = cow-ree
Britomart = brit (not bright)-oh-mart
Quay = cue, as for pool cue (this was a stumper!!)

[Oregonkiwi]

Kourie tree = cow-ree

Quay = cue, as for pool cue (this was a stumper!!)

You probably mean kauri tree?
Quay is pronounced like key; perhaps you mean queue (which is pronounced like Q or cue).

[Sam B]

I'm pretty sure au is pronounced as 'oh' in Maori if you're doing it properly, so it's koh-ree, I think.

[HelenandPhil]

Hello All,

after a hectic day of moving back to parents ahead of our move to NZ in October, we are listening to ZM online radio..... they keep playing an advert to win a "mini one car" very interesting when spoken with a kiwi dialect.... made me stop in my tracks! especially after a few beers!:laugh