Pronunciation

The editorial of June 26 was a timely reminder that it is just common courtesy to pronounce Maori place names correctly. Three examples that immediately come to mind are firstly ‘‘Piopio’’ which has become ‘‘Pewpew’’ rather than ‘‘Pior-pior’’. The second is the small South Island town of

Ngakawa (The Shags) which the locals pronounce something like ‘‘Knocker-war’’. The third is the parrot, the Kea, invariably mispronounced ‘‘Kee-a’’, certainly not ‘‘Kay-a’’.

Mispronunciation is not restricted to Maori words however. A common solecism is the French artist Degas’ name which invariably comes out ‘‘Day-gar’’ from English speakers, even though there is no acute accent on the ‘e’ and should be nearer to ‘‘Dergar’’.

Frank Bailey, Hamilton