“Rolleston”

Press, Volume CX, Issue 32351, 17 July 1970, Page 12

“Rolleston”

Sir,—The N.Z.B.C. has decided that “Rolleston” (when not referring to the original pioneer family) shall be pronounced as a three-syllable word. The manager, Mr Robertson, supports this decision to use an incorrect pronunciation on the grounds that most members of the public use and prefer it. Why, then, if public use and preference is to be the criterion, does the N.Z.B.C. persist in the use of pedantic versions of Maori place names, instead of using the pronunciations the public prefers? While everyone else was referring to the “Waheeny” at the time of tlie Wahine disaster, the N.Z.B.C. carefully called it the “Warheenay.” Has Mr Robertson any logical explanation?—Yours, etc., H. L. GARRETT.

July 9, 1970. [Mr J. Robertson, radio manager for N.Z.B.C. in Christchurch, replies: “Your correspondent is contradictory. On ope hand she refuses to accept ‘public preference’ as a valid justification for the three-syllable form, bn the other advocating public preference for the N.Z.B.C. to return to the often ghastly distortion of Maori place-names to which the Maori Council strongly objected.”]