AOTEA
(To the Editor.)
Sir,—A contributor to your paper, signing himself "Query," seeks the correct pronunciation of the above Maori word. While not claiming in any sense to be considered a Maori scholar, my many years of close contact with the Natives, both in Taranaki and in the King Country, plus an inborn liking for the people, perhaps entitle me to venture an opinion on the subject. In the euphonious and smoothly-flow-ing speech of the Maori — with its oftrecurring vowels, and in which each word ends with a vowel—every such vowel marks a separate syllable. It follows then that the word Aotea, having four vowels, is. composed of four syllables, thus: A-o-te-a pronounced as nearly as may be in English diction Ah-o-tay-ah. (Note—to gst the soft Maori rendering of the third syllable the tongue is brought forward between the teeth.) One feels therefore on quite safe ground in asserting that both pronunciations given in "Query's" letter are definitely incorrect. —I am, etc.,
STUDENT.
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https://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/newspapers/EP19380519.2.50.1
Bibliographic details
Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 116, 19 May 1938, Page 8
Word Count
163AOTEA Evening Post, Volume CXXV, Issue 116, 19 May 1938, Page 8
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