MAORI PRONUNCIATION. The following letter appears in the Dunedin " Evening Star." :—

North Otago Times, Volume XXVI, Issue 1868, 22 April 1878, Page 2

MAORI PRONUNCIATION. The following letter appears in the Dunedin " Evening Star." :—: —

TO THE EDITOK, Sir. — Under the head of ''Correspondence " in your lost night's issuo, in reply to " F. M.," I quito agree with you that " Oamaru" should bo pronounced " Oahmaru"and not " Ommaru," which is an unpardonable clipping of the Queen's Maori ; but I cannot agree with you in your concluding statement " that the pronunciation ' Warmaru ' is a pioco of affectation originating with the local squattocracy. " The two first letters 11 Oa " being vowels in conjunction, form a diphthong, and have only ono vocal sound, so if you give one sound to your "Oah," anyone opening the mouth and and pronouncing it fairly will find the sound as near " war "as possible. This is and always was the way the Maoris pronounced Oamaru ; the moderns omit the first " a " in the name. Thero is a similarity in the word "Maori." No one calls it " Ma-o-ri " but " Mouri "—"" — " ou " being pronounced aa in "mouse" and "house." The French for " moir " is " maure," and that is the origin of the word " Maori," for these people come from the shores of the Mediterranean, as their language and habits, and religion prove. I know an Italian fisherman in Dunedin who was never farther north than Canterbury, who says ho can read and understand their book. — I am, &c. , F. RICHAItDSON. Dunedin, April 17.

(For continuation of News, sec page 4.)