NEW ZEALAND SPEECH

New Zealand Herald, Volume LXXII, Issue 22161, 15 July 1935, Page 12

NEW ZEALAND SPEECH

Sir, —Acting upon ''TtjesdyV recommendation, 1 looked up a few dictionaries anent the pronunciation of Wednesday. The Shorter Oxford dictionary gives it alternatively as Wenzdei and We-d'nzdei, the latter being tho correct vray. True, other dictionaries give it as Wenzda and Wenzdi, the latter being "TuesdyV version, so I apologise to him for calling it abominable, though I still consider Weusdy a crime, dictionaries notwithstanding. I believe, however, that "Tuesdy"' is quite wrong in regard to Papakura. I have been given to understand that most scholarly gentlemen rendered the spoken Maori into purely phonetical writing, in which '-a.se the Maori sound oo is properly written u. This is vastly different from '"Tnesdy's" assertion, that the u in Papakura is the result of the settlers mis-sounding 00. I contend that the average Englishman out here misreads, or misinterprets the phonetical u and calls it you. The written Australian aboriginal language retains oo and is, in consequence, rather cumbersome in words, like Woolloomooloo and Eoondooloo, but it has the virtue that it cannot be mispronounced. While on the question of pronunciation may 1 mention a grievous fault which has riot yet been touched, namely, the failure to sound the consonant r when it occurs (occuhs) and sounding it when it does not occur at all, as in saw. "I sore a man" is quote commonly heard. The r in word, heard, ignore, carves, or, wharves, etc., is simply eliminated m speech—other than Scots and Irish. Richard S. JutDnf.