Greetings all,

My question is:

Is Otago pronounced 'O tar go' or 'O tay go'?

This may seem trivial, but hey, it is just as important as the correct spelling.

Thanks heaps,
Jenny

Otago is pronounced O tar go

My Lonely Planet guide to NZ tells me that the vowel sounds are as follows:
a as in 'large'
e as in 'get'
i as in 'marine'
o as in 'pork'
u as the 'oo' in moon

The dipthongs:
ae & ai as the 'y' in sky
ao & au as the 'ow' in how
ea as in 'bear'
ei as in 'vein'
eo as 'eh-oh'
eu as 'eh-oo'
ia as in the name 'Ian'
ie as the 'ye' in 'yet'
io as the 'ye' in 'ye old'
iu as the 'ue' in 'cue
oa as in 'roar'
oe as in 'toe'
oi as in 'toil'
ou as the 'ow' in 'sow'
ua as the 'ewe' in 'fewer'

* I believe that the 'y' in 'ye' wasn't really a 'y' but the Old Norse rune 'thorn', which was pronounced as the 'th' in 'the'. That is, in the old (or olde) days it was just used as shorthand for 'th'.

I could easily be wrong about this, but I remember being told that Maori pronunciation is similar to Hawaiian.

I believe that when Captain (or maybe Lieutenant) James Cook landed in NZ he had with him a Hawaiian, who found that he could understand enough of the local language to interpret for the Englishmen.

my biggest lesson was that for most Maori names (mostly towns) "Wh" is pronounced "F".

O-tar-go is correct.

Thanks a lot.

The Wh which is pronounced F is a bit of a worry. Especially in Whakatane and Whakapapa. How do you keep a straight face?


Jenny

just an addition regarding Whakatane. It isn't pronounced exactly to rhyme with uck. More ock. like sock. fock car tar ne.

doen't make the locals laugh. but then I just went to germnay and sniggered at Wankbahn.

The more common pronunciation of "get" by a Kiwi is "git", as in "pin" for "pen" and "yip" for "yep".

I'm assuming that Lonely planet guide is for Maori.

>>just an addition regarding Whakatane. It isn't pronounced exactly to rhyme with uck. More ock. like sock. fock car tar ne.<<

According to Hare, the Maori owner of Lloyds Lodge in Whakatane, it should be pronounced "uck." He mentioned that Americans seemed kind of squeamish about that pronunciation, but we should go ahead and say it correctly.

Lee Ann

Lee Ann's right on the pronounciation of Whakatane. Causes no end of merriment for Aussies in particular. But it is my hometown (though I live in Auckland now). People use the "Fock" pronounciation only really to avoid causing offence.

Steve