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How the heck do I say Taumarunui??
The Maori language, or Te Reo, is a melodic and flowing language. When spoken correctly, it is really quite lovely to listen to. Like any language though, there is a trick to pronouncing the words and names in the way the Maori people themselves do. Many non-Maori people struggle with our Maori place names including a lot of New Zealanders!
Taumarunui is correctly pronouced Toe-mah-roo-noo-ee. The R sound should be rolled. Easy!
All Maori place names are easy to pronounce once you know how to make the key sounds for the language. All maori vowels are always pronounced in the same way, they don't change their sounds for different words as in english. You can pronounce any maori word once you know how to say the vowels and a couple of other sounds:
A - 'aah' as in farm I - 'ee' as in ' easy' U - 'oo' as in 'pooh'
E - 'eh' or 'air' O - 'oh' as in 'got'
The other two sounds that are particular to the Maori language and have a certain way of being pronounced are the following:
Ng - as in 'sing' Wh - is dialectal in Maori but always pronounced as 'f'
Once you've mastered how to make these sounds you can pronounce any Maori word you see correctly. Kia Kaha! Be strong and good luck.
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 Photo taken by Deni D'Alessandro, Australia, in May 11. This is Wharauroa Marae, about 15mins walk from the Park
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