Many of the placenames here in New Zealand have striking similarities to placenames in Hawaii. That's because the same people populated both islands: the Maori.
A quick pronunciation guide. Vowels have only one form:
a = "ah"
e = "ay"
i = "ee"
o = "oh"
u = "ooh"
Thus the town of Te Anau (right near Fjordland National Park) should technically be pronounced "tay ah na ooh." But we've found that since we've actually arrived in Te Anau, it seems even the New Zealanders don't quite agree on how to pronounce it--depending on who we talk to, it can sounds like anything from "tyownow" to "teeanuh." Go figure.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment