Why do they pronounce it "The Hoerukee Golf"?

[Roscoe]

I have been in Auckland since 1964, nearly 60 years and in all that time the name of the gulf has always been pronounced as it is written - The howraki gulf, but TVNZ, in particular, call it The Hoerukee Golf. 

Firstly I was taught at school that the maoris had no written language so the colonists wrote it down for them and they wrote it as they heard it so if they heard "hoerukee" why did they write "Hauraki"? But is there really a correct way to pronounce maori? That may not be the case as I also learnt at school that there were different dialects all over the country. So who decides which dialect is the "correct" dialect? 

Secondly, TVNZ and other radio and tv announcers don't seem to know the difference between gulf and golf and usually pronounce gulf as golf.

And when talking pronunciation, it's surprising how many people say "pronounciation." The word is pronounced as it is written.

There are also another two words that people don't know the difference between and they are woman and women. It is surprising how many people pronounce the two words the same - woman and woman, whereas women is pronounced wimmen.

Unfortunately, people seem to be taking on the American pronunciation of many words as well as the American spelling. Let's face it, the Americans have their own brand of English as we do but we seem to be losing our unique Kiwi brand of English and many are pronouncing and spelling the American way. Our ancestors came mainly from the UK and brought their particular dialect with them, but these days the American way seems to be influencing the way many people speak which is a pity really. Personally I am a Kiwi and I have no desire to become an American.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Did you know Roscoe, that lot down south, and I mean waaaaay down south, they rrrrrrroll theirrrrrr arrrrres.

And that lot are white as bro!

Weird eh?

[Roscoe]

Yes, I know what you mean. We went on a motorhome trip down that way two years ago and we thought that the way they rolled their rs was quite noticeable, but we thought that it was quite pleasant.

Some wit remarked that they rolled their arse. -

[Lilith7]

A MESSAGE FROM THE QUEEN
To the citizens of the United States of America from Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
In light of your failure in recent years to nominate competent candidates for President of the USA and thus to govern yourselves, we hereby give notice of the revocation of your independence, effective immediately. (You should look up 'revocation' in the Oxford English Dictionary.)

Her Sovereign Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will resume monarchical duties over all states, commonwealths, and territories (except North Dakota, which she does not fancy).
Your new Prime Minister, (insert name) , will appoint a Governor for America without the need for further elections.
Congress and the Senate will be disbanded. A questionnaire may be circulated next year to determine whether any of you noticed.

To aid in the transition to a British Crown dependency, the following rules are introduced with immediate effect:

1. The letter 'U' will be reinstated in words such as 'colour,' 'favour,' 'labour' and 'neighbour.' Likewise, you will learn to spell 'doughnut' without skipping half the letters, and the suffix '-ize' will be replaced by the suffix '-ise.' Generally, you will be expected to raise your vocabulary to acceptable levels. (look up 'vocabulary').

2. Using the same twenty-seven words interspersed with filler noises such as ''like' and 'you know' is an unacceptable and inefficient form of communication. There is no such thing as U.S. English. We will let Microsoft know on your behalf. The Microsoft spell-checker will be adjusted to take into account the reinstated letter 'u'' and the elimination of '-ize.'

3. July 4th will no longer be celebrated as a holiday.

4. You will learn to resolve personal issues without using guns, lawyers, or therapists. The fact that you need so many lawyers and therapists shows that you're not quite ready to be independent. Guns should only be used for shooting grouse. If you can't sort things out without suing someone or speaking to a therapist, then you're not ready to shoot grouse.

5. Therefore, you will no longer be allowed to own or carry anything more dangerous than a vegetable peeler. Although a permit will be required if you wish to carry a vegetable peeler in public.

6. All intersections will be replaced with roundabouts, and you will start driving on the left side with immediate effect. At the same time, you will go metric with immediate effect and without the benefit of conversion tables. Both roundabouts and metrication will help you understand the British sense of humour.

7. The former USA will adopt UK prices on petrol (which you have been calling gasoline) of roughly $10/US gallon. Get used to it.

8. You will learn to make real chips. Those things you call French fries are not real chips, and those things you insist on calling potato chips are properly called crisps. Real chips are thick cut, fried in animal fat, and dressed not with catsup but with vinegar.

9. The cold, tasteless stuff you insist on calling beer is not actually beer at all. Henceforth, only proper British Bitter will be referred to as beer, and European brews of known and accepted provenance will be referred to as Lager. South African beer is also acceptable, as they are pound for pound the greatest sporting nation on earth and it can only be due to the beer. They are also part of the British Commonwealth - see what it did for them. American brands will be referred to as Near-Frozen Gnat's Urine, so that all can be sold without risk of further confusion.

10. Hollywood will be required occasionally to cast English actors as good guys. Hollywood will also be required to cast English actors to play English characters. Watching Andie Macdowell attempt at English dialect in Four Weddings and a Funeral was an experience akin to having one's ears removed with a cheese grater.

11. You will cease playing American football. There is only one kind of proper football; you call it soccer. Those of you brave enough will, in time, be allowed to play rugby (which has some similarities to American football, but does not involve stopping for a rest every twenty seconds or wearing full kevlar body armour like a bunch of nancies).

12. Further, you will stop playing baseball. It is not reasonable to host an event called the World Series for a game which is not played outside of America. Since only 2.1% of you are aware there is a world beyond your borders, your error is understandable. You will learn cricket, and we will let you face the South Africans first to take the sting out of their deliveries.

13.. You must tell us who killed JFK. It's been driving us mad.


14. An internal revenue agent (i.e. tax collector) from Her Majesty's Government will be with you shortly to ensure the acquisition of all monies due (backdated to 1776).
15. Daily Tea Time begins promptly at 4 p.m. with proper cups, with saucers, and never mugs, with high quality biscuits (cookies) and cakes; plus strawberries (with cream) when in season.
God Save the Queen!

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Those were the days. Have you seen the poll on the King's abdication?

[Lilith7]

No, first I've heard of it - can't say I'd blame him though, don't think he much wants to be king.

[Oh_hunnihunni]

Free Charlie here...

https://www.stuff.co.nz/life-style/royal...s-abdicate

[Lilith7]

Daftness - he's only been in the job 5 minutes, & the kid needs more life experience before he gets the crown. It does seem that Charlie's destined to be misunderstood quite a lot.

[SueDonim]

I have been in Auckland since 1964, nearly 60 years and in all that time the name of the gulf has always been pronounced as it is written - The howraki gulf, but TVNZ, in particular, call it The Hoerukee Golf. 

Firstly I was taught at school that the maoris had no written language so the colonists wrote it down for them and they wrote it as they heard it so if they heard "hoerukee" why did they write "Hauraki"? But is there really a correct way to pronounce maori? That may not be the case as I also learnt at school that there were different dialects all over the country. So who decides which dialect is the "correct" dialect? 

Secondly, TVNZ and other radio and tv announcers don't seem to know the difference between gulf and golf and usually pronounce gulf as golf.

And when talking pronunciation, it's surprising how many people say "pronounciation." The word is pronounced as it is written.

There are also another two words that people don't know the difference between and they are woman and women. It is surprising how many people pronounce the two words the same - woman and woman, whereas women is pronounced wimmen.

Unfortunately, people seem to be taking on the American pronunciation of many words as well as the American spelling. Let's face it, the Americans have their own brand of English as we do but we seem to be losing our unique Kiwi brand of English and many are pronouncing and spelling the American way. Our ancestors came mainly from the UK and brought their particular dialect with them, but these days the American way seems to be influencing the way many people speak which is a pity really. Personally I am a Kiwi and I have no desire to become an American.

I saw this the other day but forgot to come back.

I have had a number of "lessons" in Maori pronunciation from school and on through my working life. We were taught the consonants and vowels and how the sounds of the dipthongs merge to create their own sound. Then it all fell to bits when today's Maori speakers seem to break all the basics and have come up with stilted sounds that simply sound wrong. If you listen carefully to someone actually speaking Maori there is quite a bit of variation and you will hear the sounds we were taught. I think change stems from Maori "leaders" trying to assert dominance and newsreaders trying to be PC which then gets picked up by others. So H a u raki becomes Hoe raki and T a u ra nga becomes Toe wrong a.

Same with the "wh" sound. If the missionaries who translated the language into a written form had heard an "f" they would have put that into the alphabet. They didn't. They heard a "wh" sound which in fact is varied according to dialect and approaches "f" in the East Cape area or "h" in Northland, but is never really "f" or "h" but always a "wh".

[Oh_hunnihunni]

And then there are the regional and tribal differences. Just as there are in any language.

[Zurdo]

I remember the old Maori, my Grandfathers era, and how they spoke. The K was always back in the throat, and remember how they said kaihikatea, such a loverly word, and I don't hear any Maori say it that way these days. My father never called a dog a dog, it was always a Kuri...I thought he was saying guri, but the k was so far back in the throat it was like a G.

[Kenj]

One of my girls I used to pick up in the school van was fluent in maori. Taught by her grandmother who told her that modern maori butcher the language these days. But, she supposed it is a living language, changed to suit circumstances and trends.

[Lilith7]

And then there are the regional and tribal differences. Just as there are in any language.

Indeed there are; third eldest granddaughter  married  a Ngapuhi bloke & they've  been learning the language & when they went up north last year she said they both found those  regional differences a bit difficult. 
And while I only know a few words (mainly picked up when I was a kid) I think my pronunciation is likely to be Ngai Tahu from the local Iwi. That, or I managed to get it wrong, which isn't  unlikely.