How do you pronounce Paraparaumu?
Hi Neighbourly folk, Kāpiti resident Gaynor Bradbury has written to the Kāpiti Observer calling for a debate on the pronunciation of Paraparaumu.
Here is what she had to say.
"Kāpiti residents pronounce Paraparaumu in three ways:
(1) exactly as it’s spelt
(2) emphasising the fourth ‘a’ and ignoring the u
(3) pronouncing the ‘au’ as separate vowels as in Taupō . When I did a Māori Language course we were told that vowels are pronounced separately, so some justification for that pronunciation.
Māori presenters on a recent programme on Māori TV, pronounced Paraparaumu exactly as it’s spelt. At least one Māori language expert agrees with this. It’s the simplest pronunciation for Paraparaumu residents when giving their address to others beyond "Kāpiti as it makes it easier for them to spell.
Māori don’t have plurals. Te is used for one, Nga for plurals. A literal interpretation of Nga Rara Rd could mean very sunny as Te Ra would be a or one sun. A literal meaning for para is dirt and umu is oven, so parapara would be a very dirty oven. As it would be in sand this is logical. Is it time for a united pronunciation?"
Tell us what you think.
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Driven On The Akatarawa Rd Lately?
If so, its good to know you are still alive and reading this.
We have a function to go to over Christmas up that way and having heard a few hairy stories about the road, I went up there on Thursday to check it out. The road's ok, narrow and winding, but not much worse than a Wellington hill suburb. What was pretty scary was the behavior of other drivers. Three vehicles heading the other way at speed would have crashed into me if I hadn't been pulled off the road. I had pulled in to check the address when a truck came flying past, taking up all of the narrow road at speed. There is no way the driver would have been able to stop had they come around the corner immediately in front of me. The other two drivers came hurtling past as I had turned in to turn around and come back down the hill. They were also driving at speed and taking up most of the road. Coming back down I passed another car coming up and estimate that the safe speed to pass another car was about 30-35 kms.p.h. So, now we're thinking, do we go to the function or not.? Feels a bit like we're taking our life in our hands going up there. Drivers appear to be overconfident, and they are courting serious injury.
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