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Thread ID: 97696	2009-02-24 05:43:00	Whanganui or Whangavegas?	Sweep (90)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
751001	2009-02-25 19:50:00	And the English language is so perfect? Beauchamp street in Wellington is or was pronounced beecham. We have a name like Penelope which is not pronounced like Antelope. That might have something to do with the fact that the name is not English but French and means, 'beautiful field.' I can't be too certain about Penelope, but I think it may have Greek origins. I am certain that there are many out there who will know where it comes from. English is made up of so many words pinched from so many other languages that it is no wonder that many similar looking words are pronounced differently and many words are not pronounced as they appear.	Roscoe (6288)
751002	2009-02-25 20:20:00	We had a similar thing here in Fongarei a couple of years ago. Mt Parahaki has had a name change to Mt Parihaka. Everyone here still calls it Parahaki.	CYaBro (73)
751003	2009-02-25 20:47:00	Languages evolve. Primarily they evolve in the maner in which they are vocalised, and the written form eventually changes to match the new vocalisation / vocalization. This is all a normal process, and has been going on ever since language came into use, and will continue to do so... only hampered by those that like to dictate how things should be or used to be. We don't say stuff like : Forsooth, whyfor hast thou begotten... yet all those gastly words were the norm not all that long ago. Yet now. for all intents and purposes they are history, and of interest pretty much only to language scholars, historians and playwriters. If I had to vote on the current issue, I'd go with the status quo. It's what 99% of the world knows, it costs nothing to leave it as it is, and it'll evolve into its current form again even if you do 'reset' it back to the 'proper' form. Globalisation is causing a steady melding of all the major languages, with all languages adopting words from each other. It's a path to eventually having one major global language. Niche and historical languages will still exist, and they'll continue to be corrupted and adapted. It's all a joke when you stop to think about 'panana' (banana), 'aporo' (apple), 'komputer' (computer). Maori have had to embrace other words into their language. Maori is adapting and evolving, just as English, German, French are all evolving. So this Wha / Wa business is silly in perspective.	Paul.Cov (425)
751004	2009-02-25 21:00:00	I would think that this is that Scottish fella, Ken Mair's, latest bee in the bonnet. He hasn't been in the news lately. Perhaps his group is ready for another Govt cash injection to keep him quiet!!! Wanganui City. Yes. Whanganui River. Yes. Compromise. Yes PJ	Poppa John (284)
751005	2009-02-25 22:08:00	Once the city has its name that should be it. Dont want like Russia where they changed the names from ###########burg to stupid Stalingrad or Salisbury in Southern Rhodesia etc. NZ is littered with dumb street names after Crimean war heroes and cities and towns named after poverty rock places but once its gazetted that should be that for 10 million years or till the sun runs of hydrogen whichever comes last.	prefect (6291)
751006	2009-02-26 19:20:00	We had a similar thing here in Fongarei a couple of years ago. Interesting. When I live up there as a kid it was always pronounce Wangarei. It seems only since a pack of poncey Maori academics got together in the last 1970s that the WH has been pronounce with a F. If it had been pronounce with a F way back when the colonists were writing the Maori language down then the would have used the letter F or PH for the spelling..	paulw (1826)
751007	2009-02-26 19:34:00	To me i dont give a whuck. A names a name. it isnt going to help anything at all except mr taxpayer will most likely have to fork out. Again. And again. And again ...etc	rob_on_guitar (4196)
751008	2009-02-26 19:42:00	To me i dont give a whuck. A names a name. it isnt going to help anything at all except mr taxpayer will most likely have to fork out. Again. And again. And again ...etc "whork"	johcar (6283)
751009	2009-02-26 19:44:00	Snap! lol	rob_on_guitar (4196)
751010	2009-02-26 22:31:00	I once had a dog named Fido. Spelling was phydeaux. Surely the purpose of any language is to communicate with other people regardless of their mother tongue? Now in english as she is spoke in New Zealand is rather different to that spoke in America. I say Lift rather than Elevator. I say Boot rather than Trunk. I say "to mato" rather than "to mate o" and etc. Language evolves to embrace new inventions or concepts. For example I have also learned Cat language. Yeep means "Hi there". A slightly louder version indicates " I want food" A loud scream means either there is another cat outside or you are standing on my tail.	Sweep (90)
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