Homeowners oppose street name chosen by iwi, saying the 17-letter name is too long (i.stuff.co.nz)

submitted 1 year ago by z2k_@lemmy.nz to c/newzealand@lemmy.nz

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I guess they didn’t want people to end up calling it P Road

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[-] Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz 5 points 1 year ago

It's definitely a lot easier when you break it up like that.

[-] Longpork_afficianado@lemmy.nz 4 points 1 year ago

Yeah, Māori is actually pretty easy to pronounce if you break it apart. There are only five vowel sounds and they don't change depending on context like with English. The only downside is that names are often comprised of several words smooshed together, so you have to pick it apart yourself the first time you read it.

[-] Ozymati@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 year ago

If I can say shmutzfangmatten then I can say Papakangahorohoro. I bet half the people complaining wouldn't be if they were trying to name it for a (hypothetical) historical German doormat factory instead of giving it a perfectly cromulent Maori name (I think something to do with earthquakes?).

[-] Ilovethebomb@lemmy.nz 1 points 1 year ago

I definitely couldn't pronounce shmutzfangmatten though, and I doubt most of NZ could either. I also think there would be a similar push back if you tried to name a street that.

Kinda a ridiculous hypothetical to be honest.