Maori names

[bh480@scn.org]

From: Ben Creisler bh480@scn.org

Sorry to say, I can't claim to be an expert on Maori--my 
approximate English pronunciation for Kaiwhekea katiki is 
based on the original description in Palaeontology (which 
explains (sort of) the pronunciation for the genus name) 
and e-mail to a commercial camping ground near to Katiki 
Beach in New Zealand to check the local pronunciation 
of "katiki" (not offered in the Palaeontology article). 
Maori has both long and short vowels, which don't 
correspond exactly with English: long vowels are similar 
to Spanish values; short vowels are similar to English , 
but short "a" is more like "uh" (in "duh") rather than the 
sound in "cat."  The usual English rendering of "wh" 
is "f" though the REAL Maori pronunciation varies with 
different regions. The accent when all the vowels are 
short (as in "Katiki") goes to the third syllable from the 
end--since English speakers don't use a true short "i" at 
the end of words, I used "ee" as an approximation (a Maori 
speaker would obviously pronounce it short). Also, the 
name "Mortuneria" should be Morturneria in my comments--a 
typo.