How do you pronounce Whanganui?
Video Stuart Munro
How do we say Whanganui?
As Māori Language Week - Te Wiki o Te Reo Māori draws to a close and the Wanganui Chronicle has officially become the Whanganui Chronicle it seems a good time to ask the question.
Television and radio reporters frequently pronounce the "Wh" as an "F"sound which leads some to believe that the name of the city is now pronounced as "Fonganui".
If you listen to Rauru Broughton speaking on Awa FM in the river city, you will hear him pronounce it with the soft "wh" sound.
Broughton is using the dialect of his Whanganui Tupoho iwi.
"When I worked for Radio New Zealand, I told my boss that I wanted to pronounce Whanganui the same way I always have and when te reo speakers hear me, they know where I'm from."
Whanganui Regional Museum kaiwhakaako (teacher) Āwhina Twomey of Rangitāne iwi maintains her indigenous dialect when saying "Whanganui".
Twomey was speaking only te reo Māori this week and asked educator Margie Beautrais to convey the message that it is quite correct for people from outside a region to bring their own dialect with them.
The Whanganui Chronicle asked a few people on the street how they say Whanganui and here's what they told us ...
Kim Pere learned to speak te reo in Ruatoria but uses the soft "wh" pronunciation in Whanganui.
"It seems respectful to the tangata whenua of the region," she says.
Kim Pere
Geethu Suresh has been living in Whanganui for two years and says she tends to pronounce the city's name the way she hears it on TV.
"I find it a bit confusing really."
Geethu Suresh
Matthew Mokaraka has moved to Whanganui from Auckland with his dog Chevelle and hopes to find work on a farm.
