To'h' or not to 'h' - that is the question

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Thu, 17 Sep 2009 7:04p.m.

Michael Laws

Michael Laws

Is it Wanganui or Whanganui?

Whangarei has an 'h', as does Whakatane, and that was the question facing the Geographic Board - to 'h', or not to 'h'.

The board considered the 'h' issue at length before releasing their decision today – 'yes' to the 'h'.

Things have been incrementally changing within the Wanganui region. The long and winding Whanganui River had its 'h' added in 1991.

Wanganui's District Health Board, for example, also added the 'h'.

But the city itself remains h-less.

The majority of its inhabitants want it to stay that way, perhaps most vocally amongst them their mayor, Michael Laws.

Campbell Live spoke to him today about the decision.
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Comments

27 Jun 2010 07:46p.m.

D.Lovett wrote:

re the H debate....all th WH sounding place names are found on the East Coast, Wanganui is on the West. Don Grant Geographic Board and Maurice Williamson MP have yet to front up and tell the nation why they have not honoured our two referendums. google the h wanganui song site

24 Sep 2009 11:13a.m.

Tax payer wrote:

Hello Everybody,
We all know for the fact that there are more things to be worry about especially in Wanganui,Not just "h".
Problems like DRUGS,GANGS,ILLEGAL ARMS,ROBBERIES,FAMILY VIOLENCE,LACK OF EDUCATION AMONG THE YOUNG GENERATION, MORE EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITY ETC......... That's what we all should focus to bring the standard up of the community.
Why are we all going out of the track?. Hopefully in future, the local Mayor and some our relevant leaders will pay more attention to bring the standard up of the community and teach them to contribute more to the country than depending on dole !!!!

24 Sep 2009 11:12a.m.

Shane Miller wrote:

Wow....... we all are worrying about 'H' ha.. what about other letters like: (D,C,P,J,S,FM) 'd' = Drugs 'c'= Childabuse 'p'= pod 'j'= joints 's'= smuggling 'fm'=family violence.
In the future we should not only worry about "h" but also please worry about D,C,P,J,S,FM.
God bless everyone !!!!

22 Sep 2009 06:46p.m.

Hippy wrote:

I agree Michael Laws is a angry little man. Whanganui has been listed as the correct spelling in the "A Dictionary Of Maori Place Names" since 1963 (see page 137). Named after the river which is named after the harbour. There are no instances of Maori words being spelt 'wanga' in fact 'whanga' is harbour (or bay, also ambush) 'wanga' is not a word at all, 'Whanganui' is 'whanga' + 'nui'. You have, Whanga a Keno (East Cape), Whanga a Ruawharo (Hawke's Bay), and heaps more where 'Whanga' is used to represent 'Bay'. Laws should be happy he is aloud to dictact what people wear in his city (against human rights laws) not long now and he will be trying to limit the race of people going to the place. Laws is an ignorant nasty racist little idiot.

18 Sep 2009 06:41p.m.

Tane wrote:

Michael Laws is a angry little man. If you have listened to his talk back show over the years, you wouldn`t be surprised by his stance. Trying to compete with Leighten Smith, his competition. Both have the same approach. If their is nothing to talk about, hammer the Maori`s. It draws all the rednecks out of the wood work. Come on... Wanganui City by the Whanganui River. Real dumb. Probably misspelt by some idiot land surveyor back in the 1830`s. Spell it correctly or just rename it....Dublin or New York or Patchland..

18 Sep 2009 04:10p.m.

Chris wrote:

Chrissy, "Mr Michael Laws subsequently you are dividing the people over the h in Whanganui". Chrissy, 77% of the local community voted to retain the name, so he is infact standing up for democracy, supporting the majority decision which clearly has not been taken into account in this instance. I may be wrong, have we been living in a dictatorship this whole time? Seems like that at the moment.

18 Sep 2009 12:07p.m.

Ty Williams wrote:

Ha ha ha ha ha ha... OMG annon, so really it's origional name was Petre... Fabulous, the mystery is sovled. Good luck with that one fella. LMAO

18 Sep 2009 07:41a.m.

Ta Moko wrote:

Why is everyone being so racist? People need to understand this decision has been made for a reason. So just embrace it, don't fight, embrace.

18 Sep 2009 06:05a.m.

Glenn wrote:

Your on the money there annon. To anyone else who is jumping up and down for the spelling change I say get over yourselves, why after 150 years is it suddenly a problem for you???

18 Sep 2009 12:57a.m.

Brandon wrote:

@ Annon That is not the case at all. Petre was not it's "original name". Its original name was Whanganui due to it being titled this before early settlers had arrived. The addition of the H is nothing to do with racism, it is merely the correction of an error. As Campbell said, there are no Maori words spelt "Wanga". The fact that majority of the current resident agree on this miss spelling shouldn't mean that the language should have to be compromised. The meaning of this town is "big" (nui) "harbour" or "bight" (Whanga). It's obvious that back in the time of the transition from spoken to written there were to be some communication difficulties, so of course there were going to be mistakes. It is logical that now Maori can understand the English language more coherently, there are going to be some clarities and said miscommunication will be picked up on. If the title isn't changed now, it will only continue to come up in the future because as I said it is nothing more than an honest mistake. Michael really needs to get his facts straight and consider both ends of the spectrum - after all, shouldn't that really be the function of a Mayor? Also, I despise how Michael attempts to speak for the entire town when realistically, he is only speaking for the majority. Thank you.