Polynesian pronunciation

February 14, 2016 5:56 PM

Do you know a Polynesian language? How would you pronounce (in how many syllables, and stressed how) the names Rumuari'i and Ruata'ata?

These names come "from a traditional Polynesian legend" about the origin of the uru on Raiatea.

For example, am I guessing right below (capital letter = stressed syllable)?

ru-mu-A-ri-i
[6 syllables total]

ru-a-ta-A-ta
[5 syllables total]

posted by kalapierson to Writing & Language (9 answers total)

Response by poster: (Oh, and I've read the island is Ra-i-a-te-a [5 syllables], but which is the stressed syllable there?)
posted by kalapierson at 6:00 PM on February 14, 2016

I can speak a little Maori and would pronounce the two names as you have indicated (stress and number of syllables).

I'd pronounce Raiatea with only four syllables though (Rai-A-te-a) with stress on the second a.
posted by ryanbryan at 6:33 PM on February 14, 2016

Those apostrophes are glottal stops... make sure you pronounce them too.
posted by lefty lucky cat at 6:40 PM on February 14, 2016

The island name should be Ra'iātea, with a glottal stop and a long vowel which probably should be stressed (ra-'i-A-te-a). Also googling suggests that the first name should be Rumauari'i?
(And both of the names are compounds: Rumau-ari'i and Rua-ta'ata, I don't know if that's relevant to the pronunciation but it might help.)
posted by nomis at 9:34 PM on February 14, 2016

Response by poster: nomis, thank you - yes, it looks like there are many more results for Rumauari'i - and thanks for the correction for Raiatea too.
posted by kalapierson at 10:29 PM on February 14, 2016

Response by poster: So: Ru-ma-u-A-ri-i
[this time really with 6 syllables (the 6 in my first version was a typo)] ?
posted by kalapierson at 11:44 PM on February 14, 2016

Best answer: Stress in English is a combination of volume, pitch, length of the vowel, and the vowel's own sound. (We turn most unstressed vowels to schwa). Polynesian languages don't have the same sort of stress patterns. You certainly don't want to change the vowel length or quality on a stressed syllable. Your best solution is to try to pronounce all syllables evenly as though there are no stresses at all. If you speak French, it's a similar trick there. (In terms of spoken syllables - the relationship between spoken and written French complicates things, though.)

Otherwise the answers you are getting above look good.
posted by lollusc at 12:32 AM on February 15, 2016 [2 favorites]

I would pronounce it roo-mau-ah-REE-ee and rah-ee-AH-tay-ah
posted by melissasaurus at 12:37 AM on February 15, 2016

Best answer: When we say long vowel in this context it means it is the same vowel quality but lasts longer in time. So the ā in Ra'iātea is the same pitch and volume – equal stress, if you like – but it lasts a bit longer, even twice as long, as the other syllables. Ra 'i aa te a. Pure vowels as in Spanish or Italian, please.

Mau is one syllable (au is usually a diphthong).

Would guess that ruata'ata is analysed as rua (two) ta'ata (person).

(I have a bit of Māori, exposure to Samoan and Tongan, some linguistics study.)
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 2:40 AM on February 15, 2016 [1 favorite]