The linguistic skills of our national coach

[Bruce Ross]

In today's SMH:

" The first time Robbie Deans saw Palu play was on February 12, 2005 during a trial match between the Crusaders and the Waratahs. The breakaway dominated with powerful runs and thumping hits, and was named man of the match as NSW won.

"Asked who stood out for the Waratahs, the Crusader coach replied: "I wouldn't like to hazard a guess the pronunciation but obviously number six. ..."

Robbie, it's not really that hard. In English it's "Pah-loo" although it might sound very different in Kiwi-speak.

 

[Groucho]

Bruce, he was probably being culturally sensitive. In Tongan the pronunciation of L is closer to an English R.

 

[darkhorse]

I think we pronounce alot of the islanders names wrong. The foxsports commentary team got Ioane's name wrong for years.

 

[jay-c]

i dont care if he can read write or speak
as long as he wins some trophies this year he'll still get my vote for 'australian of the year'

 

[drewprint]

I understand you dislike Deans, but this is petty. Even for you.

 

[Bruce Ross]

I understand you dislike Deans, but this is petty. Even for you.

You've nailed me, drew. I am renowned for my pettiness but I must concede that this time I've plumbed new depths.

On the other hand, on the issue of issue of my affection or otherwise for Deans, I don't think you understand me at all.

 

[Gnostic]

The NZ commentators are truely dire. Apart from being so parochial they cannot make decent comment on the game they cannot even use words in the correct context. My favourite for the night from the Blues V Rebels game lineout lost and blues player "eventuated it".

 

[qwerty51]

It's Lachie McCabe apparently too.

 

[TOCC]

In some cases Polynesians pronounce the P as a F as well, can't really blame him for not presuming wrong

 

[Zeno]

Well, yes and no TOCC. The issue isn't how they pronounce letters, it's that the early linguists who applied our (Latin) alphabet to native languages used letters to represent sounds that don't correspond with the ones we use in English. For example, those who transcribed Tongan used the consonant p to represent the sound that matches the first one in our bat, not our pat.

My informed guess is that depending on whether it's written at home as Palu or Pālu, Cliffy's name would be pronounced bah-loo or bay-loo (or possibly bah-ah-loo) respectively.

Bruce, you've misfired completely on this one.

 

[Gagger]

You sure he wasn't talking about "sux"?

 

[Nusadan]

Seems Gaggers is looking forward to a rare quiet evening with his missus....

 

[Langthorne]

Yeah that Robbie Deans is some linguist, not only are his comments on rugby both insightful and clear, he is au fait with the subtleties of Polynesian languages. Give me a break.

 

[Dunnman]

The NZ commentators are truely dire. Apart from being so parochial they cannot make decent comment on the game they cannot even use words in the correct context. My favourite for the night from the Blues V Rebels game lineout lost and blues player "eventuated it".

Would they be better if they constantly talked about their fetish for facial hair and hookers?

 

[Groucho]

Yeah that Robbie Deans is some linguist, not only are his comments on rugby both insightful and clear, he is au fait with the subtleties of Polynesian languages. Give me a break.

Langthorne, it is a Kiwi rugby tradition (some might say obsession) to try to get the pronunciation of Islander names right. I expect it stems from the much larger Islander population compared to Australia. We try to do the same with Aboriginal names. I would be quite annoyed if some redneck American chided me about the correct pronunciation of 'Wollongong'.

 

[Zeno]

Yeah that Robbie Deans is some linguist, not only are his comments on rugby both insightful and clear, he is au fait with the subtleties of Polynesian languages. Give me a break.

The point is that he doesn't know all the subtleties, so he chooses not to bumble in with a half-arsed guess (as an Australian would).

 

[qwerty51]

I would be quite annoyed if some redneck American chided me about the correct pronunciation of 'Wollongong'.

What other way is there to pronounce Wollongong?

 

[Slim 293]

What other way is there to pronounce Wollongong?

Oh, it can be done - "Woleon-gong"

I love the fact that Manuka in Canberra is pronounced "Ma-na-ka" (rather than "ma-noo-ka") because of the Queen's mispronounciation of the word way back when...

 

[Groucho]

What other way is there to pronounce Wollongong?

Phonetically, i.e. woll as in wally, instead of wool as in woolly.

 

[Scarfman]

I reckon our pronunciation of most Aboriginal place names is pretty crook. Canberra should be something like GanberA, or at least Can-Berra, as it was pronounced at its founding, not Canbra.

Katoomba and Kedumba are pronounced totally differently today, but they are both attempts to transliterate an Aboriginal word for waterfall.