Waddya say Wanganui

The whole Wanganui/Whanganui thing has me baffled. Apparently local iwi are lobbying for a change to the spelling, yet insisting that they pronounce Whanganui without the 'hff' sound anyway, so to the ear Whanganui is certainly Wanganui.

Now, what I don't get, is if the locals don't pronounce 'Wh' with the 'hff' sound, then what makes their 'Wh' any different to their 'W'. And if Te Reo didn't become a written language until Wanganui iwi had developed that pronunciation, and there is no difference to the ear between 'W' and 'Wh' in the local dialect, then surely there can be no 'Wh' for Wanganui Maori.

The only way to make sense of this seems to be this: That Whanganui Maori acknowledge the original name of their vicinity was certainly "Whanganui" when it was named by Hau, but that over time Whanganui Maori decided to drop 'Wfhh' from their dialect, quite consciously, simply asserting their distinctive identity. And I suppose it is reasonable to assume Whanganui Maori remained conscious of this, given the significance of the river to other iwi, and the level of inter-tribal interaction in classical Maori society.

What is astounding about this, though, is that Whanganui Maori are willing to submit to national standards for Te Reo spelling rather than advocating the right and primacy of local iwi to determine spelling in accordance with pronunciation. This seems a very generous and suprising attitude.

So, as someone with Whanganui tupuna myself, but of the Ngati Peretania variety, I am happy to concede Whanganui as the original and appropriate spelling for the river and the city. But, with the rest of the tangata whenua of Whanganui, I will continue to use the current pronunciation.