I have added a note giving the derivation of the Māori word rā 'sun' from Proto-Polynesian *laqaa, (Pollex). This also shows that the often cited resemblance to the name of the Egyptian sun god Ra is coincidental and not based on any actual connection. The spelling Ra is a 19th century concoction anyway and no Egyptian would have said it with an 'ah' vowel. So. Kahuroa (talk) 21:57, 3 May 2008 (UTC)Reply
- Thanks. Calling it a "19th century concoction" is a bit unfair, though, as the spelling Ra is based on a still used pronunciation convention in Egyptology, for want of vowel marking in the native Egyptian scripts. However, reconstruction of the true pronunciation of rʕ and other words, at least for certain periods, has been attempted on the basis of the Coptic evidence and the (for example, Akkadian) Nebenüberlieferung (as in transcription of names in cuneiform), and it is agreed that the pronunciation of rʕ must have included a vowel /i/ or even /iː/ and indeed sounded totally different from ra. --Florian Blaschke (talk) 00:44, 7 October 2011 (UTC)Reply
- According to Hannig: Großes Handwörterbuch Ägyptisch - Deutsch (2001), page xlvii the sound, that is written with an r in Coptic and a "mouth" in Middle Egyptian developed from an l in the Old Kingdom. So the 19th century transliteration was based on the late writing, but the oldest pronounciation again is in agreement with the l in Proto-Polynesian.--36.97.187.230 (talk) 10:29, 23 January 2019 (UTC)Reply
