The Māori language (te reo Māori) is cherished by the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand as a treasure (taonga) and many Pākehā (New Zealanders of "European" descent) are now learning it. Although it is an official language of New Zealand, along with English and New Zealand Sign Language, only 3.5% of New Zealanders (and only 21% of ethnic Māori) can conduct a conversation in Māori. Virtually all indigenous Māori speakers are bilingual and converse in English at least equally competently. Many Māori Australians also speak the Māori language.

Māori is a Polynesian language, and has many cognates with other Polynesian languages such as Hawaiian, Tongan and Samoan. A number of Māori words have been adopted into everyday New Zealand conversation, even while speaking English, and many place names are of Māori origin. Being able to correctly pronounce Māori words is a valued skill since incorrectly pronounced Māori sounds like fingernails scratching on a blackboard and will immediately identify you as a visitor to the country (or a culturally ignorant local). Even a tolerable and halting attempt at the correct pronunciation is better than a poor guess – your effort to get it right will be appreciated and accepted.

As you might expect, one hundred fifty years ago, accents, vocabularies and word constructions were as variegated as the differences between Glaswegian and Cockney Englishes are today. With many people now having lost their localisations as well as their fluency, new learners are learning less localised and more homogeneous versions.

Māori has a close relationship with the New Zealand variant of English, with many consonants and vowels sharing the same pronunciation. Many English loanwords are also present in Māori for post-European settlement concepts, such as pirihimana (police), tāra (dollar), iparangi (internet), kangarū (kangaroo), Ahitereiria (Australia), Poihākena (Sydney) and Poipiripi (Melbourne).

An exception to this process is the native language of the Cook Islands, a completely self governing, tropical outlier of the Realm of New Zealand. Here the language is almost as different from the registers spoken in the North and South islands of New Zealand as Chaucerian English is from Californian. That said, Cook Islanders seem to find it easier to understand "mainland" Māori than the other way around.

Pronunciation guide

The New Zealand Māori language is relatively simple to pronounce.

Vowels

There are five vowel sounds, each with a long and short form:

a

like strut (IPA: ɐ)

ā

like in palm (IPA: ɑː)

e

like dress

ē

longer version of e; roughly like ea in pear

i

like happy (IPA: i)

ī

like fleece (IPA: iː)

o

a shorter version of ō (IPA: o)

ō

like (non-rhotic) north (IPA: ɔː)

u

a shorter version of ū; roughly like in put (IPA: ʉ)

ū

like goose (IPA: uː)

There are several vowel blends: ae, ai (as in pie), ao (as in mouth), au (as in goat), ei (as in face), oi (as in choice), oe, and ou

In written Māori, the long vowels are often denoted by macrons (bars over the letters). Sometimes you will see words where a vowel letter is repeated, e.g. the Māori name for Inland Revenue is Te Tari Taake (you can probably guess why they don't spell it Te Tari Tāke). This may indicate that the vowel is pronounced "long", but modern usage is to use the macron when possible.

Thus Māori, Maaori and Maori would all represent the same word; although you will rarely see it spelled "Maaori". You may occasionally see long vowels with a diaeresis ("Mäori") or other marks instead of a macron due to typesetting limitations.

Macrons have tended not to be written when a Māori word has been a commonly used word by people speaking English (including with the word Māori), and macrons have generally not appeared on direction signs or maps; however, as more people become aware of the correct pronunciation of various Māori words and place names, and of the instructive guidance that macrons provide by indicating how words should be pronounced, the use of macrons is increasing in New Zealand society, including in official documents. Some road direction signs for Taupō (both the town and the lake) are now written as Taupō; whereas, prior to 2008, the macron was always missing.

Consonants

There are ten consonants in Māori:

h

like hello (IPA: h)

k

like skit (IPA: k)

m

like milk (IPA: m)

n

like nose (IPA: n)

p

like spin (IPA: p)

r

flapped R, like American butter (IPA: ɾ)

t

like still (IPA: t)

w

like will (IPA: w)

wh

like fin (IPA: f)

ng

like sing (IPA: ŋ)

Syllables

Māori words are broken into syllables which end with a vowel. Place names often consist of morphemes, or words which are combined to give a larger word, e.g. wai (water) and roa (long) are combined to give Wairoa. Try to recognise these morphemes (see the list of geographic expressions below) and pronounce the name by breaking it into its components.

For example:

Akatarawa

is said A ka ta ra wa

Māori

is said Maao-ri (Remember to have your tongue forward when you say the r, so that you make the flap sound).

Paraparaumu

is said Pa-ra-pa-rau-mu (commonly mispronounced Pa-ra-pa-ra-u-mu)

Whangarei

is said Fa nga rei (Fa nga ray)

Grammar

Māori word root combinations tend to have a major root subject followed by qualifier suffixes. This means a literal translation from Māori to English produces a lot of transposed word combinations.

For example:

• Rotorua → roto "lake" + rua "two" = "two lakes" (or perhaps second lake, as Ihenga discovered Rotoiti first).
• kaimoana → kai "food" + moana "sea" = "seafood".
• tangata pūhuruhuru → tangata "person" + pūhuruhuru "hairy" = "hairy person" (from Te Rauparaha's Ka Mate haka, one of two used by the All Blacks rugby team)

Māori pronouns have singular, dual and plural forms. Therefore pronouns vary depending on whether they refer to one, two, or three or more people:

• Kei te pai ahau. → I am fine. (one person)
• Kei te pai māua. → We are fine. (two people)
• Kei te pai mātou. → We are fine. (three or more people)

Phrase list

An ordinary traveller will not need to resort to speaking Māori to make themselves understood. However an understanding of Māori words and their meanings will lead to an appreciation of the culture and enhance the travel experience.

Māori take meetings and greetings seriously. Visitors and honoured guests will often be welcomed in a formal ceremony known as a pōwhiri. While such ceremonies generally take place on a marae, it has become accepted practice that such ceremonies may also take place at conferences, important meetings, and similar ceremonial occasions. On such formal occasions, protocol will normally mean that a representative or adviser who can speak Māori will be assigned to the visitors' party to assist and explain what is happening and may formally speak (whaikorero) to introduce the visitors.

Donation

Koha

Basics

Hello (to one person)

Tēnā koe (Teh-NAH kweh)

Hello (to two people)

Tēnā kōrua (Teh-NAH KAW-roo-ah)

Hello (to a group of three or more)

Tēnā koutou (Teh-NAH koh-toh)

Hello (informal)

Kia ora (KEE aw-rah)

Welcome

Nau mai / Haere mai (HIGH-reh MIGH)

(often used together, e.g. Nau mai, haere mai ki Aotearoa. "Welcome to New Zealand".)

How are you?

Kei te pēhea koe?

(Kei te pēhea kōrua? to two people, Kei te pēhea koutou? to three or more people)

Fine, thank you

Kei te pai ahau.

What is your name?

Ko wai tō ingoa?

My name is ______

Ko ______ tōku ingoa.

Please

koa (Homai koa he kaputi = Give me a cup of tea, please )

Thank you

kia ora

Yes

āe

No

kāore; kāo

Goodbye (to the person staying)

E noho rā (Eh naw-haw RAH)

Goodbye (to the person going)

Haere rā (HIGH-reh RAH)

Goodbye (informal)

Hei konei rā

Do you speak English?

Kei te kōrero reo Pākehā koe?

Good morning.

Ata mārie

Good afternoon.

Ahiahi mārie

Good night.

Pō mārie

I don't understand

Kaore au i te orotau.

Where is the toilet?

Kei hea te wharepaku?

Numbers

1

tahi (tah-hee)

2

rua (roo-ah)

3

toru (taw-roo)

4

whā (fah)

5

rima (ree-ma)

6

ono (o-naw)

7

whitu (fih-too)

8

waru (wah-roo)

9

iwa (ee-wah)

10

tekau (teh-koh)

11

tekau ma tahi

12

tekau ma rua

13

tekau ma toru

14

tekau ma whā

15

tekau ma rima

16

tekau ma ono

17

tekau ma whitu

18

tekau ma waru

19

tekau ma iwa

20

rua tekau

21

rua tekau ma taki

22

rua tekau ma rua

23

rua tekau ma toru

30

toru tekau

40

whā tekau

50

rima tekau

60

ono tekau

70

whitu tekau

80

waru tekau

90

iwa tekau

100

kotahi rau

200

rua rau

300

toru rau

1000

kotahi mano

2000

rua mano

1,000,000

kotahi miriona

1,000,000,000

kotahi piriona

Time

morning

ata

afternoon

ahiahi

night

maruāpō

Clock time

one o'clock AM

kotahi karaka i te ata

two o'clock AM

rua karaka i te ata

midday

poupoutanga o te rā

one o'clock PM

kotahi karaka i te ahiahi

two o'clock PM

rua karaka i te ahiahi

Duration

_____ day(s)

_____ rā

_____ week(s)

_____ wiki

_____ month(s)

_____ marama

_____ year(s)

_____ tau

Days

today

tēnei rā

yesterday

tērā rā

tomorrow

āpōpō

Monday

Rāhina / Mane

Tuesday

Rātū / Turei

Wednesday

Rāapa / Wenerei

Thursday

Rāpare / Taite

Friday

Rāmere / Paraire

Saturday

Rāhoroi / Hatarei

Sunday

Rātapu / Wiki

Months

January

Kohitātea / Hanuere

February

Hui-tanguru / Pēpuere

March

Poutū-te-rangi / Maehe

April

Pāenga-whāwhā / Āperira

May

Haratua / Mei

June

Pīpiri / Hune

July

Hōngongoi / Hūrae

August

Here-turi-kōkā / Ākuhata

September

Mahuru / Hepetema

October

Whiringa-ā-nuku / Ōketopa

November

Whiringa-ā-rangi / Noema

December

Hakihea / Tīhema

Writing times and dates

Time and dates in Māori follow the same order as New Zealand English, with the date first, the month second, and the year last.

Colours

black

pango

white

mā

grey

kiwikiwi

red

whero

blue

kikorangi

yellow

kōwhai

green

kākāriki

orange

parakaraka

purple

tawa

brown

pākākā

Transport

Directions

Where is _____?

Kei hea _____?

... the airport?

te taunga rererangi?

... the train station?

te teihana rerewē?

... the bus station?

te teihana pahi?

left

mauī

right

katau / matau

north

raki; tokerau

south

tonga

east

rāwhiti

west

hauāuru; uru

Eating and drinking

I'm a vegetarian.

He kaimanga ahau.
(careful with the vowel length - He kaimānga ahau means "I'm an invalid"!)

I don't eat pork.

Kaore he mīti poaka i te kai.

I don't eat beef.

Kaore he mīti kau i te kai.

breakfast

parakuihi

lunch

tina

dinner

hapa

I want _____.

He _____ aku hiahia.

chicken

mīti heihei

beef

mīti kau

fish

ika

ham

poaka whakapaoa

sausages

tōtiti

cheese

tīhi

eggs

huamanu / hēki

salad

huamata

(fresh) vegetables

huawhenua

(fresh) fruit

hua rākau

bread

parāoa

toast

tōhi

rice

raihi

beans

pīni

salt

tote

black pepper

pepa

sugar

huka

butter

pata

One (two) beer, please

Homai koa (e rua) he pia.

A cup of tea, please

Homai koa he kaputī.

wine (red/white)

wāina (whero/mā)

coffee

kawhe

orange juice

wai ārani

milk

waiū / miraka

water

wai

Shopping

How much is it?

He aha te utu?

dollar

tāra

cent

hēneti

Place names

New Zealand

Aotearoa ("long white cloud")

North Island

Te Ika-a-Māui ("the fish of Māui")

South Island

Te Waipounamu ("the greenstone (jade) waters")'

Auckland

Tāmaki-makau-rau ("Tāmaki of a thousand lovers")

Hamilton

Kirikiriroa ("long stretch of gravel")

Rotorua

Te Rotorua-nui-a-Kahumatamamoe ("the second great lake of Kahumatamamoe")

Wellington

Te Whanganui-a-Tara ("the great harbour of Tara"); Te Upoko-o-te-Ika ("the head of the fish")

Christchurch

Ōtautahi ("of Tautahi")

Mount Cook

Aoraki ("cloud piercer")

Milford Sound

Piopiotahi ("one piopio [New Zealand thrush]")

Stewart Island

Rakiura ("glowing skies")

Australia

Ahitereiria ("Australia")

Sydney

Poihākena ("Port Jackson")

Melbourne

Poipiripi ("Port Philip")

Brisbane

Piripane ("Brisbane")

United Kingdom

Kīngitanga Kotahi ("One (i.e. United) Kingdom")

France

Wīwī ("oui, oui")

Glossary of Māori geographical terms translated into English

Knowing a little about these terms will help you to both pronounce the name and understand what it means.

ana

cave

awa

river, channel

hau

wind

iti

small

kai

food; however, if prefixing a verb, it's the agentive modifier (equivalent to English -er or -ist, e.g. mahi "to work", kaimahi "worker")

manga

stream (e.g. Mangawhio: in South Taranaki = blue duck stream)

maunga

mountain

moana

sea, large lake (e.g. Waikaremoana: in the western Hawke's Bay region = sea of rippling water)

motu

island

nga

the (plural form)

nui

big, great

one

beach, sand, soil

kohatu

rock

papa

flat

poto

short

puke

hill (e.g. Te Puke: in the Bay of Plenty region = the hill)

rangi

sky, heavens

roa

long

roto

lake (e.g. Rotoiti: in the Bay of Plenty region = small lake)

tai

tide, sea

tangi

weep, cry

tapu

sacred

tara

peak, ray of sunshine

te

the (singular form)

toka

rock

wera

burning, burnt

whanga

bay, harbour (e.g. Whanganui = big harbour)

whenua

land

Many place names have been made tautological by Europeans adding a word which is already contained in the Māori name (example: Mount Maunganui = "Mount big mountain"). However, there has been a trend for New Zealand English speakers to drop the English geographic qualifier and refer to many geographic features by their Māori names alone. Thus, Mount Ruapehu is often referred to simply as Ruapehu. In some cases, there has been a reversion to Māori names and outdated travel information may only use the old name. For example, Mount Egmont is now almost universally called Taranaki or Mount Taranaki and Mount Cook is now officially called Aoraki/Mount Cook; these are the original Māori names. In other cases the Māori name is followed by a pluralising s where the omitted English geographic term was plural. So the Rimutakas is used in place of the Rimutaka ranges. In conversation you may hear phrases like the Waikato or the Manawatu. In these cases the speaker is talking about either the river of that name or a district or region. For example, the Waikato will refer to either the Waikato river or the Waikato region, while Waikato (without the) would probably refer to the region, though this may need to be inferred from the context.

Learning more

“ Police are on the lookout for a man masquerading as a Māori language teacher. His students became suspicious when he said the Māori word for food was "takeaway" ”

—Billy T. James (1948-91), Māori entertainer and comedian

Māori is taught in many places around New Zealand, often as a night class. Ask at the local information centre or citizens advice bureau. The Māori Language Commission also has a list of course providers. There are also Māori television channels that you can watch to improve your listening skills.