Māori language

Māori (or Maori) is the Polynesian language spoken in New Zealand. It is closely related to Rarotongan (sometimes known as Cook Islands Māori), Tahitian (or Mā'ohi), slightly less closely to Hawaiian and Marquesan, and more distantly to Samoan, Niuean and Tongan.

History

Māori was brought to New Zealand by Polynesians coming most likely from the area of the Cook Islands or Tahiti who likely arrived in sea-faring canoes which may have been double-hulled and were probably sail-rigged.

In the last 200 years the Māori language has had a tumultuous history, going from the position of predominant language of New Zealand until into the 1860s, when it became a minority language in the shadow of the English brought by white settlers, missionaries, gold-seekers and traders. In the late 19th century, the English school system was introduced for all New Zealanders, and from the 1880s the use of Māori in school was forbidden (see Native Schools). Increasing numbers of Māori people learned English because it was required at school and because of the prestige and opportunity associated with the language. Until World War II, however, most Māori still spoke Māori as a native language. Worship was in Māori, it was the language of the home, political meetings were conducted in Māori, and some literature and many newspapers were published in Māori. As late as the 1930s, some Māori parliamentarians were disadvantaged because the Parliament's proceedings were by then carried on in English. In this period, the number of speakers of Māori began to decline rapidly until by the 1980s less than 20% of Māori spoke the language well enough to be considered native speakers. Even for many of those people, Māori was no longer the language of the home.

By the 1980s, Māori leaders began to recognize the dangers of the loss of their language and began to initiate Māori-language recovery programs such as the Kōhanga Reo movement, which immersed infants in Māori from infancy to school age. This was followed by the founding of the Kura Kaupapa, a primary school program in Māori.

Classification

The Māori language belongs to the Austronesian family of languages. A member of the Tahitic subgroup of the Polynesian languages, it is most closely related to Rarotongan, spoken in the southern Cook Islands, and to Tahitian, spoken in Tahiti and the Society Islands. While all these languages are very closely related, they are not just dialects of a single language, but languages in their own right: they have been diverging for many centuries, and mutual intelligibility is limited. Nonetheless, Captain Cook was able to use a Tahitian as an interpreter when he voyaged to New Zealand in the late 18th Century.

Geographic distribution

Māori is spoken almost exclusively in New Zealand, by upwards of 100,000 people, nearly all of them of Māori descent. Estimates of the number of speakers vary: the 1996 census reported 160,000, while other estimates have reported as low as 50,000. The level of competence in the language of those claiming to be Māori speakers is unknown. The number of Māori-only speakers is likely to be very small indeed, counted in dozens, but of those who spoke Māori before they learnt English will be higher, because Māori persists as a community language in isolated settlements in the Northland, Urewera and East Cape areas. The Māori language effectively ceased to be a living community language in the post war years when there was a period of rapid urbanisation of the Māori population.

Structure

Sounds

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i iː i ī		u uː u ū
Close-Mid	e eː e ē		o oː o ō
Open		a aː a ā

For the non-phonologist; the five long Māori vowel sounds are similar to those of Italian or Japanese. All vowel-pairs are in use except uo, and all vowel sounds are given their full value, whether stressed or not, except as noted for Southern Māori, but final short vowels may be devoiced (giving rise to the non-Māori speakers' versions of names like Waiuku and Paraparaumu, "Waiuk" and "Paraparam").

The most difficult vowel sounds for the English speaker are final e (as in "pen" without the n), and eu, which is rare except in "Te Heuheu" (the name of the paramount chiefs of Ngāti Tǖwharetoa). The surest sign of a non-native speaker is the sound of o, a pure "aw" sound unlike English "oh".

Consonants

	Bilabial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Plosive	p p	t t	k k
Fricative	ɸ wh			h h
Nasal	m m	n n	ŋ ng
Tap		ɾ r
Semivowel	w w

<ng> is pronounced /ŋ/, that is, like the ng in English "sing." The pronunciation of <wh> varies, but it is generally pronounced /ɸ/, an "f" or "h" sound made by putting the lips together as if to make a "w" sound; today [f] (labiodental) is also used, which may be an influence from English. Māori <r> is a tap, like the <r> in Spanish, the t in the American English pronunciation of "city" or the r in the Oxford English pronunciation of "very".

Syllables

A syllable in Māori has the form V, VV, CV or CVV. Two consonants are never together (ng and wh being single consonants), and no syllable ends with a consonant. (These rules give rise to such transliterations as Perehipeteriana, "Presbyeterian".) All CV combinations are in use except who. wo, wu and whu occur only in a few loan words from English such as wuru, "wool" and whutoporo, "football".

The Māori vocabulary is parsimonious; almost all possible short words are meaningful, making clear pronuncation of the vowels essential, unlike English.

Bases

Bruce Biggs developed a grammar of Māori in which he divided bases (lexical words) into nouns, universals, statives, locatives and personals, and particles (grammatical words) into verbal particles, pronouns, locatives, possessives and definitives. Since these are based on how the language actually works, they fit better than imposed classes such as “adjective” and “adverb”.

Nouns

Bases that can take a definite article, but can not occur as the nucleus of a verbal phrase, such as ika, fish, rākau, tree. Nouns usually keep the same form in both singular and plural, the change of number being indicated by a change in the definite article from te (singular "the") to ngā (plural "the"). Some words lengthen a vowel in the plural, such as wahine, woman; wāhine, women.

Universals

Bases that can be used passively, such as inu, drink, (inumia, be drunk - of a liquid), tangi, weep (tangihia, be wept over). The passive suffixes are -a, -ia, -ina, -hia, -kia, -mia, -na, -ngia, -ria, -tia and -whia. Each universal always takes the same suffix. The passive may be used imperatively, as in Inumia!, Drink (it)!.

Statives

Bases that can be used as verbs but not passively, such as ora, alive/healthy, tika, correct.

Locatives

Bases that can follow the locative particle ki (to, towards) directly, such as runga, above, waho, outside, and placenames (ki Tamaki, to Auckland)

Personals

Bases that take the personal article a after ki, such as names of people (ki a Hohepa, to Joseph), personified houses, personal pronouns, wai? who? and Mea, So-and-so.

Nouns can be derived from bases by adding the suffixes -nga, -anga, -kanga, -manga, -ranga, -tanga or –whanga. There is a correspondence between the beginning of the passive suffix and that of the derived noun suffix, so inu drink, inumanga, occasion of or thing for drinking, and tangi, weep, tangihanga, occasion for weeping.

Particles

Verbal particles

ka – inceptive i – past kua – perfect kia – desiderative me – prescriptive e – non-past kei – warning (“lest”) ina/ana – punctative-conditional, "if and when" e … ana imperfect

Pronouns

The pronouns have singular, dual and plural number, and the first-persons are inclusive or exclusive of you, the listener.

Locatives

ki, towards; kei, at; i, past position; hei, future position - all in time or space.

Possessives

Possessives fall in two classes, a and o, depending on the dominant/subordinate relationship between possessor and possessed, so ngā tamariki o te matua, the children of the parent, but te matua a ngā tamariki, the parent of the children.

Definitives

Articles: te (singular) and ngā plural

Possessive: tā and tō. These also combine with the pronouns.

Demonstrative: tēnei, this; tēnā, that (by you); tērā, that (far from us both); taua, the aforementioned.

Which? tēhea?

A certain, tētahi

Those beginning with t form the plural by dropping the t: ēnei, these.

Phrases

Biggs' grammar defines possible forms of the phrase, which he says is the unit of Māori speech, not the word.

Of all of the existing Polynesian languages, Māori is the only member of the group where compound nouns are formed extensively. Biggs calls these the head and the qualifier in the nucleus of a phrase. Longer compound nouns are possible but rare.

Dialects

The 1894 (Fourth) edition of Grammar of the New Zealand Language (by the Archdeacon of Auckland, R. Maunsell, LL.D.) described seven distinct dialects for the North Island alone — Rarawa, Ngapuhi, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, East Cape, Port Nicholson–Wanganui, and Wanganui–Mokau — but mentioned some variations within some of those.

By 2004, many of the minor dialects have probably declined almost to extinction, and most new students and speakers can be expected to use the official and/or Māori Television standards. However, regional variants are still apparent, on different websites and even between speakers and subtitle-writers on Māori Television.

Dialects of Māori are nothing like the barrier to comprehension that many non-speakers believe. There are some regional variants of pronunciation and accent, and a small number of lexical differences, but it is basically a single language across the country.

The main pronuncation variations are that

• the iwi (tribes) of Wanganui and Taranaki drop the h (including the h of wh), or replace it with a glottal stop
• Tuhoe and some Eastern Bay of Plenty people pronounce ng as n.
• in part of the Far North, the sound of wh is more bilabial as in English wh (when speakers distinguish it from w).
• the lower part of the South Island uses variants described in more detail below.

A Māori phrasebook which is a useful general guide for visitors is here at Wikitravel.

Kāi Tahu (Southern) Māori

One dialect that has returned to prominence in recent years is the Kāi Tahu dialect, often referred to as Southern Māori. The most obvious feature is the substitution of k for ng, as evidenced in the tribal name (Ngāi Tahu is the name used in certain acts of Parliament, leading to the common usage of both versions of the name).

Other variations from more northern dialects include variations in the sounds of consonants g (as distinct from ng or k, e.g., Katigi, Otago from Otakou), and l which substitutes for r (e.g., Little Akaloa, Kilmog (from kirimoku), Waihola, Rakiula (a variation of Rakiura or Stewart Island/Rakiura). The "wh" of northern Māori is also often replaced by a simple "w" (e.g., Wangaloa) or even "u" (e.g., uare).

Southern Māori also has apocope as a frequent feature, with the final letters of words often being pronounced as schwas or remaining unvoiced. For these reason, early European settlers to New Zealand referred, for example, to Lake Wakatipu as "Wagadib", and many locals still pronounce Otago as Otaguh.

Until the last decade or so, Southern Māori was used uniquely in the south and was actively discouraged in favour of standard (Central North Island) Māori, which was the only form used by government and most institutions. It has gained acceptance in recent years, however, leading to changes in the official names and translations of several southern places and institutions. New Zealand's highest mountain, known for centuries as Aoraki by southern Māori, and as Aorangi by northern Māori, was later named Mount Cook after Captain Cook. Its official name now is Aoraki/Mount Cook and only this name may be printed on maps and official documents. Similarly, Dunedin's main research library (the Hocken Library) now has the name Te Uare Taoka o Hākena, rather than Te Whare Taonga o Hākena.

Southern Māori still leads to some confusion among general Māori speakers, who will frequently persist in using standard Māori pronunciation rather than Southern Māori for southern place names, notably the town of Oamaru (pronounced with four syllables in standard Māori, but only three in Southern Māori).

Writing system

There is no native writing system for Māori. Missionaries made their first attempts to write the language using the Roman alphabet as early as 1814, and Professor Samuel Lee of Cambridge University worked with chief Hongi Hika and his junior relative Waikato to systematize the written language in 1820. Their efforts at phonetic spelling were remarkably successful, and written Māori has changed little since then, with only the distinguishing of w and wh and the addition of macrons late in the 19th century, though they were not commonly used outside of specialist publications until late in the 20th. Literacy was an exciting new concept that the Māori embraced enthusiastically, and missionaries reported in the 1820s that Māori all over the country taught each other to read and write, using sometimes quite innovative materials, such as leaves and charcoal, carved wood, and the cured skins of animals, when no paper was available.

There has been speculation that the petroglyphs once used by the Māori developed into a script similar to the Rongorongo of Easter Island, but there is no evidence that these petroglyphs ever evolved into a true system of writing.

Some distinctive markings among the kōowhaiwhai (rafter paintings) of meeting houses were used as mnemonics in reciting whakapapa (genealogy) but again, there was no systematic relation between marks and meanings.

Official status

Māori is one of two official languages of New Zealand, the other being English. Most government departments and agencies now have bilingual names, for example, the Department of Internal Affairs is known as Te Tari Taiwhenua, and bodies such as local government offices and public libraries also have bilingual signs. New Zealand Post recognises Māori place names in postal addresses. State funding for teaching of the language ensures that it is an option in all state schools and from March 2004 a Māori TV service part broadcast in the language has been funded. The current interpretation of the Treaty of Waitangi sees language preservation as a Government responsibility. It is too early to know if the current attempts to revive the language are working.

Māori Language Week

Māori Language Day was an initiative of the activist group Ngā Tamatoa (The Young Warriors) in the 1970s. It grew into Māori Language Week, now celebrated annually in the last week of July.

Māori in English

According to New Zealand English specialist Elizabeth Gordon, many Māori loanwords, mainly bird, plant and place names, entered New Zealand English in the 19th century, but the flow stopped abruptly around the beginning of the 20th century. Only in the last quarter of the 20th century, with a revival of interest in Māori culture, has the flow resumed, this time of cultural concepts.

Words commonly used in New Zealand English:

(The length of vowels may not be observed when the words are used in English)

haka – posture dance and chant of challenge

hāngi – (food cooked in) an earth oven

Kia ora! – Hello (especially on the telephone)

mana – charisma

Māori

marae – oratory courtyard

pakarū – broken, damaged

Pākehā – non-Maori New Zealander (though the word is disliked by many Pākehā)

puku – stomach, belly

taihoa – not yet (as “tie ho” can be declined to “tied ho” [waited, delayed] “tying ho” [waiting, delaying])

birds:

kākāpō

kea

kiwi

kōkako

moa

pūkeko

takahē

tūī

weka

insects:

huhu

wētā

reptile:

tuatara

shellfish:

paua

pipi

pupu (as “bubu”)

toheroa

tuatua

kina

mineral:

pounamu

plants:

kahikatea

kānuka

kauri

kōrari (as “koraddy”) flax stem (used by children to make toy boats)

kūmara

mānuka

mataī

matakoura (known as “matagouri”)

rimu

toetoe

tōtara

tutu

Words commonly understood in English, but considered Māori words and concepts

(the English words are used in non-Māori contexts)

Haere mai! – Welcome!

Haere rā! – Farewell!

hapū – pregnant

hui – meeting

Ka pai! – It is good! (may be declined with the meaning “good”, as “it was kapai.”)

kaumātua – elder, grandfather

Kīngitanga – institution of the Maori King/Queen

kōrero – talk

kuia – old woman, grandmother

kōhanga reo – total immersion Maori language preschool

kura kaupapa (Māori) – total immersion Maori language school

mahi – work

moko – tattoo

mokopuna – grandchild

pōwhiri – ceremony of welcome

rangatira – chief

tangi – funeral

tapu – sacred, forbidden

Te Reo – the (Maori) language

tōhunga – medicine man (in Māori, any expert)

whare – house (in English, especially a farm worker’s cottage)

urupā – burial ground

utu – revenge (in Māori, any response or answer)

wāhi tapu – sacred site

waiata – song

whaikōrero – oratory

External links

• korero.maori.nz Māori language educational resources
• NZ Reo, NZ Pride
• Ethnologue report for Maori
• Māori Language Commission (for definitive standards).
• English and Māori Word Translator from the Knowledge Engineering Laboratory of the University of Otago.
• Online edition of the Ngata Māori–English English–Māori Dictionary from Learning Media; gives several options and shows use in phrases.
• Webster's Māori–English Dictionary — (Take care. Uses the double letter long vowel conventions instead of macrons).
• Free Māori spellchecker
• Collection of historic Māori newspapers
• Maori Phonology