The Maori language is spoken by the indigenous people of New Zealand, the Maori. Almost all Maori speakers are bilingual and understand English just as well. Although it is an official language of New Zealand, not all New Zealanders, and not even all Maori people, can speak in the Maori language.

A number of Maori words have been adopted into New Zealand English, while many place names are Maori words. Being able to correctly pronounce Maori words is a necessary skill when talking with New Zealanders. Incorrectly pronounced Maori sounds like fingernails scratching on a blackboard and will immediately identify you as a visitor to the country. 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. (Even New Zealanders have trouble with some Maori place names, so you will blend in with the crowd.)

Pronunciation Guide

The New Zealand Maori language (Maori: Te Reo Maori) is relatively simple to pronounce.

Vowels

Each of the vowels has a long and short form:

short a 

a as u in butt

long a 

ā as a in father

short e 

e as e in pen

long e 

ē as ai in pair

short i 

i as i in bit

long i 

ī as ee in feet

short o 

o as o in fort

long o 

ō as o in store

short u 

u as u in put

long u 

ū as oo in boot

Macron usage

In written Māori, the long vowels are often denoted by macrons (bars over the letters) or whatever similar characters were available to the typesetter. Sometimes the vowel letter is repeated for long vowels.

Macrons are not normally used when a Maori word has been adopted into English and they do not generally appear on direction signs or maps.

Thus Māori, Maaori and Maori all represent the same word, and usage will depend on the style of the writer and whatever conventions were in place when the article was written. The most recent Māori Language articles will use macron over the long vowels. This will probably only happen in English if the writer is, or the article concerns Maori.

Consonants

Syllables

Maori words are broken into syllables at each vowel or Consonant-Vowel pair.

For example:

Akatarawa 

is said A ka ta ra wa

Māori 

is said Maa o ri

Paraparaumu 

is said Pa ra pa ra u mu

Petone 

is said Pe to ne

Whangarei 

is said Wha nga re i

Semantics

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

For example:

• Rotorua → roto ⇒ lake and rua ⇒ two = two lakes.
• Kaimoana → kai ⇒ food and moana ⇒ sea = seafood.

Phrase list

It is unlikely that an ordinary traveller will need to resort to speaking Maori to make themselves understood. However an understanding of Maori words and their meanings will lead to an appreciation of the culture and enhance the travel experience.

Donation 

Koha

Greetings

Maori take meetings and greetings seriously. Visitors and honoured guests will often be welcomed in a formal ceremony known as a Powhiri. 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 Maori will be assigned to the visitors' party to assist and explain what is happening and may formally speak (Whaikoreroe) to introduce the visitors.

Hello (informal or answering the telephone) 

Kia ora

Hello (to one person) 

Tēnā koe

Hello (to two people) 

Tēnā kōrua

Hello (to a group) 

Tēnā koutou

Welcome 

Haere mai

Good-bye (to the person staying) 

E noho rā

Good-bye (to the person going)  

Haere rā

Basics

Please 

koa

Thank you 

kia ora

Yes 

ae

No 

kaore

Numbers

1 

tahi

2 

rua

3 

toru

4 

wha ['wh' always pronounced as an 'f' sound]

5 

rima

6 

ono

7 

whitu

8 

waru

9 

iwa

10 

tekau

One to ten!!

Glossary of Maori Geographical terms translated into English

ana 

cave

awa 

river, channel

iti 

small

manga 

stream

maunga 

mountain

moana 

sea, lake

motu 

island

nui 

big

one 

beach, sand, soil

kohatu 

rock

puke 

hill

rangi 

sky, heavens

roa 

long

roto 

lake

rua 

two

tai 

tide, sea

tapu 

sacred

te 

the

toka 

rock

wai 

water

whanga 

bay, harbor

whenua 

land

Many place names have been made tautological by Europeans adding a word which is already contained in the Māori name, e.g. Mount Maunganui = "Mount big mountain". However, in recent years, 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 many respects this is an English contraction rather than a reversion to Māori names, as many of the Māori words are followed by a pluralising s where the omitted English geographic term was plural. So the Rimutakas is used in place of the Rimutaka ranges, while the Waikato will normally refer to the the Waikato river although Waikato (without the) would probably refer to the region, though this may need to be inferred from the context.

Learning more

Maori is taught in many places around New Zealand, often as a night class. Ask at the local information centre or citizens advice bureau. The Maori Language Commission also has a list of course providers.