# Māori phrasebook

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$^{[deadlink]}$ 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

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$^{[deadlink]}$. There are also Māori television channels that you can watch to improve your listening skills.