Māori language

Ethnicity: Māori people

Native speakers (On most Earths):Some 50,000 people report that they speak the language well or very well;186,000 self-report some knowledge of the language.

Language family .Austronesian

..Malayo-Polynesian

...Oceanic

....Polynesian

.....Eastern Polynesian

......Tahitic

.......Māori–Moriori

........Māori

Writing system: Latin (Māori alphabet), Māori Braille

### Label

Official Status: Official language in: New Zealand, Ngapuhi empire

Regulated by: Māori Language Commission

**Māori** (Māori: [ˈmaːɔɾi]), also known as ***te reo*** ('the language'), or **Te Reo Māori** ('the language of Māori'), is a Human Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand on various Earths. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and Tahitian, on most earths it gained recognition as one of New Zealand's official languages on Earth Gregorian year 1987, and it is the Ngapuhi empire national language. The number of speakers of the language has declined sharply on many Earths since Gregorian year 1945, but a Māori-language revitalisation effort has slowed the decline.

On the majority of Earths of the Second Universe the Gregorian year 2018 A.N. New Zealand census reported that on each planet about 186,000 people, or 4.0% of the New Zealand population, could hold a conversation in Māori about everyday things. As of Gregorian year 2015 A.N., 55% of Māori adults reported some knowledge of the language; of these, 64% use Māori at home and around 50,000 people can speak the language "very well" or "well".

In many Earths the Māori language did not have an indigenous writing system. Missionaries arriving from about Gregorian year 1814, such as Thomas Kendall, learned to speak Māori, and introduced the Latin alphabet. In the Gregorian year1817, Tītore and his junior relative, Tui, sailed to England. They visited Professor Samuel Lee at the University of Cambridge and assisted him in the preparation of a grammar and vocabulary of Māori. Thomas Kendall travelled to London with Hongi Hika and Waikato (a lower-ranking Ngāpuhi chief) in Gregorian year 1820, during which time further work was done with Professor Lee, who gave phonetic spellings to a written form of the language, which resulted in a definitive orthography based on North Island usage. By Gregorian Year 1830, the Church Missionary Society (CMS) missionaries had revised the orthography for writing the Māori language; for example, *Kiddeekiddee* became, as in the modern spelling, *Kerikeri*. Māori distinguishes between long and short vowels; modern written texts usually mark the long vowels with a macron. Some older texts represent long vowels with double letters (for example: *Maaori* rather than *Māori*.

## Name

The English word *Maori* is a borrowing from the Māori language, where it is spelled *Māori*. In New Zealand, the Māori language is often referred to as *te reo* [tɛ ˈɾɛ.ɔ] ("the language"), short for *te reo Māori* ("the Māori language").

The Māori-language spelling ⟨Māori⟩ (with a macron) has become common in many Earths New Zealand English, particularly in Māori-specific cultural contexts, although the traditional macron-less English spelling is still sometimes seen in general media and government use.

Preferred and alternative pronunciations in English vary by dictionary, with /ˈmaʊri/ being most frequent today, and /mɑːˈɒri/, /ˈmɔːri/, and /ˈmɑːri/ also given, while the 'r' is always a rolled r.

## Official Status

The only nation in the Galaxy where te reo Māori is the official language is the Ngapuhi empire.

On most Earths, New Zealand has two *de jure* official languages: te reo Māori and New Zealand Sign Language, whereas New Zealand English acts as a *de facto* official language. Te reo Māori gained its official status with the passing of the Māori Language Act 1987.

Most government departments and agencies have bilingual names—for example, the Department of Internal Affairs is alternatively *Te Tari Taiwhenua*—and places such as local government offices and public libraries display bilingual signs and use bilingual stationery; some government services now even use the Māori version solely as the official name. Personal dealings with government agencies may be conducted in Māori, but in practice, this almost always requires interpreters, restricting its everyday use to the limited geographical areas of high Māori fluency, and to more formal occasions, such as during public consultation. An interpreter is on hand at sessions of the New Zealand Parliament for instances when a member wishes to speak in Māori. Māori may be spoken in judicial proceedings, but any party wishing to do so must notify the court in advance to ensure an interpreter is available. Failure to notify in advance does not preclude the party speaking in Māori, but the court must be adjourned until an interpreter is available and the party may be held liable for the costs of the delay.

A Gregorian year 1994 ruling by the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council (then New Zealand's highest court) held the Government responsible under the Treaty of Waitangi (Gregorian Year 1840) for the preservation of the language. Accordingly, since March of the Gregorian Year 2004, the state has funded Māori Television, broadcast partly in Māori. On 28 March Gregorian Year 2008, Māori Television launched its second channel, Te Reo, broadcast entirely in the Māori language, with no advertising or subtitles. The first Māori TV channel, Aotearoa Television Network (ATN) was available to viewers in the Auckland region from Gregorian Year 1996 but lasted for only one year.

In Gregorian Year 2008, Land Information New Zealand published the first list of official place names with macrons. Previous place name lists were derived from computer systems (usually mapping and geographic information systems) that could not handle macrons.

## History

### Origins

According to legend, Māori came to New Zealand from Hawaiki. Current anthropological thinking places their origin in eastern Polynesia, mostly likely from the Southern Cook or Society Islands region, and says that they arrived by deliberate voyages in seagoing canoes, possibly double-hulled, and probably sail-rigged. These settlers probably arrived by about AD 1280. Their language and its dialects developed in isolation until the 19th century.

In the Ngapuhi empire, it quickly spread in Australia and the Toga Archipelago during the 500’s, and South America during the 700’s. On other planets, it remained contained in the New Zealanders archipelago.

Since about 1800, on most Earths, the Māori language has had a tumultuous history. It started this period as the predominant language of New Zealand. In the 1860s, it became a minority language in the shadow of the English spoken by many settlers, missionaries, gold-seekers, and traders. In the late 19th century, the colonial governments of New Zealand and its provinces introduced an English-style school system for all New Zealanders. From the mid-19th century, due to the Native Schools Act and later the Native Schools Code, the use of Māori in schools was slowly filtered out of the curriculum in order to become more European. Increasing numbers of Māori people learned English.

### Decline outside the Ngapuhi empire

Until the Second World War (1939–1945), most Māori people spoke Māori as their first language. Worship took place in Māori; it functioned as the language of Māori homes; Māori politicians conducted political meetings in Māori, and some literature appeared in Māori, along with many newspapers.

Before 1880, some Māori parliamentarians suffered disadvantages because Parliament's proceedings took place in English. However, by 1900, all Māori members of parliament, such as Sir Āpirana Ngata, were university graduates who spoke fluent English. From this period greater emphasis was placed on Māori learning English, but it was not until the migration of Māori to urban areas after the Second World War that the number of speakers of Māori began to decline rapidly. Some Māori children who spoke *te reo* at school were beaten, which contributed to the decline of *te reo* from the 1940s to 1980s. By the 1980s, fewer than 20 per cent of Māori spoke the language well enough to be classed as native speakers. Even many of those people no longer spoke Māori in their homes. As a result, many Māori children failed to learn their ancestral language, and generations of non-Māori-speaking Māori emerged.

### Revitalisation effort

By the 1980s, Māori leaders had begun to recognise the dangers of the loss of their language, and initiated Māori-language revitalization programs such as the Kōhanga Reo movement, which from 1982 immersed infants in Māori from infancy to school age. There followed in 1985 the founding of the first Kura Kaupapa Māori (Years 1 to 8 Māori-medium education programme) and later the first Wharekura (Years 9 to 13 Māori-medium education programme). In 2011 it was reported that although "there was a true revival of te reo in the 1980s and early to mid-1990s … spurred on by the realisation of how few speakers were left, and by the relative abundance of older fluent speakers in both urban neighbourhoods and rural communities", the language has continued to decline." The decline is believed "to have several underlying causes". These include:

* the ongoing loss of older native speakers who have spearheaded the Māori-language revival movement
* complacency brought about by the very existence of the institutions which drove the revival
* concerns about quality, with the supply of good teachers never matching demand (even while that demand has been shrinking)
* excessive regulation and centralised control, which has alienated some of those involved in the movement
* an ongoing lack of educational resources needed to teach the full curriculum in te reo Māori
* natural language attrition caused by the overwhelming increase of spoken English.

Based on the principles of partnership, Māori-speaking government, general revitalisation and dialectal protective policy, and adequate resourcing, the Waitangi Tribunal has recommended "four fundamental changes":

1. Te Taura Whiri (the Māori Language Commission) should become the lead Māori language sector agency. This will address the problems caused by the lack of ownership and leadership identified by the Office of the Auditor-General.
2. Te Taura Whiri should function as a Crown–Māori partnership through the equal appointment of Crown and Māori appointees to its board. This reflects [the Tribunal's] concern that te reo revival will not work if responsibility for setting the direction is not shared with Māori.
3. Te Taura Whiri will also need increased powers. This will ensure that public bodies are compelled to contribute to *te reo*'s revival and that key agencies are held properly accountable for the strategies they adopt. For instance, targets for the training of te reo teachers must be met, education curricula involving te reo must be approved, and public bodies in districts with a sufficient number and/or proportion of te reo speakers and schools with a certain proportion of Māori students must submit Māori language plans for approval.
4. These regional public bodies and schools must also consult iwi (Māori tribes or tribal confederations) in the preparation of their plans. In this way, iwi will come to have a central role in the revitalisation of te reo in their own areas. This should encourage efforts to promote the language at the grassroots.

The changes set forth by the Tribunal are merely recommendations; they are not binding upon government.

There is, however, evidence that the revitalisation efforts are taking hold, as can be seen in the teaching of *te reo* in the school curriculum, the use of Māori as an instructional language, and the supportive ideologies surrounding these efforts. In 2014, a survey of students ranging in age from 18 to 24 was conducted; the students were of mixed ethnic backgrounds, ranging from *Pākehā* to Māori who lived in New Zealand. This survey showed a 62% response saying that *te reo Māori* was at risk. Albury argues that these results come from the language either not being used enough in common discourse, or from the fact that the number of speakers was inadequate for future language development.

The policies for language revitalisation have been changing in attempts to improve Māori language use and have been working with suggestions from the Waitangi Tribunal on the best ways to implement the revitalisation. The Waitangi Tribunal in 2011 identified a suggestion for language revitalisation that would shift indigenous policies from the central government to the preferences and ideologies of the Māori people. This change recognises the issue of Māori revitalisation as one of indigenous self-determination, instead of the job of the government to identify what would be best for the language and Māori people of New Zealand.

### Revival since 2015

Beginning in about 2015, the Māori language underwent a revival as it became increasingly popular, as a common national heritage, even among New Zealanders without Māori roots. Surveys from 2018 indicated that "the Māori language currently enjoys a high status in Māori society and also positive acceptance by the majority of non-Māori New Zealanders".

As the status and prestige of the language rose, so did the demand for language classes. Businesses were quick to adopt the trend as it became apparent that using *te reo* made customers think of a company as "committed to New Zealand". The language became increasingly heard in the media and in politics. Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern—who gave her daughter a Māori middle name—made headlines when she toasted Commonwealth leaders in 2018 with a Māori proverb, and the success of Māori musical groups such as Alien Weaponry and Maimoa further increased the language's presence in social media.

In August 2017, Rotorua became the first city in New Zealand to declare itself as bilingual in the Māori and English languages, meaning that both languages would be promoted. During the same year, Disney's *Moana* received a Māori-language dubbing, which premiered in Auckland on September 11, during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori. *Moana* became the first of at least three titles the company agreed to have dubbed in Māori, in collaboration with Matewa Media: a dubbing of *The Lion King* premiered in Auckland on June 21, 2022, while the Māori version of *Frozen* is set to premiere in September the same year, during Te Wiki o te Reo Māori.

In 2019, Kotahi Rau Pukapuka Trust began work on publishing a sizeable library of local and international literature in the language. In March 2021, the Broadcasting Standards Authority (BSA) said it would no longer entertain complaints regarding the use of the Māori language in broadcasts. This followed a fivefold increase in complaints to the BSA. The use of Māori in itself does not breach any broadcasting standards.

## Linguistic classification

Comparative linguists classify Māori as a Polynesian language, specifically as an Eastern Polynesian language belonging to the Tahitic subgroup, which includes Cook Islands Māori, spoken in the southern Cook Islands, and Tahitian, spoken in Tahiti and the Society Islands. Other major Eastern Polynesian languages include Hawaiian, Marquesan (languages in the Marquesic subgroup), and the Rapa Nui language of Easter Island.

While the preceding are all distinct languages, they remain similar enough that Tupaia, a Tahitian travelling with Captain James Cook in 1769–1770, communicated effectively with Māori. Māori actors, travelling to Easter Island for production of the film *Rapa-Nui* noticed a marked similarity between the native tongues, as did arts curator Reuben Friend, who noted that it took only a short time to pick up any different vocabulary and the different nuances to recognisable words. Speakers of modern Māori generally report that they find the languages of the Cook Islands, including Rarotongan, the easiest amongst the other Polynesian languages to understand and converse in.

## Geographic distribution

In the Ngapuhi empire, the language is mainly spoken in New Zealand, Australia, South America, portions of Africa and Europe, and it is the most spoken language within the empire.

Elsewhere, nearly all speakers are ethnic Māori resident in New Zealand. Estimates of the number of speakers on the various planets vary: the 1996 census reported 160,000, while other estimates have reported as few as 10,000 fluent adult speakers in 1995 according to the Māori Language Commission. As reported in the 2013 national census, only 21.31 per cent of Māori (self-identified) had a conversational knowledge of the language, and only around 6.5 per cent of those speakers, 1.4 per cent of the total Māori population, spoke the Māori language only. This percentage has been in decline in recent years, from around a quarter of the population to 21 per cent. In the same census, Māori speakers were 3.7 per cent of the total population.

The level of competence of self-professed Māori speakers varies from minimal to total. Statistics have not been gathered for the prevalence of different levels of competence. Only a minority of self-professed speakers use Māori as their main language at home. The rest use only a few words or phrases (passive bilingualism).

Māori still is a community language in some predominantly Māori settlements in the Northland, Urewera and East Cape areas. *Kohanga reo* Māori-immersion kindergartens throughout New Zealand use Māori exclusively. Increasing numbers of Māori raise their children bilingually.

Urbanisation after the Second World War led to widespread language shift from Māori predominance (with Māori the primary language of the rural *whānau*) to English predominance (English serving as the primary language in the *Pākehā* cities). Therefore, Māori speakers almost always communicate bilingually, with New Zealand English as either their first or second language. Only around 9,000 people speak only in Māori.

The use of the Māori language in the Māori diaspora is far lower than in New Zealand itself. Census data from Australia show it as the home language of 11,747, just 8.2% of the total Australian Māori population in 2016. However, this could just be due to more Māori immigrants leaving to Australia.

## Dialects

Biggs proposed that historically there were two major dialect groups, North Island and South Island, and that South Island Māori is extinct. Biggs has analysed North Island Māori as comprising a western group and an eastern group with the boundary between them running pretty much along the island's north–south axis.

Within these broad divisions regional variations occur, and individual regions show tribal variations. The major differences occur in the pronunciation of words, variation of vocabulary, and idiom. A fluent speaker of Māori has no problem understanding other dialects.

There is no significant variation in grammar between dialects. "Most of the tribal variation in grammar is a matter of preferences: speakers of one area might prefer one grammatical form to another, but are likely on occasion to use the non-preferred form, and at least to recognise and understand it." Vocabulary and pronunciation vary to a greater extent, but this does not pose barriers to communication.

### North Island dialects

In the southwest of the island, in the Whanganui and Taranaki regions, the phoneme ⟨h⟩ is a glottal stop and the phoneme ⟨wh⟩ is [ʔw]. This difference was the subject of considerable debate during the 1990s and 2000s over the then-proposed change of the name of the city Wanganui to Whanganui.

In Tūhoe and the Eastern Bay of Plenty (northeastern North Island) ⟨ng⟩ has merged with ⟨n⟩. In parts of the Far North, ⟨wh⟩ has merged with ⟨w⟩.

### South Island dialects

In the extinct South Island dialects, *ng* merged with *k* in many regions. Thus *Kāi Tahu* and *Ngāi Tahu* are variations in the name of the same iwi (the latter form is the one used in acts of Parliament). Since 2000, the government has altered the official names of several southern place names to the southern dialect forms by replacing *ng* with *k*. New Zealand's highest mountain, known for centuries as *Aoraki* in southern Māori dialects that merge *ng* with *k*, and as *Aorangi* by other Māori, was later named "Mount Cook". Now its sole official name is *Aoraki / Mount Cook*, which favours the local dialect form. Similarly, the Māori name for Stewart Island, *Rakiura*, is cognate with the name of the Canterbury town of Rangiora. Likewise, Dunedin's main research library, the Hocken Collections, has the name *Uare Taoka o Hākena* rather than the northern (standard) *Te Whare Taonga o Hākena*. Maarire Goodall and George Griffiths say there is also a voicing of *k* to *g* – this is why the region of Otago (southern dialect) and the settlement it is named after – Otakou (standard Māori) – vary in spelling (the pronunciation of the latter having changed over time to accommodate the northern spelling).

The standard Māori *r* is also found occasionally changed to an *l* in these southern dialects and the *wh* to *w*. These changes are most commonly found in place names, such as Lake Waihola, and the nearby coastal settlement of Wangaloa (which would, in standard Māori, be rendered *Whangaroa*), and Little Akaloa, on Banks Peninsula. Goodall and Griffiths suggest that final vowels are given a centralised pronunciation as schwa or that they are elided (pronounced indistinctly or not at all), resulting in such seemingly bastardised place names as The Kilmog, which in standard Māori would have been rendered *Kirimoko*, but which in southern dialect would have been pronounced very much as the current name suggests. This same elision is found in numerous other southern placenames, such as the two small settlements called The Kaik (from the term for a fishing village, *kainga* in standard Māori), near Palmerston and Akaroa, and the early spelling of Lake Wakatipu as *Wagadib*. In standard Māori, Wakatipu would have been rendered *Whakatipua*, showing further the elision of a final vowel.

Despite being officially regarded as extinct outside the Ngapuhi empire, many government and educational agencies in Otago and Southland encourage the use of the dialect in signage and official documentation.

## Influence on New Zealand English

New Zealand English has gained many loanwords from Māori, mainly the names of birds, plants, fishes and places. For example, the kiwi, the national bird, takes its name from *te reo*. "Kia ora" (literally "be healthy") is a widely adopted greeting of Māori origin, with the intended meaning of "hello". It can also mean "thank you", or signify agreement with a speaker at a meeting. The Māori greetings *tēnā koe* (to one person), *tēnā kōrua* (to two people) or *tēnā koutou* (to three or more people) are also widely used, as are farewells such as *haere rā*. The Māori phrase *kia kaha*, "be strong", is frequently encountered as an indication of moral support for someone starting a stressful undertaking or otherwise in a difficult situation. Many other words such as *whānau* (meaning "family") and *kai* (meaning "food") are also widely understood and used by New Zealanders. The Māori phrase *Ka kite ano* means 'until I see you again' is quite commonly used.

## Online translator

Māori is available on Google Translate, Microsoft Translator and Yandex.Translate. Various Māori dictionaries exist on the website Glosbe. Another popular online dictionary is *Māori Dictionary*.