- Official language in
- New Zealand
- Script
- Latin
Where it's spoken
Māori (te reo Māori) is the indigenous language of Aotearoa New Zealand. Te Puni Kōkiri, the Ministry of Māori Development, states that it is one of two official languages of the nation, a status established by the Māori Language Act. Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission, likewise describes te reo Māori as an official, living language of Aotearoa New Zealand.
Sources
- Te Puni Kōkiri (Ministry of Māori Development) — "Te reo Māori" — Official language status and the Māori Language Act (1987)
- Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori (Māori Language Commission) — English-language home page — "an official, living language"
Script & pronunciation
Māori is written with Latin letters, as shown throughout Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori's own orthography guidelines, in words such as āhua, pōhēhē, rōpū, kīngi, kōti, and mīhini. According to those guidelines, the macron is the established means of indicating a long vowel in Māori words and names, with only a small number of exceptions. This app's cards follow the same convention: its card for the numbers one to five writes whā ("four") with a macron in both the Māori text and the romanization. This app's own romanization is not a separate pronunciation guide: it is the same Māori spelling divided into syllables by hyphens, as in he rō-na-ki, he kū-a-ha rā-nei kā-o-re nei he a-ra-pi-ki for He rōnaki, he kūaha rānei kāore nei he arapiki? ("Is there a ramp or step-free entrance?").
Sources
- Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori — "Guidelines for Māori Language Orthography" (2012 edition) — p.4, "Long Vowels" — the macron as the established means of indicating a long vowel
Grammar essentials
Māori pronouns distinguish three numbers. Te Aka Māori Dictionary glosses koutou as "you (three or more people)" and kōrua as "you two". This app's cards mark the same distinction in their greetings, using Tēnā koe for one person and Tēnā koutou katoa for three or more, and note that adding katoa ("all") to koutou adds emphasis. This app's card for Kia ora describes Māori as a Polynesian language with VSO (verb-subject-object) word order, glossing Kia as a particle of wish or state that combines with ora ("be well") to mean "be well". Negation uses the word kāore: Te Aka Māori Dictionary describes kāore as a negative word, "no, not," used on its own or in a variety of sentence types. This app's card asking about a step-free entrance uses kāore nei he arapiki ("without steps") for this negation.
Sources
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary — entry "koutou" — Pronoun, "you (three or more people)"
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary — entry "kōrua" — Pronoun, "you two"
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary — entry "kāore" — Negative word, "no, not"
Politeness & etiquette
Māori greetings vary in formality and in how many people are being addressed. Te Aka Māori Dictionary glosses kia ora as a greeting usable for any number of people, literally meaning "be well," which can mean hello, good morning, good afternoon, or thank you; this app marks Kia ora as neutral in formality. Tēnā koe, by contrast, is glossed by Te Aka as a greeting "speaking to one person"; this app marks it as formal, and its own card glosses it as literally "that which is by you." The same greeting extends to larger groups: this app's card for Tēnā koutou katoa glosses it as a formal greeting to a group of three or more, commonly used at the start of speeches or gatherings.
Sources
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary — entry "kia ora" — Interjection, greeting for any number of people
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary — entry "tēnā koe" — "hello! (speaking to one person)"