Māori language
Categories: Languages of the Cook Islands | Languages of New Zealand | Maori | Polynesian languages | Austronesian languages | Tahitic languages
| Māori (Te Reo Māori) | |
|---|---|
| Spoken in: | New Zealand |
| Region: | Polynesia |
| Total speakers: | 100,000-160,000 (est) |
| Ranking: | Not in top 100 |
| Genetic classification: | Austronesian Malayo-Polynesian |
| Official status | |
| Official language of: | New Zealand |
| Regulated by: | Māori Language Commission |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-1 | mi |
| ISO 639-2 | mao (B) / mri (T) |
| SIL | MBF |
| See also: Language – List of languages | |
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), and Hawaiian.
Contents |
History
Māori was brought to New Zealand by Polynesians coming most likely from the area of Tahiti, who likely arrived in sea-faring canoes which were double-hulled and probably sail-rigged.
In the last 200 years the Māori language has had a very 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 newspapers and some literature was 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 branch of the Polynesian languages, it is most closely related to Tahitian, spoken in Tahiti and the Society Islands, and to Rarotongan, spoken in the southern Cook Islands. These are so closely related that they are sometimes referred to as dialects of a single language, but they are generally listed as separate languages. They have been diverging for many centuries, and are no longer inherently mutually intelligible.
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 native speakers is likely to be very small indeed, counted in dozens. Māori persists as a community language in some isolated settlements in the Northland 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.
Official status
Māori is one of three official languages of New Zealand, the other two being English and NZSL. 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
In 2004 Māori Language Week was celebrated between 26 July and 11 August
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.
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 the presence of extra consonants g (as distinct from ng or k, e.g., Katigi, Otago), and l which substitutes for r (e.g., Little Akaloa, Kilmog, Waihola, Rakiula (a variation of Rakiura or Stewart Island/Rakiura). The "wh" of northern Māori is also often replaced by a simple "w" or even "u", as in (e.g., Wangaloa).
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 refer to 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 (Waikato) 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).
Grammar
Nouns
Of all of the existing Polynesian languages, Māori is the only member of the group where compound nouns are formed extensively. Long compound nouns are possible in Māori, but unlike German, compound nouns are not heavily used.
Nouns mostly 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").
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 |
Māori has seven diphthongs: /ae/, /ai/, /ao/, /au/, /oe/, /oi/, and /ou/. A macron indicates a long vowel.
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, or like the t in the American English pronunciation of "city."
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. 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.
Reo Māori and its role in the mental health system
Reo Māori allows oranga hinengaro (mental health) workers to provide Māori clients with personalised therapy. Being able to communicate and explain whakaoranga (therapy) procedures and outcomes allow both kaimatai hinengaro as well as Māori clients to understand and clarify any areas of concern. Māori clients are able to communicate their expected outcomes of whakaoranga using Reo Māori and kaimatai hinengaro are able to utilise Reo Māori concepts of health, such as Whare Tapa Wha model in their whakaoranga sessions. Being able to speak the same language not only acknowledges the ahautanga whakatipu (upbringing) of Māori clients, it also allows Māori clients to relate better to their kaimatai hinengaro.
Māori in English
An increasing number of Maori loanwords are entering New Zealand English. Originally many of these related to Maori culture e.g. Marae and indigenous flora and fauna e.g. Moa, but in recent years, phrases such as Kia ora have become popular. Many Maoris, including those who don't speak the Maori language, speak a form of English partly influenced by it.
Examples include:
- "Those bones are tapu" instead of "those bones are sacred."
- "My mother is hapu" instead of "my mother is pregnant."
- "My iwi is Ngai Tahu" instead of "my tribe is Ngai Tahu."
- "Your kid has a big puku" instead of "your kid has a big belly."
- "Let's sing a waiata" instead of "let's sing a song."
- "We put a lot of mahi in this festival" instead of "we put a lot of work in this festival."
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 Phonologyals:Maori (Sprache)
ar:ماورية bg:Маорски език de:Maori (Sprache) eo:Maoria lingvo es:Lengua Maorí gl:Lingua maorí he:מאורית la:Lingua Mauris mi:Te reo Māori ja:マオリ語 nl:Maori (taal) ru:Язык маори sv:Maori wa:Mawori zh:毛利语