Maori Language

Te Reo – the Maori Language

Any visitor to New Zealand will become immediately aware of the Maori language, as the vast majority of place names are of Maori origin. At first, visitors may be puzzled by the seemingly impossible to pronounce names. In fact, Maori language has a logical structure, and, unlike English, has very consistent rules of pronunciation.

The Maori language consists of five vowel sounds: a e i o u (‘a’ as in ‘car’, ‘e’ as in ‘egg’, ‘i’ like the ‘ee’ in ‘tee’, ‘o’ as in ‘four’, ‘u’ like an ‘o’ in ‘to’). There are eight consonants in Maori similar to those in English — ‘h’, ‘k’, ‘m’, ‘n’, ‘p’, ‘r’, ‘t’, and ‘w’. There are also two different consonants — ‘wh’ and ‘ng’.

Many Maori pronounce the ‘wh’ sound similar to our ‘f’. The ‘ng’ is similar to our own ‘ng’ sound in a word like ‘sing’, except that in the Maori language, words can start with ‘ng’.

Our Maori Words & Phrases

• Kia Kaha — Stay Strong
• Aroha — Love
• Matu — Island
• Mana — Power

Useful Maori Words & Phrases

An attempt by a visitor to use Maori words as greetings will almost certainly elicit a delighted response from both Maori and Pakeha (European) New Zealanders.

• Kia ora — Hello
• Kia ora tatou — Hello everyone
• Tena koe — Greetings to you (said to one person)
• Tena koutou — Greeting to you all
• Haere mai — Welcome
• Nau mai — Welcome
• Kei te pehea koe? — How’s it going?
• Kei te pai — Good
• Tino pai — Really good
• Haere ra — Farewell
• Ka kite ano — Until I see you again (Bye)
• Hei konei ra — See you later