B2.2.2 Guide to Maori pronunciation
Description
This article is from the New Zealand FAQ, by Phil Stuart-Jones and Lin Nah with numerous contributions by others.
B2.2.2 Guide to Maori pronunciation
The five vowels; a, e, i, o and u, are pronounced in two ways:
short long a as u in but a as a in father e as e in pen e as ai in pair i as i in bit i as ee in feet o as o in fort o as o in store u as u in put u as oo in boot
Where two vowels are together: both are sounded but they are run together
smoothly.
The ten consonants in Maori: h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w, ng, wh.
The first eight are pronounced as in English. The last two are digraphs,
'ng' being pronounced as the ng in 'singer', and 'wh' as wh in 'whale', or
as a 'f'.
From The Revised Dictionary of Modern Maori:
The consonants:
'r' is not rolled.
'p' is soft.
'wh' is usually pronounced 'f', sometimes as 'h', 'w', of 'wh'.
'ng' has a softish 'g' and is pronounced/spelled 'ng' or 'k' depending on
the area; usually 'k' in the South Island.
In the book "He Whakamarama - A new course in Maori" the following
describes 'ng' and 'wh':
"When we say 'na', the tip of the tongue touches the roof of the mouth
somewhere behind the top of the upper teeth. When we say 'nga', the tongue
stays down with the tip touching the back of the lower teeth.
"'Wh' differs from 'f' in this way. When we say 'f', the upper teeth
firmly touch the bottom lip, but with 'wh' there is little or no pressure
of the upper teeth on the bottom lip.
(The online dictionary listed in the links section just before the start
of section B2.2.1 may help with the preceding.)
-----
Lachy Paterson wrote:
"Te Reo Maaori will exist only if it is taught (and learnt) as a spoken
language. This means that students should have a tutor of some sort who
can actually talk to them (analog not digital!). While this would be
difficult in another country, it should not be difficult in NZ.
However, if people wanted to teach themselves the rudiments of Maaori/Maori
grammar, then I would recommend
He Whakamarama A new Course in Maori
by John Foster (Heinemann)
or
Te Kakano (Stage 1 University text)
Te Pihinga (Stage 2)
by John C. Moorfield (Longman Paul).
Kia manawanui."
Lyndon Watson adds:
"Yes, and to complicate matters there are some dialectical variations.
Some East Coast speakers tend to replace 'ng' with the simple 'n'. And
some South Island speakers replace it with 'k', but then it is spelled
accordingly so there is no problem for the outsider.
The 'wh' sound also seems to vary from place to place. I have heard
elderly speakers in Northland say something very like the (proper) English
'wh' sound - 'h' followed by 'w' - and again some Eastern speakers use a
plain 'w'. Pakehas tend to give up and fall back on a plain 'f'.
Judy Shorten adds:
"Say it in Maori" by Alan Armstrong is a really good little book with a
limited English-Maori and Maori-English dictionary as well as a wide
variety of phrases that cover many situations. There is also a page on
pronounciation. I would recommend this little book for anyone wanting to
have a very basic knowledge of the Maori language, but on the other hand
most tourists travelling around NZ on tours don't have the time or the
inclination to read even a little book about correct pronounciation and
therefore make some rather hilarious attempts at trying to pronounce even
the simplest names.
References:
The Concise Maori Dictionary, A.H. & A.W. Reed
The Revised Dictionary of Modern Maori, P. M. Ryan's, reprint 1989,
Heinemann, ISBN 0 86863 564 2
Say it in Maori, Alan Armstrong
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