Māori Pronunciation

1. Basic Pronunciation

Start with basic pronunciation to learn all the phonetic sounds in te reo (the Māori language). You can use this basic knowledge to then correctly pronounce any Māori word or phrase. The only complication is understanding where to place the stress in a word. The extended examples (names of people, placenames, mihi and karakia) can assist you to get a feel for this.

Learning basic mihi and karakia is very useful if you are called on, for instance, to start a meeting or greet visitors, so you can demonstrate the commitment we have to te reo Māori and tikanga Māori.

All Māori words and most particles (i.e. grammatical words) contain a stressed syllable. The stressed syllable is never more than four morae from the end of a word. Main stress usually lies on the first long vowel. If there is no long vowel, the syllable containing a diphthong is stressed (for some speakers this rule is any non-final diphthong). If there is no long vowel or diphthong within the last four morae, then the earliest syllable is stressed. These rules are general guidelines and there are words which are stressed in less predictable ways. Also in natural speech word boundaries can sometimes be blurred resulting in changes in stress patterns. Carefully listening to fluent speakers is the best way to get a feel for where to place the stress.

Vowels (note the macron over a vowel makes it longer)

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Consonants + Vowels

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Dipthongs

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2. Mihi - Greeting and Farewells

Greetings

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Farewells

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3. Karakia - Blessings

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4. Placenames

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5. Staff Names

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6. Waiata - Songs

Listen to Ko Te Whare Wananga o Waikato

Ko Te Whare Wananga o Waikato

Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato e tū mai nei
‘Ko te Tangata’ te tohu
Tīhei mauri ora!!
Waikato te iwi; Waikato te awa;
Taupiri te maunga; Tainui te waka.
Ko Te Whare Wānanga o Waikato e tū mai nei
Ko te tino kaupapa he hora mātauranga ki te ao.
KŌKIRI!

This is the University of Waikato presenting to you
‘The People’ is the emblem
Behold I live!!
Waikato the people; Waikato the river
Taupiri the sacred mountain; Tainui the canoe
This is the University of Waikato presenting to you
Its purpose, to spread enlightenment to the world.
ONWARD!!