Welcome to discovering te reo Māori kupu (words) that inspire ‘creativity’ in every space. One of the fascinating aspects of te reo Māori is its phonetic structure, which makes it particularly easy for newcomers to start learning the language.
Click on to each tile to ‘hear’ the pronunciation to help you on your reo journey!
The Māori Alphabet
The Māori alphabet is modest in its composition, consisting of five vowels and ten consonants:
Vowels
a e i o u
Macron vowels
ā (ah) – Pronounced like the ‘a’ in ‘are.’
ē (eh) – Similar to the ‘e’ in ‘there.’
ī (ee) – Sounds like the ‘ee’ in ‘three.’
ō (aw) – Similar to the ‘o’ in ‘or.’
ū (oo) – Pronounced like the ‘o’ in ‘two.’
Consonants
h k m n p r t w
Digraphs are two letters that combine to form one sound:
- Ng – Pronounced like the ‘ng’ in ‘song.’
- Wh – Usually pronounced like the ‘f’ in ‘fun.’
Māori language doesn’t have consonant clusters (consonants that appear together in a syllable without a vowel between them). Consonants are mainly pronounced as they are in English. The exceptions are:
T – Varies depending on which vowel appears after it. When succeeded by an ‘a’, ‘e’ or ‘o’, it’s pronounced with little or no ‘s’ sound. When followed by an ‘i’ or ‘u’, it includes a slight ‘s’ sound, however not nearly as much as an English ‘t’.
R – Commonly called a ‘rolled’ r. If you’re able to imitate the purring sound of a cat, you’ll know exactly what’s required to pronounce this consonant. Failing this, the sound you should aim for is something similar to an English ‘d’ – but softer e.g. judder.