Language/Maori/Pronunciation/Alphabet-and-Pronunciation

Maori Alphabet, IPA Pronuncation, Video, Virtual Keyboard...

In today's lesson, you will learn how to write the different letters of the Maori alphabet, how to pronounce these letters whether it is through the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), or through a video with the pronunciation of the letters by a native speaker.

You will also find at the end of this lesson a virtual keyboard to be able to type each special character of this language.

Kia ora and welcome to our lesson on Maori Pronunciation → Alphabet and Pronunciation! In this lesson, we will guide you through the Maori alphabet and provide you with essential tips on how to pronounce each letter correctly. By the end of this lesson, you will have a solid foundation in Maori pronunciation, which will help you in your journey to learn this beautiful language. 🗣️

After mastering the Maori alphabet and pronunciation, you may also want to explore other aspects of the Maori language, such as Maori months of the year. This will further enhance your understanding and appreciation of the Maori culture and language. 📚

So, let's dive into the world of Maori pronunciation and start learning the alphabet together! Nau mai, haere mai!

Video - Khowar Alphabet Pronunciation by a Native Speaker

Māori, also known as te reo ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of New Zealand.

Alphabet

Letter	A a	Ā ā	E e	Ē ē	H h	I I	Ī ī	K k	M m	N n	Ng ng	O o	Ō ō	P p	R r	T t	U u	Ū ū	W w	Wh wh
IPA	a, ʌ	aː, ʌː	e	eː	h	I	iː	k(ʰ)	m	n	ŋ	o	oː	p(ʰ)	ɾ	t(ʰ)	ʊ, u	ʊː, uː	w	ɸ, f

Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	⟨i⟩ [i], [iː]	⟨u⟩ [ʉ], [uː]
Mid	⟨e⟩ [ɛ], [eː]		⟨o⟩ [ɔ], [oː]
Open		⟨a⟩ [ɐ], [ɑː]

Long vowels

The alphabet devised at Cambridge University does not mark vowel length. The following examples show that vowel length is phonemic in Māori:

ata	morning	āta	carefully
keke	cake	kēkē	armpit
mana	prestige	māna	for him/her
manu	bird	mānu	to float
tatari	to wait for	tātari	to filter or analyse
tui	to sew	tūī	Parson bird
wahine	woman	wāhine	women

Consonants

The consonant phonemes of Māori are listed in the following table. Seven of the ten Māori consonant letters have the same pronunciation as they do in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA). For those that do not, the IPA phonetic transcription is included, enclosed in square brackets per IPA convention.

	Labial	Alveolar	Velar	Glottal
Nasal	m	n	ng [ŋ]
Plosive	p	t	k
Fricative	wh [f, ɸ]			h
Tap		r [ɾ]
Approximant	w

Maori Online Virtual Keyboard

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