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Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the
official language An official language is defined by the Cambridge English Dictionary as, "the language or one of the languages that is accepted by a country's government, is taught in schools, used in the courts of law, etc." Depending on the decree, establishmen ...
of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to, but distinct from, New Zealand Māori. Cook Islands Māori is called just Māori when there is no need to distinguish it from New Zealand Māori. It is also known as Māori Kūki Āirani (or Maori Kuki Airani), or as Rarotongan. Many
Cook Islanders Cook Islanders are residents of the Cook Islands, which is composed of 15 islands and atolls in Polynesia in the Pacific Ocean. Cook Islands Māori are the indigenous Polynesian people of the Cook Islands, although the Cook Islands is curre ...
also call it ''Te reo Ipukarea'', which translates as "the language of the ancestral homeland".


Official status

English is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori became an official language of the Cook Islands in 2003 as defined by the Te Reo Maori Act 2003.


Te Reo Maori Act definition

The Te Reo Maori Act 2003 states that Māori:


Writing system and pronunciation

There is a debate about the standardisation of the
writing system A writing system comprises a set of symbols, called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which the script represents a particular language. The earliest writing appeared during the late 4th millennium BC. Throughout history, each independen ...
. Although usage of the macron (־) ''makarona'' and the
glottal stop The glottal stop or glottal plosive is a type of consonantal sound used in many Speech communication, spoken languages, produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract or, more precisely, the glottis. The symbol in the International Phonetic ...
() ''amata'' is recommended, most speakers do not use them in everyday writing. The Cook Islands Māori Revised New Testament uses a standardised
orthography An orthography is a set of convention (norm), conventions for writing a language, including norms of spelling, punctuation, Word#Word boundaries, word boundaries, capitalization, hyphenation, and Emphasis (typography), emphasis. Most national ...
that includes the '' okina'' and macron.


Consonants


Vowels


Grammar

Cook Islands Māori is an
isolating language Social isolation, Isolation is the near or complete lack of social contact by an individual. Isolation or isolated may also refer to: Sociology and psychology *Social isolation *Isolation (psychology), a defense mechanism in psychoanalytic theo ...
with very little morphology. Case is marked by the particle that initiates a noun phrase, and like most East Polynesian languages, Cook Islands Māori has nominative-accusative case marking. The unmarked constituent order is predicate initial: that is, verb initial in verbal sentences and nominal-predicate initial in non-verbal sentences.


Personal pronouns

#you -2 or more- and I #they and I


Tense-Aspect-Mood markers

Most of the preceding examples were taken from
Cook Islands Maori Dictionary
', by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moekaa, Auckland, 1995.


Possessives

Like most other Polynesian languages (Tahitian, New Zealand Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan ...), Cook Islands Māori has two categories of possessives, "a" and "o". Generally, the "a" category is used when the possessor has or had control over the initiation of the possessive relationship. Usually this means that the possessor is superior or dominant to what is owned, or that the possession is considered as alienable. The "o" category is used when the possessor has or had no control over the initiation of the relationship. This usually means that the possessor is subordinate or inferior to what is owned, or that the possession is considered to be inalienable. The following list indicates the types of things in the different categories: * ''a'' is used in speaking of ** Movable property, instruments, ** Food and drink, ** Husband, wife, children, grandchildren, girlfriend, boyfriend, ** Animals and pets, (except for horses) ** People in an inferior position : Te puaka a tērā vaine : the pig belonging to that woman; : ā Tere tamariki : Tere's children; : Kāre ā Tupe mā ika inapō : Tupe and the rest didn't get any fish last night : Tāku; Tāau; Tāna; Tā tāua; Tā māua…. : my, mine; your, yours; his, her, hers, our ours… : Ko tāku vaine tēia : This is my wife; : Ko tāna tāne tērā : That's her husband; : Tā kotou apinga : your possession(s); : Tā Tare apinga : Tērā possession(s); * ''o'' is used in speaking of ** Parts of anything ** Feelings ** Buildings and transport (including horses) ** Clothes ** Parents or other relatives (not husband, wife, children...) ** Superiors : Te are o Tere : The house belonging to Tere; : ō Tere pare : Tere's hat; : Kāre ō Tina noo anga e noo ei : Tina hasn't got anywhere to sit; : Tōku; Tōou; Tōna; Tō tāua; Tō māua…: my, mine ; your, yours; his, her, hers; our, ours … : Ko tōku are tēia : This is my house; : I tōku manako, ka tika tāna : In my opinion, he'll be right; : Tēia tōku, tērā tōou : This is mine here, that's yours over there


Vocabulary

* Pia : Polynesian arrowroot * Kata : laugh at; laughter; ** kata āviri : ridicule, jeer, mock * Tanu : to plant, cultivate land * angaanga : work, job * Pōpongi : morning * Tātāpaka : a kind of breadfruit pudding * ura : dance, to dance * Tuātau : time, period, season; ** ē tuātau ua atu : forever * īmene : to sing, song * Riri : be angry with (ki) * Tārekareka : entertain, amuse, match, game, play game


Dialectology

Although most words of the various dialects of Cook Islands Māori are identical, there are some differences:


Demographics


Notes


Sources

*
Cook Islands Maori Database Project
', An online project created to build a collection of Cook Islands Maori Words based on existing print dictionaries and other sources. *
Cook Islands Maori Dictionary
', by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa, edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moekaa, Auckland, 1995. * ''A dictionary of the Maori Language of Rarotonga'', Manuscript by Stephen Savage, Suva : IPS, USP in association with th
Ministry of Education
of the Cook Islands, 1983. * ''Kai Korero : Cook Islands Maori Language Coursebook'', Tai Carpentier and Clive Beaumont, Pasifika Press, 1995. (A useful learning Method with oral skills cassette) * ''Cook Islands Cook Book'' by Taiora Matenga-Smith. Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies. * ''Maori Lessons for the Cook Islands'', by Taira Rere. Wellington, Islands Educational Division, Department of Education, 1960. * ''Conversational Maori, Rarotongan Language'', by Taira Rere. Rarotonga, Government Printer. 1961. * ''Some Maori Lessons'', by Taira Rere. Rarotonga. Curriculum Production Unit, Department of Education. 1976. * ''More Maori Lessons'', by Taira Rere. Suva, University of the South Pacific.1976 * ''Maori Spelling: Notes for Teachers'', by Taira Rere. Rarotonga: Curriculum Production Unit, Education Department.1977. * ''Traditions and Some Words of the Language of Danger or Pukapuka Island''. Journal of the Polynesian Society 13:173-176.1904. * ''Collection of Articles on Rarotonga Language'', by Jasper Buse. London: University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies. 1963. * ''Manihikian Traditional Narratives: In English and Manihikian: Stories of the Cook Islands (Na fakahiti o Manihiki)''. Papatoetoe, New Zealand: Te Ropu Kahurangi.1988 * ''Te korero o Aitutaki, na te Are Korero o Aitutaki'', Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. 1992 * ''Atiu nui Maruarua : E au tua taito'', Vainerere Tangatapoto et al. University of South Pacific, Suva 1984. (in Maori and English) * ''Learning Rarotonga Maori'', by Makiuti Tongia, Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga 1999. * ''Te uri Reo Maori (translating in Maori)'', by Makiuti Tongia, Punanga o te reo. 1996. * ''Atiu, e enua e tona iti tangata'', te au tata tuatua Ngatupuna Kautai...(et al.), Suva, University of the South Pacific.1993. (Maori translation of ''Atiu : an island Community'') * ''A vocabulary of the Mangaian language'' by Christian, F. W. 1924. Bernice P. Bishop Bulletin 2. Honolulu, Bernice P.
Bishop Museum The Bernice Pauahi Bishop Museum, designated the Hawaii State Museum of Natural and Cultural History, is a museum of history and science in the historic Kalihi district of Honolulu, Hawaii, Honolulu on the Hawaiian island of Oʻahu. Founded in 1 ...
. * E au tuatua taito no Manihiki, Kauraka Kauraka, IPS, USP, Suva. 1987.


External links


Cook Islands Maori Database

Dictionary of Cook Islands Languages.

Te akataka reo Rarotonga; or, Rarotongan and English grammar by the Rev Aaron Buzacott of the London Missionary Society, Rarotonga. 1854. Old grammar in English and Rarotongan

"Tuatua mai!" Learn Cook Islands Maori

Te Reo Maori Act 2003

SBS Cook Islands Maori Radio Program.
Updated each week
Cook Islands Biodiversity : Natural History Māori Dictionaries

Cook Islands Maori Dictionary
Online version of Jasper Buse and Raututi Taringa Dictionary
Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development

Te Reo Māori Kūki Āirani i roto i te Kurakarāma o Aotearoa (Cook Islands Maori in the New Zealand Curriculum)


at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
Box of 324 index cards of plant and animal names
archived with Kaipuleohone * Paradisec ha
an open access collection of Cook Island Maori materials
* Materials on Cook Islands Maori are included in the open access rthur Capellcollection
AC1
held by Paradisec. {{DEFAULTSORT:Cook Islands Maori Languages of New Zealand Languages of the Cook Islands Tahitic languages