100 words in te reo Māori

These words are grouped according to the following functions and associations:

We have included individual sound files of spoken versions of all these words – just click on the word and it will be spoken! (See also pronunciation notes and te reo for email.) New: 365 more useful Māori words and phrases

Hear the late Tairongo Amoamo read the complete list: click on arrow to play or download as mp3 (493kb)

The marae

Concepts

Aroha compassion, tenderness, sustaining love

Ihi power, authority, essential force

Mana authority, power; secondary meaning: reputation, influence

Manaakitanga respect for hosts or kindness to guests, to entertain, to look after

Mauri hidden essential life force or a symbol of this

Noa safe from tapu (see below), non-sacred, not tabooed

Raupatu confiscate, take by force

Rohe boundary, a territory (either geographical or spiritual) of an iwi or hapū

Taihoa to delay, to wait, to hold off to allow maturation of plans, etc.

Tapu sacred, not to be touched, to be avoided because sacred, taboo

Tiaki to care for, look after, guard (kaitiaki: guardian, trustee)

Taonga treasured possession or cultural item, anything precious

Tino rangatiratanga the highest possible independent chiefly authority, paramount authority, sometimes used for sovereignty

Tūrangawaewae a place to stand, a place to belong to, a seat or location of identity

Wehi to be held in awe

Whakapapa genealogy, to recite genealogy, to establish kin connections

Whenua land, homeland, country (also afterbirth, placenta)

People and their groups

Ariki male or female of high inherited rank from senior line of descent

Hapū clan, tribe, independent section of a people (modern usage – sub-tribe); pregnant

Iwi people, nation (modern usage – tribe); bones

Kaumātua elder or elders, senior people in a kin group

Ngāi Tātou a term for everyone present – ‘we all’

Pākehā this word is not an insult; its derivation is obscure; it is the Māori word for people living in New Zealand of British/European origin; originally it would not have included, for example, Dalmatians, Italians, Greeks, Indians, Chinese

Rangatira person of chiefly rank, boss, owner

Tama son, young man, youth

Tamāhine daughter

Tamaiti one child

Tamariki children

Tāne man/men, husband(s)

Teina/taina junior relative, younger brother of a brother, younger sister of a sister

Tipuna/tupuna ancestor

Tuahine sister of a man

Tuakana senior relative, older brother of a brother, older sister of a sister

Tungāne brother of a sister

Wahine woman, wife (wāhine: women, wives)

Waka canoe, canoe group (all the iwi and hapū descended from the crew of a founding waka)

Whāngai fostered or adopted child, young person

Whānau extended or non-nuclear family; to be born

Whanaunga kin, relatives

Components of place names

Terms for geographical features, such as hills, rivers, cliffs, streams, mountains, the coast; and adjectives describing them, such as small, big, little and long, are found in many place names. Here is a list so you can recognise them:

Au current

Awa river

Iti small, little

Kai in a place name, this signifies a place where a particular food source was plentiful, e.g., Kaikōura, the place where crayfish (kōura) abounded and were eaten

Manga stream

Mānia plain

Maunga mountain

Moana sea, or large inland ‘sea’, e.g., Taupō

Motu island

Nui large, big

Ō or o means ‘of’ (so does a, ā); many names begin with Ō, meaning the place of so-and-so, e.g., Ōkahukura, Ōkiwi, Ōhau

One sand, earth

Pae ridge, range

Papa flat

Poto short

Puke hill

Roa long

Roto lake; inside

Tai coast, tide

Wai water

Whanga harbour, bay

Greetings

Body parts

Arero tongue

Ihu nose

Kakī neck

Kauae chin (also kauwae)

Kōpū womb

Māhunga (also makawe) hair (always plural, indicated by ngā [the, plural]); also head

Manawa heart

Niho teeth

Pohochest (also uma)

Puku belly, stomach

Raho testicles

Ringa hand, arm

Tenetene (also tara) vagina

Toto blood

Tou anus

Turi knee (also pona)

Tūtae excrement, ordure

ū breast (breast-milk is wai-ū)

Upoko head

Ure penis

Waewae foot/feet, leg/legs

See also: 365 useful Māori words and phrases



A note on pronunciation

The following English equivalents are a rough guide to pronouncing vowels in Māori:

a as in far

as in far



e as in desk and the first ‘e’ in where; it should be short and sharp

as in desk and the first ‘e’ in where; it should be short and sharp



i as in fee, me, see

as in fee, me, see



o as in awe (not ‘oh!’)

as in awe (not ‘oh!’)



u as in sue, boot

There are fewer consonants, and only a few are different from English:

r should not be rolled. It is pronounced quite close to the sound of ‘l’ in English, with the tongue near the front of the mouth.

should not be rolled. It is pronounced quite close to the sound of ‘l’ in English, with the tongue near the front of the mouth.



t is pronounced more like ‘d’ than ‘t’, with the tip of the tongue slightly further back from the teeth

is pronounced more like ‘d’ than ‘t’, with the tip of the tongue slightly further back from the teeth



wh counts as a consonant; the standard modern pronunciation is close to the ‘f’ sound. In some districts it is more like an ‘h’; in others more like a ‘w’ without the ‘h’; in others again more like the old aspirated English pronunciation of ‘wh’ (‘huence’ for whence)

counts as a consonant; the standard modern pronunciation is close to the ‘f’ sound. In some districts it is more like an ‘h’; in others more like a ‘w’ without the ‘h’; in others again more like the old aspirated English pronunciation of ‘wh’ (‘huence’ for whence)



ng counts as a consonant and is pronounced like the ‘ng’ in ‘singer’. It is not pronounced like the ‘ng’ in ‘finger’, i.e., Whāngārei is pronounced Far-n(g)ah-ray (not Fong-gah-ray); Tauranga is pronounced Tow- (to rhyme with sew) rah-n(g)ah (not Tow-rang-gah).

The macron – a little line above some vowels – indicates vowel length. Some words spelled the same have different meanings according to their vowel length. For example, anā means ‘here is’ or ‘behold’: Anā te tangata! (Here is the man!) Ana, with no macron, means a cave. Some writers of modern Māori double the vowel instead of using macrons when indicating a long vowel; the first example would be Anaa te tangata!

Using te reo in email (and snail mail)

This is a guide to appropriate email greetings and sign-offs in te reo Māori.

We encourage you to add other phrases you have received – or any questions you have – as community contributions below this post; or email us at [email protected]

Generic greetings suitable for most occasions

Formal for one person (where in English you might use ‘Dear’): Tēnā koe





Informal: Kia ora

When addressing two people

Formal: Tēnā kōrua





Informal: Kia ora kōrua

When addressing more than two people

Formal: Tēnā koutou





Informal: Kia ora koutou

Generic sign-offs suitable for most occasions

Formal:

Nāku (noa), nā [your name] = yours sincerely [your name] from one person





Nā māua (noa), nā [your names] = yours sincerely [your names] - from two people





Nā mātou (noa), nā [your names or group name] = yours sincerely [your names or group name] - from more than two people

Adding ‘noa’ in the above examples adds a sense of humility - e.g. ‘Nāku, nā’ is ‘From [your name]’, whereas ‘Nāku noa, nā’ is more like ‘It’s just [your name]’

Informal:

Hei konā mai (or just Hei konā)

Other greetings and sign-offs

Please provide more examples from emails you have received as community contributions at the bottom of this page; or email us at [email protected]

In the morning, an informal greeting could be: Mōrena (good morning - an alternative is ‘Ata mārie’ )





Kia ora e hoa (informal greeting to a friend)





If someone greets you with: Tēnā koutou e hoa mā

An appropriate response would be: Tēnā koe, e hoa (or, less formally, Kia ora e hoa).

An appropriate response would be: Tēnā koe, e hoa (or, less formally, Kia ora e hoa).



The sign off: Noho ora mai rā, nā … is: Look after yourself, from …

For Christmas: