Cook Islands Māori

Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is an official language of the Cook Islands. It 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 ʻĀirani (or Maori Kuki Airani), or as Rarotongan. Many Cook Islanders also call it Te Reo Ipukarea, which translates as 'the language of the ancestral homeland'.

Dialects

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

Demographics

Official status

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

The Te Reo Maori Act states that Māori:

means the Māori language (including its various dialects) as spoken or written in any island of the Cook Islands; andIs deemed to include Pukapukan as spoken or written in Pukapuka; andIncludes Māori that conforms to the national standard for Māori approved by Kopapa Reo.

Phonology

Writing system

There is a debate about the standardisation of the writing system. Although usage of the macron (־) makarona and the glottal stop (ʻ) amata is recommended, most speakers do not use them in everyday writing. The Cook Islands Māori Revised New Testament uses a standardised orthography that includes the ʻokina and macron.[citation needed]

Grammar

Cook Islands Māori is an isolating language 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

1. you -2 or more- and I
2. they and I

Tense–Aspect–Mood markers

Most of the preceding examples were taken from , by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moekaʻa, 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 vaʻine : 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; Tāʻau; Tāna; Tā tāua; Tā māua…. : my, mine; your, yours; his, her, hers, our ours…

Ko tāku vaʻine tēia : This is my wife;

Ko tāna tāne tērā : That's her husband;

Tā kotou ʻapinga : your possession(s);

Tā Tare ʻapinga : 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 ʻare o Tere : The house belonging to Tere;

ō Tere pare : Tere's hat;

Kāre ō Tina noʻo anga e noʻo ei : Tina hasn't got anywhere to sit;

Tōku; Tōʻou; Tōna; Tō tāua; Tō māua…: my, mine; your, yours; his, her, hers; our, ours …

Ko tōku ʻare tēia : This is my house;

I tōku manako, ka tika tāna : In my opinion, he'll be right;

Tēia tōku, tērā tōʻou : This is mine here, that's yours over there

Vocabulary

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

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Cook Islands Māori (Rarotongan):

Kua anau rangatira ia te tangata katoatoa ma te aiteite i te au tikaanga e te tu ngateitei tiratiratu. Kua ki ia ratou e te mero kimi ravenga e te akavangakau e kia akono tetai i tetai, i roto i te vaerua piri anga taeake.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Notes

Sources

• , an online project created to build a collection of Cook Islands Maori words based on existing print dictionaries and other sources
• , by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa, edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moekaʻa, Auckland, 1995.
• A dictionary of the Maori Language of Rarotonga, Manuscript by Stephen Savage, Suva: IPS, USP in association with the 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 taʻito, Vainerere Tangatapoto et al. University of South Pacific, Suva 1984. (in Maori and English)
• Learning Rarotonga Maori, by Makiʻuti Tongia, Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga 1999.
• Te uri Reo Maori (translating in Maori), by Makiʻuti 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.
• E au tuatua taʻito no Manihiki, Kauraka Kauraka, IPS, USP, Suva. 1987.

External links

• 2017-11-26 at the Wayback Machine Updated each week
• 2011-03-25 at the Wayback Machine
• 2006-11-07 at the Wayback Machine
• 2007-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
• at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
• archived with Kaipuleohone
• Paradisec has
• Materials on Cook Islands Maori are included in the open access [Arthur Capell] collection () held by Paradisec.