# Pronunciation of "Maori" **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [June 15, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488 "2004-06-15T15:59:54Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/1 "2004-06-15T15:59:54Z")
I’m having a little disagreement with a friend. He insists, falsely, that the name of the native New Zealanders is pronounced “May-or-ee” while I know the correct pronunciation is “MAH-OH-ree.” We’ve each found websites that support our belief, and both seem authoritative. So what’s the Straight Dope? ---
**Author:** ![lisacurl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/41988e/32.png) [@lisacurl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lisacurl)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/2 "2004-06-15T16:14:12Z")
It’s MOW-ree, approximately. That pronunciation is from people who are, in fact, Maori. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/3 "2004-06-15T16:18:01Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > I’m having a little disagreement with a friend. He insists, falsely, that the name of the native New Zealanders is pronounced “May-or-ee” while I know the correct pronunciation is “MAH-OH-ree.” OK, I previewed my draft message, and it did not work, because the a-macron character does not work. In the word “Maori”, the first vowel is a long vowel, which can either be written with a macron over it (which looks like a hyphen over a letter), or can be written as a double letter (“Maaori”). So it is pronounced in Maori much more like “ah” than like “ay” is in English. So Fiver is right (though I might add that I’m not a real expert on Maori). ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/4 "2004-06-15T16:24:40Z")
> [@Amanita](#): > > It’s MOW-ree, approximately. > > That pronunciation is from people who are, in fact, Maori. I do not doubt that the explanation comes from Maori people. The problem is that in English “ow” has at least two different pronunciations, i.e. the two diofferent ways that you can say “bow”. The kind of “bow” that you use with arrows rhymes with the usual pronunciation of “mow” in English, and it not the right “ow” here – here you need to “ow” in the “bow” that you make by bending your head towards the ground. That is a diphthong in English which starts with the “ah” sound (in spite of the spelling). ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/5 "2004-06-15T16:36:21Z")
This was an ongoing conversation between my wife and I when we spent two wonderful weeks in New Zealand. As others have said, probably the closest pronunciation representation is MOW-ree (where MOW is pronounced as the English NOW, or COW). However – as we listened _very_ closely to the native speakers, there is _almost_ a third syllable, making it come out close to MAH-oh-ree. The long “oh” is barely there though. It was like they said MOW-ree, but the first syllable is drawn out and at the very end of it they change the shape of their mouth to almost have an “oh” come out. Try it yourself and you might experience what I’m trying to describe. ---
**Author:** ![Ezstrete](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7ea924/32.png) [@Ezstrete](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ezstrete)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 4:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/6 "2004-06-15T16:53:30Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > I do not doubt that the explanation comes from Maori people. The problem is that in English “ow” has at least two different pronunciations, i.e. the two diofferent ways that you can say “bow”. The kind of “bow” that you use with arrows rhymes with the usual pronunciation of “mow” in English, and it not the right “ow” here – here you need to “ow” in the “bow” that you make by bending your head towards the ground. That is a diphthong in English which starts with the “ah” sound (in spite of the spelling). In the languages of the islands[micronesia,polynesia melanesia etc.] each vowel is pronounced separately as a syllable… Therefore Maori is properly pronounced Mah-oh-ri. Say it really fast and the ah and the oh run together and it becomes mowree. An example is the island of Oahu-which properly is iS “oh aH hu”---------and Hawaii itself is Hah wah EE EE. And the W is not pronounced as a V----------unless you’re a haoli trying to be a pseudo kanaka. That makes me go all “Pupuli” ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/7 "2004-06-15T18:11:20Z")
Well, the [Maori Language Commission](http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/) has the “a” in “Maori” as a “long a.” Maybe that means different things to different people. (Waiting for New Zealand to come online…) ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 6:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/8 "2004-06-15T18:28:12Z")
What’s the correct pronunciation of “the”? My guess is that if you 5 full-blooded Maoris from various different parts of New Zealand together, that they wouldn’t agree on what the correct pronuciation is. When I was in NZ, it sounded to me like people were pronouncing it “MAH-REE”, with no noticible emphasis on either syllable. ---
**Author:** ![Cardinal](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cardinal/32/4000_2.png) [@Cardinal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cardinal)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/9 "2004-06-15T19:07:41Z")
> [@Ezstrete](#): > > and Hawaii itself is Hah wah EE EE. I’ve been wondering for a long time why that was. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 7:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/10 "2004-06-15T19:19:00Z")
It sounds to me as if we are merely defining a diphthong. That is, OW is a sound composed of two vowel sounds – a diphthong. In any given dialect, I expect, those two back-to-back vowels would be pronounced anywhere from “OW” to “AH-OO” to “AH”. ---
**Author:** ![Fiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e274bd/32.png) [@Fiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiver)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 7:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/11 "2004-06-15T19:55:13Z")
> [@Tinker Grey](#): > > It sounds to me as if we are merely defining a diphthong. That is, OW is a sound composed of two vowel sounds – a diphthong. > > In any given dialect, I expect, those two back-to-back vowels would be pronounced anywhere from “OW” to “AH-OO” to “AH”. But in every case the “a” is moreof an “ah” sound than anything else, right? Whereas my friend claimed it was pronounced as in “May” or “ray.” Which is clearly contraindicated. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/12 "2004-06-15T21:43:40Z")
I would tend to agree, **Fiver**. I had hoped to post a link that would back me up on the formation of OW. I googled “ow diphthong”. The first hit suggested that OW was composed of the sound of ‘a’ as in _cat_ and the ‘oo’ as in _zoo_. The other hits (on the first page) were more oriented to teaching school and didn’t bother to specify the vowel sounds involved. I was too lazy to wade through the rest. My ear agrees with you, but I think we may need a language maven in here. Tinker ---
**Author:** ![Algernon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/a183cd/32.png) [@Algernon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Algernon)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/13 "2004-06-15T21:45:54Z")
> [@Tinker Grey](#): > > My ear agrees with you, but I think we may need a language maven in here. What we need is for the Kiwis to wake up and get their butts in here! 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Excalibre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/898d66/32.png) [@Excalibre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Excalibre)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/14 "2004-06-15T21:54:29Z")
> [@Fiver](#): > > But in every case the “a” is moreof an “ah” sound than anything else, right? Whereas my friend claimed it was pronounced as in “May” or “ray.” Which is clearly contraindicated. Well, I wouldn’t say your friend is wrong per se. Don’t get me wrong, you’re definitely more right than him. But I think around here, may-OH-ree is the most common pronunciation. Oh, and Tinker Grey, if they’re in the same syllable it’s a diphthong, but if it’s supposed to be pronounced as three syllables, it’s not. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/15 "2004-06-15T21:59:56Z")
> [@Algernon](#): > > What we need is for the Kiwis to wake up and get their butts in here! > 😃 You betcha! 😃 I just found [a better link](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SAMPA_chart_for_English) explaining diphthongs. It’s from wikipedia and sounds rather authoritative. Apparently there is something called SAMPA which is **S** peech **A** ssessment **M** ethods **P** honetic **A** lphabet. The chart to which I linked confirms that at least someone else thinks that OW is composed of _a_ as in f **a** ther and _u_ as in p **u** t. But as to whether that has anything to do with the word “maori” is still an open question. Tinker ---
**Author:** ![Spoke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@Spoke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spoke)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/16 "2004-06-15T22:07:07Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Oh, and Tinker Grey, if they’re in the same syllable it’s a diphthong, but if it’s supposed to be pronounced as three syllables, it’s not. And according to [this site](http://www.campusprogram.com/reference/en/wikipedia/m/ma/maori_language.html) it has three syllables: > [@](#): > > Maori =\> ma o ri Of course, it’s an oral language, so I imagine the rules are a bit murky. And I’m sure the syllables often get slurred together in speech. ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/17 "2004-06-15T22:08:27Z")
> [@Excalibre](#): > > Oh, and Tinker Grey, if they’re in the same syllable it’s a diphthong, but if it’s supposed to be pronounced as three syllables, it’s not. Well perhaps. But noone is contesting the third syllable of the word. It seems everyone is content with “ree”. So we are left with potentially two syllables in the first part of the word only, namely “mao”. So the question is, is that portion of the word so articulated as to be two syllables or is it so slurred as to be a diphthong? I’ve heard may-oh-ree, Mah-oh-ree, and mow-ree. I prefer the latter. But, of course, my preference is hardly an indication of correctness, if such a question is even decidable (language being such a fluid thing). 🙂 Tinker ---
**Author:** ![Tinker\_Grey](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tinker_grey/32/8136_2.png) [@Tinker\_Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tinker_Grey)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/18 "2004-06-15T22:18:22Z")
**spoke-**'s site also give a pronunciation guide which suggests the following ma - a as in father o - as in fort ri - i as in bit I’ve gleaned the above from their discussion of the correct spelling of Maori (the a should have a macron), and from the table of vowel sounds for the northern iwi tribe. They do say ‘Adjacent vowels are run together as a diphthong. For example, “kai” (food) rhymes with “high”.’ Unfortunately, their example isn’t of the adjacent vowels “a” and “o”. Tinker ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/19 "2004-06-15T22:24:48Z")
> [@spoke-](#): > > Well, the [Maori Language Commission](http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/) has the “a” in “Maori” as a “long a.” Maybe that means different things to different people. > > (Waiting for New Zealand to come online…) I suspect the long “a” refers not to the English long a, but rather a protracted “ah” sound. In some European languages, they write there is an “a” and an “aa”– the former being short, the latter long. In other languages, you just have to know the difference. For example, those of you familiar with German will recognize the “a” in “Jahr” as long, and the “a” in “Land” as short. The long “a” sounds nothing like the English long “a.” Instead, it resembles the “a” in “father.” Linguistically, what you’ve learned in grammar school as being a long-a sound in English is actually a diphthong. Nobody outside the English speaking world would refer to this sound as a long-a. Once again, linguistically speaking, the “a” in “father” and “cart” are examples of the proper long vowel. I have no reason to believe the Maori would employ a diphthong in the pronunciation of their own name. It makes no sense. So far as I know, only English speakers make the “AY” sound for “a.” ---
**Author:** ![SparrowHawk](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ac8455/32.png) [@SparrowHawk](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SparrowHawk)\ **Post date:** [June 15, 2004, 10:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488/20 "2004-06-15T22:52:09Z")
> [@Ezstrete](#): > > In the languages of the islands[micronesia,polynesia melanesia etc.] each vowel is pronounced separately as a syllable… > > Therefore Maori is properly pronounced Mah-oh-ri. > > Say it really fast and the ah and the oh run together and it becomes mowree. > > An example is the island of Oahu-which properly is iS “oh aH hu”---------and Hawaii itself is Hah wah EE EE. > > And the W is not pronounced as a V----------unless you’re a haoli trying to be a pseudo kanaka. > > That makes me go all “Pupuli” I think you mean pupule (with the final vowel pronounced “eh” not “ee”). You are correct about pronouncing each vowel and how they do glide together, sounding like a diphthong to English speakers’ ears - unless there is an 'okina - that thing like an upside down apostrophe. So Hawai’i wouldn’t be pronounced with equal accent on both the “i” syllables, just with emphasis on the last one - Ha/wa/ee ’ EE. Also, my understanding is that [prounouncing W as V](http://www.geocities.com/~olelo/o-pronunciation.html) is permissible in some cases (including the word Hawai’i) and not others. You like go Ewa? [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/pronunciation-of-maori/250488.md?page=2)