Pronunciation of "Maori"

[Ezstrete]

@SparrowHawk

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 is permissible in some cases (including the word Hawai’i) and not others. You like go Ewa?

Like I said"I get all pupule".

II’s been over 60 years since I was in the islands–but,for the correction,
Mahalo[sp?[

And may the humuhumunukunukuapuaa pleasure your eye.

OL’EZ

Them kanaka words b’long kanaka man alleesame

[Mbossa]

OK, in New Zealand, there seem to be two major ways to pronounce “Maori” - the “correct” way and the “common” way. My explanation of the pronunciation assumes a New Zealand accent (probably a false assumption, but it shouldn’t lead you too far astray).

The correct pronunciation uses an a as in “father”, o as in “fort”, and i as in “cheese”. Even the most formal speakers pronounce the ao as a diphthong - just practice saying each vowel separately and eventually let them slur into one vowel. Another important point that nobody has mentioned yet is the pronunciation of the r. This should sound like a cross between an English r and a d (maybe even with a bit of an l thrown in there). It’s quite hard to explain, but from what I’ve heard a lot of other languages have a similar r sound (including Japanese).

I have heard a lot of formal situations where “Maori” is pronounced similar to “mouldy” (said quite a bit faster than usual). However, I wouldn’t recommend walking up to a Maori person and saying “are you mouldy?”

The common way to pronounce “Maori” is “MOW-ree” (rhyming with cow-knee). In this case, you don’t need to worry about the r - just pronounce it like any other r.

Now you’re probably wondering when to use the “correct” pronunciation and when to use the “common” pronunciation. The answer is this: it probably doesn’t matter. There are some chauvanistic Maori who will not be happy if you pronounce it the “common” way. Similarly, there are some chauvanistic Pakeha (non-Maori) who will look at you funny if you pronounce it the “correct” way. I would not recommend mixing with either group anyway.

[jastu]

Every few years the PC pronunciation of Maori seems to change. At the moment, MAH REE is used by the media, a few years ago it was MOLE REE (rhyme with mouldy) before that MOW REE. I have no idea why the PC pronunciation keeps changing.

[Tinker_Grey]

Thank you, Mbossa.

[Tinker_Grey]

… and jastu!

[Fiver]

I hope, now that actual New Zealanders have weighed in against him, my friend is big enough to admit he was wrong.