Te Ara Pū / Alphabet

We are learning: the sounds of Te Reo Māori. This will help us pronounce Māori words correctly.

There are 15 distinct sounds within the Māori alphabet. They are:

five vowels: a, e, i, o, u

eight consonants: h, k, m, n, p, r, t, w

two digraphs (two letters that combine to form one sound): wh, ng

Vowels

There are 5 vowels in Māori – a, e, i, o and u. Each vowel can be pronounced short or long. We use a macron (a bar appearing over a vowel to indicate it is lengthened during pronunciation) to indicate a long vowel - ā, ē, ī, ō, ū.

Combinations of vowels (diphthongs) are common , examples of dipthongs are; au, ao, ea, ia, ou, oa.

a, (short vowel) papa (earth)

ā, (long vowel) pāpā (father)

e, (short vowel) kete (kit)

ē, (long vowel) pēke (bag )

i, (short vowel) mihi (greeting)

ī, (long vowel) tītī (mutton bird)

o, (short vowel) oma (run)

ō, (long vowel) tō (your)

u, (short vowel) huruhuru (hair)

ū, (long vowel) tūrū (chair)

Consonants

There are 10 consonant sounds in Te Reo Māori.

h, harakeke (flax)

k, karu (eye)

m, mā (white)

n, namu (sandfly)

p, parāoa (bread)

r, rangi (sky, day)

t, tama (boy)

w, waka (canoe, means of transport)

Consonents – Digraphs

There are 2 digraph (two letters that combine to form one sound) in Te Reo Māori.

ng, ngahuru (autumn)

wh, whānau (family)