Whakahuatanga – Pronounciation
Learning how to pronounce Māori words properly shows respect for the language and the people.
In this lesson we will review some of the basics of te reo pronunciation. We encourage you to give correct pronunciation a try.
Vowel sounds and consonant sounds
There are five vowels and ten consonant sounds in the Māori alphabet.
The five vowels: a, e, i, o, u
The Māori alphabet also uses two digraphs (two letters that make one sound), which are: ‘wh‘, and ‘ng‘.
Long and short vowels
A vowel can be long or short. A long sound is shown by a macron appearing over a vowel to indicate that it is lengthened during pronunciation.
| Vowel | Short | Long | |
| A | as in | about | far |
| E | as in | enter | bed |
| I | as in | eat | sheep |
| O | as in | awful | pork |
| U | as in | put | boot |
Consonants
The Māori language doesn’t have consonant clusters (a group or sequence of consonants that appear together in a syllable without a vowel between them).
Consonants are mainly pronounced as they are in English. The exceptions being:
T – varies depending on which vowel appears after it. When succeeded by an ‘a’, ‘e’, or ‘o’, it’s pronounced with little or no sibilant (s) sound.
R – commonly called a ‘rolled’ or ‘liquid’ r. If you’re able to imitate the purring sound of a cat, you’ll know exactly what’s required to pronounce the consonant correctly. Failing this, the sound you should aim for is something similar to an English ‘d’ but softer.
Digraphs
The ‘ng’ digraph (representing the combined sound of two consonants) is pronounced as it sounds in the English word ‘singer’.
The ‘wh’ digraph is close to the pronunciation of the English ‘f’ sound.