Cook Islands Māori
Language · official in 1 country
Te Reo Ipukarea, the language of the ancestral homeland, is what many Cook Islanders call Cook Islands Māori, an Eastern Polynesian language also known as Rarotongan. It is close to New Zealand Māori without being the same. The Te Reo Maori Act 2003 made it official alongside English, and it holds that status in 1 territory on record.
The language on record
- Own name
- Te Reo Maori
- ISO 639-3
- RAR
- Script
- Latin
- Family
- Eastern Polynesian
- Official in
- 1 country
Where Cook Islands Maori is official
One record, the Cook Islands, a self-governing territory where Māori has shared official status with English since the Te Reo Maori Act 2003.
Official beside Cook Islands Maori
About Cook Islands Maori
When Māori joined English as official
English was already official in the Cook Islands when the Te Reo Maori Act 2003 defined Cook Islands Māori as an official language as well. Within the islands it is simply called Māori; elsewhere it goes by Māori Kūki ʻĀirani or Rarotongan.
Is the macron written or left out
The macron, called makarona, and the glottal stop mark, amata, are recommended, but most speakers leave them out in everyday writing. The Revised New Testament in Cook Islands Māori uses a standard spelling that includes both.
Why possession takes an a or an o
Like Tahitian, Hawaiian and Samoan, the language sorts possession into an a class and an o class. The a class covers what the owner chose or controls: food, tools, a spouse, children, animals other than horses. The o class covers what the owner did not choose: parents, feelings, clothes, buildings, transport, horses included. So tāku vaʻine is my wife, while tōku ʻare is my house. Sentences put the predicate first, and case is shown by the particle that opens a noun phrase.
Common questions
Questions about Cook Islands Maori
Can a speaker of New Zealand Māori understand Cook Islands Māori?
The two are closely related but distinct languages.
Why do the words for my wife and my house begin differently?
Tāku belongs to the a class of possession, used for a spouse, and tōku to the o class, used for a house. The class depends on whether the owner controls the relationship.
What is Rarotongan?
Another name for Cook Islands Māori, taken from Rarotonga.