Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to, but distinct from, New Zealand Māori. Cook Islands Māori is called just Māori when there is no need to distinguish it from New Zealand Māori. It is also known as Māori Kūki ʻĀirani (or Maori Kuki Airani), or as Rarotongan[3] Many Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, which translates as "the language of the ancestral homeland".
Official status
English is the official language of the Cook Islands.[4] Cook Islands Māori became an official language of the Cook Islands in 2003 as defined by the Te Reo Maori Act 2003.[5]
Te Reo Maori Act definition
The Te Reo Maori Act 2003 states that Māori:
means the Māori language (including its various dialects) as spoken or written in any island of the Cook Islands; and
Is deemed to include Pukapukan as spoken or written in Pukapuka; and
Includes Māori that conforms to the national standard for Māori approved by Kopapa Reo.
Writing system and pronunciation
There is a debate about the standardisation of the writing system. Although usage of the macron (־) makarona and the glottal stop (ʻ) amata is recommended, most speakers do not use them in everyday writing. The Cook Islands Māori Revised New Testament uses a standardised orthography that includes the ʻokina and macron.[citation needed]
Cook Islands Māori is an isolating language with very little morphology. Case is marked by the particle that initiates a noun phrase, and like most East Polynesian languages, Cook Islands Māori has nominative-accusative case marking.
The unmarked constituent order is predicate initial: that is, verb initial in verbal sentences and nominal-predicate initial in non-verbal sentences.
(unaccomplished asp.)/ go / I / (prep. goal/destination) / the / learn / tomorrow
Ka ʻārote au inanaʻi, nō te ua rā, kua ʻakakore au
I was going to do the ploughing yesterday, but gave it up because of the rain.
(unaccomplished asp.) / plough / I / yesterday / because (origin) / the / rain / day /(perfect asp.) / give up (litt. "do nothing") /I
koe
Kua kino iā koe tō mātou mōtokā
You damaged our car.
(perfect asp.) / bad / by / you /(possession)/we (exclusive) /car
Ko koe ʻoki, te tangata tā te ʻakavā e kimi nei
You are the person the police are looking for.
(subject marker) / you / also / the / man / (possession) / the / police / (progressive asp. with "nei") /look for/here and now.
aia
ʻEaʻa ʻaia i ʻaere mai ei
Why did he/she come?
why (ʻeaʻa... ei) / he or she / (accomplished asp) / go / towards me /
Kāre ʻaia i konei
He/she is not here.
(negation asp.) / he or she / (marking position) / here
Dual pronoun examples
Pronoun
Cook Islands Maori
English
Word-to-word and gloss
Tāua
ʻaere tāua !
Let us go!
go / we two (inclusive)
Ko tō tāua taeake tērā ake
Here come our friends.
(subject marker) / (possession) / we two (inclusive) / friend or relative of the same generation (brother, sister, cousin either sex) speaking, but not in laws./ that (deictic)/ a little time (or distance)away
(unaccomplished asp.)/ return / we two (exclusive) / with / Taria/ (prep. goal)/ the / home
To tāua taeake tērā ake
Here come our friends.
(subject marker) / possession / we two (exclusive) / friend / that (deictic)/ a little time (or distance away)
Kōrua : you two
ʻāe ! kua rongo kōrua i te nūti!
Hey! Have you heard the news?
hey (interj) / (perfect asp.) / hear / you two / (object marker) / the / news /
Na kōrua teia puka
This book belongs to you two.
(Possession) / you two / this (deictic) / book
Rāua : they, them (the two of them)
Tuatua muna tēia, ka akakite ʻua atu au kia rāua
This is a confidential matter, I shall only tell it to those two.
speak, speech / secret / this / (unaccomplished asp.) / reveal (make known) / only / away (from the speaker)/ I / (prep. ki+a)towards (someone)/ they two
No ʻea mai rāua ?
Where have the two of them been? / What have they been doing?
from / (time and space interr.) / (indicating progression of time towards present) / they two
Plural pronoun examples
Pronoun
Cook Islands Maori
English
Word-to-word and gloss
Tātou : We, us (you -2 or more- and I)
Koʻai tā tātou e tiaki nei
Who are we waiting for?
Who (subject marker+identity interr.) / (possession) / we, all of us (inclusive) / (progressive asp.) / wait for / here and now
Kāre ā tātou kai toe
We have no more food.
(Negation asp.) / (possession) / we, all of us (inclusive) / eat, food / remain, remaining, the rest
Mātou : we, us (they and I)
Ko mātou ma Tere mā i ʻaere mai ei
We came with Tere and the others.
(subject marker)/ we (exclusive) / with, and / Tere / (part used only after persons meaning those in company with / (accomplisshed asp.) / go / (movement towards speaker) / (emphasis marks)
Kua kite mai koe ia mātou
You saw us.
(perfect asp.) / see(towards speaker) / you / at someone (i+a) / we (exclusive)
Kōtou : (all of you)
E ʻaere atu kōtou, ka āru atu au
You go on, and I'll follow.
(imperative asp.)/ go / (away from the speaker) / you all / (unaccomplished asp.) / follow / go / (away from the speaker) / I
(Subject marker) / you all / who (identity interr.) / in company with / (accomplished asp.) / go / (emphasis) / (goal/destination) / the / fishing
Rātou : they, them (more than two)
Kua pekapeka rātou ko Tere
They and Tere have quarrelled.
(perfect asp.)/ trouble / they all / (subject marker)/ Tere
Nō rātou te pupu māroʻiroʻi
They have the strongest team.
(Possession) / they all / the / team (litt. group of people) / strong
Tense-Aspect-Mood markers
Marker
Aspect
Examples
Tē... nei
present continuous
Tē manako nei au i te ʻoki ki te ʻare : I am thinking of going back to the house Tē kata nei rātou : They are laughing Kāre au e tanu nei i te pia : I'm not planting any arrowroot
Kia
Mildly imperative or exhortatory, expressing a desire, a wish rather than a strong command.
Kia vave mai! : be quick ! (don't be long!) Kia viviki mai! : be quick (don't dawdle!) Kia manuia! : good luck! Kia rave ana koe i tēnā ʻangaʻanga : would you do that job Kia tae mai ki te angaʻanga ā te pōpongi Mōnitē : come to work on Monday morning Teia te tātāpaka, kia kai koe : Here's the breadfruit pudding, eat up
e
Imperative, order
e ʻeke koe ki raro : you get down e tū ki kō : stand over there
Auraka
interdiction, don't
Auraka rava koe e ʻāmiri i tēia niuniu ora, ka ʻutiʻutiʻia koe : don't on any account touch this live wire, you'll get a shock
kāre
indicate the negation, not, nothing, nowhere
Kāre nō te ua : It will not rain Kāre a Tī tuatua : Tī doesn't have anything to say
e... ana
habitual action or state
E ʻaere ana koe ki te ʻura : Do you go to the dance? E noʻo ana aia ki Nikao i tē reira tuātau : he used to live in Nikao at that time
Ka
Refers prospectively to the commencement of an action or state. Often translatable as the English future tense or "going to" construction
Ka imene a Mere ākonei ite pō : Mary is going to sing later on tonight Kua kite au ē ka riri a Tere : I know (or knew) that Tere will (or would) be angry
Kua
translatable as the English simple past or present tense (with adjectives)
Kua kite mai koe ia mātou : You saw us Kua meitaki koe ? : Are you better now? Kua oti te tārekareka : the match is over now
Most of the preceding examples were taken from Cook Islands Maori Dictionary, by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moekaʻa, Auckland, 1995.
Possessives
Like most other Polynesian languages (Tahitian, New Zealand Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan ...), Cook Islands Māori has two categories of possessives, "a" and "o".
Generally, the "a" category is used when the possessor has or had control over the initiation of the possessive relationship. Usually this means that the possessor is superior or dominant to what is owned, or that the possession is considered as alienable. The "o" category is used when the possessor has or had no control over the initiation of the relationship. This usually means that the possessor is subordinate or inferior to what is owned, or that the possession is considered to be inalienable.
The following list indicates the types of things in the different categories:
^Sally Akevai Nicholas (2018). "Language Contexts: Te Reo Māori o te Pae Tonga o te Kuki Airani also known as Southern Cook Islands Māori". In Peter K. Austin; Lauren Gawne (eds.). Language Documentation and Description(PDF). Vol. 15. London: EL Publishing. pp. 36–37. Retrieved 27 January 2021. This practice conflicts with that of community members, who use the name Rarotongan to specifically refer to the variety spoken in Rarotonga. Non-Rarotongan Cook Islands Māori speakers can be offended by this conflation... Therefore, the name "Rarotongan" should be only be used to refer to the Rarotongan variety and never to Cook Islands Māori as a whole.
Cook Islands Maori Database Project, An online project created to build a collection of Cook Islands Maori Words based on existing print dictionaries and other sources.
A dictionary of the Maori Language of Rarotonga, Manuscript by Stephen Savage, Suva : IPS, USP in association with the Ministry of Education of the Cook Islands, 1983.
Kai Korero : Cook Islands Maori Language Coursebook, Tai Carpentier and Clive Beaumont, Pasifika Press, 1995. (A useful learning Method with oral skills cassette)
Cook Islands Cook Book by Taiora Matenga-Smith. Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies.
Maori Lessons for the Cook Islands, by Taira Rere. Wellington, Islands Educational Division, Department of Education, 1960.
Conversational Maori, Rarotongan Language, by Taira Rere. Rarotonga, Government Printer. 1961.
Some Maori Lessons, by Taira Rere. Rarotonga. Curriculum Production Unit, Department of Education. 1976.
Manihikian Traditional Narratives: In English and Manihikian: Stories of the Cook Islands (Na fakahiti o Manihiki). Papatoetoe, New Zealand: Te Ropu Kahurangi.1988
Te korero o Aitutaki, na te Are Korero o Aitutaki, Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga, Cook Islands. 1992
Atiu nui Maruarua : E au tua taʻito, Vainerere Tangatapoto et al. University of South Pacific, Suva 1984. (in Maori and English)
Learning Rarotonga Maori, by Makiʻuti Tongia, Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga 1999.
Te uri Reo Maori (translating in Maori), by Makiʻuti Tongia, Punanga o te reo. 1996.
Atiu, e enua e tona iti tangata, te au tata tuatua Ngatupuna Kautai...(et al.), Suva, University of the South Pacific.1993. (Maori translation of Atiu : an island Community)
A vocabulary of the Mangaian language by Christian, F. W. 1924. Bernice P. Bishop Bulletin 2. Honolulu, Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
E au tuatua taʻito no Manihiki, Kauraka Kauraka, IPS, USP, Suva. 1987.
