Cook Islands Māori

Cook Islands Māori
Māori, Maori Kuki Airani, Māori Kūki ʻĀirani
Native toCook Islands, New Zealand
RegionPolynesia
Native speakers
13,620 in Cook Islands, 96% of ethnic population (2011 census)
7,725 in New Zealand, 12% of ethnic population (2013)
Early forms
Standard forms
  • Standard Cook Islands Māori
DialectsRarotonga
Aitutaki
Mangaia
Ngāputoru
Manihiki
Tongareva
Official status
Official language in
 Cook Islands
Regulated byTe Kopapa Reo Maori (Maori Language Commission)
Language codes
ISO 639-2rar
ISO 639-3Variously:
rar – Rarotonga
pnh – Tongareva (Penrhyn)
rkh – Rakahanga-Manihiki
Glottolograro1241  Southern Cook Island Maori
penr1237  Māngarongaro
raka1237  Rakahanga-Manihiki
ELPSouthern Cook Islands Maori
IETFrar-CK
mi-CK
Cook Islands Māori is classified as Vulnerable by the UNESCO Atlas of the World's Languages in Danger
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Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is an official language of the Cook Islands. It 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. Many Cook Islanders also call it Te Reo Ipukarea, which translates as 'the language of the ancestral homeland'.

Dialects

Although most words of the various dialects of Cook Islands Māori are identical, there are some differences.

RarotongaAitutakiMangaiaNgāputoruManihikiTongarevaEnglish
tuatuaʻautaratarataraaraaravanangaakaitispeak, speech
ʻānauʻānauʻānaufanauhanauBirth, offspring (c.f. Kopu tangata for family)
kūmarakūʻarakūʻarakūmarakūmarakumalasweet potato
kārekāʻore, ʻāʻoreeʻi, ʻāoreʻāita, kārekaua, kārekoreno, not
tātākirititātātātātātātatawrite
ʻurakoniʻuraʻingo, oriori, ʻurahupahupakosakidance
ʻakaipoipoʻakaipoipoʻāʻāipoipoʻakaipoipofakaipoiposelengawedding
ʻīkokekoroiorakikitūngāngāhikokemokisithin
ʻareʻareʻareʻarefareharehouse
maʻataʻatupakangaonui, nunui, ranuinuikore rekapoliabig
matū, petengenengeneporiporiporimenemenesuesuefat

Demographics

Place Cook Islands Māori-speaking population
Cook Islands 13,620
New Zealand 7,725
New South Wales 1,612
Queensland 1,609
Victoria 1,468
Western Australia 308
South Australia 63
Australian Capital Territory 28
Northern Territory 21
Tasmania 10

Official status

English is an official language of the Cook Islands, and Cook Islands Māori became an official language also in 2003, as defined by the Te Reo Maori Act 2003.

The Te Reo Maori Act states that Māori:

  1. means the Māori language (including its various dialects) as spoken or written in any island of the Cook Islands; and
  2. Is deemed to include Pukapukan as spoken or written in Pukapuka; and
  3. Includes Māori that conforms to the national standard for Māori approved by Kopapa Reo.

Phonology

Consonants
Labial Alveolar Velar Glottal
Nasal m n ŋ
Plosive p t k ʔ ⟨ʻ⟩
Tap ɾ
Fricative f v s h
  1. ↑ Present only in Manihiki
  2. ↑ Present only in Penrhyn
  3. ↑ Present only in Manihiki and Penrhyn
Vowel inventory
Front Central Back
shortlong shortlong shortlong
High iiː ⟨ī⟩ uuː ⟨ū⟩
Mid eeː ⟨ē⟩ ooː ⟨ō⟩
Low aaː ⟨ā⟩

Writing system

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]

Grammar

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.

Personal pronouns

Person Singular Dual Plural
1st inclusive autāuatātou1
1st exclusive māuamātou2
2nd koekōruakōtou
3rd aiarāuarātou
  1. you -2 or more- and I
  2. they and I

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:

Te puaka a tērā vaʻine : the pig belonging to that woman;
ā Tere tamariki : Tere's children;
Kāre ā Tupe mā ika inapō : Tupe and the rest didn't get any fish last night
Tāku; Tāʻau; Tāna; Tā tāua; Tā māua…. : my, mine; your, yours; his, her, hers, our ours…
Ko tāku vaʻine tēia : This is my wife;
Ko tāna tāne tērā : That's her husband;
Tā kotou ʻapinga : your possession(s);
Tā Tare ʻapinga : Tērā possession(s);
Te ʻare o Tere : The house belonging to Tere;
ō Tere pare : Tere's hat;
Kāre ō Tina noʻo anga e noʻo ei : Tina hasn't got anywhere to sit;
Tōku; Tōʻou; Tōna; Tō tāua; Tō māua…: my, mine; your, yours; his, her, hers; our, ours …
Ko tōku ʻare tēia : This is my house;
I tōku manako, ka tika tāna : In my opinion, he'll be right;
Tēia tōku, tērā tōʻou : This is mine here, that's yours over there

Vocabulary

Sample text

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in Cook Islands Māori (Rarotongan):

Kua anau rangatira ia te tangata katoatoa ma te aiteite i te au tikaanga e te tu ngateitei tiratiratu. Kua ki ia ratou e te mero kimi ravenga e te akavangakau e kia akono tetai i tetai, i roto i te vaerua piri anga taeake.

Article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights in English:

All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.

Notes

  1. ↑ Rarotonga at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Tongareva (Penrhyn) at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
    Rakahanga-Manihiki at Ethnologue (18th ed., 2015) (subscription required)
  2. ↑ "2013 Census ethnic group profiles". Retrieved 8 December 2017.
  3. ↑ Nicholas, Sally Akevai (2018). "Language Contexts: Te Reo Māori o te Pae Tonga o te Kuki Airani also known as Southern Cook Islands Māori". Language Documentation and Description. 15. London: EL Publishing: 36–37. Retrieved 5 August 2025. 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.
  4. ↑ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  5. ↑ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  6. ↑ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  7. 1 2 "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  8. ↑ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  9. ↑ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  10. ↑ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile". profile.id.com.au.
  11. ↑ "Te Reo Maori Act 2003". Retrieved 2025-07-30 – via Pacific Islands Legal Information Institute.
  12. ↑ Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Immigration, Cook Islands. "AKAKITEANGA KI TE KATOATOA I TE AU TIKAANGA TANGATA" (PDF). Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (in Rarotongan). Retrieved 13 March 2026.

Sources