NCEA L1 Cook Islands Māori cheat sheet
NCEA L1 Cook Islands Māori · Keep the key ideas within reach.
Cook Islands Māori - Reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani: Language, Culture and Text Conventions
Cook Islands Māori (Reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani) is a Polynesian language of the Eastern Polynesian branch, closely related to Tahitian, Tuamotuan and New Zealand Māori; it is an official language of the Cook Islands alongside English.
The alphabet uses 13 letters: a, e, f, i, k, m, n, ng, o, p, r, t, u, v - plus the glottal stop ('), which is a consonant (kātoa), not punctuation.
Five vowels each have a short and a long form; macrons (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) mark length. Vowel length and the glottal stop distinguish meaning, e.g. marama (moon/light) vs mārama (understand, clear).
Dialect variation is examinable: Rarotonga/Aitutaki (Aitutaki retains 'k' where Rarotonga has 'ng' in some words), Ngāpūtoru (Atiu, Mauke, Mitiaro), Mangaia, and the northern group (Manihiki/Rakahanga, Penrhyn, Pukapuka - Pukapuka's language is a distinct Western Polynesian outlier).
Standard written convention: macrons and glottal stops are used in careful/formal writing; in everyday print they are often omitted, so exam answers should be judged on meaning and grammar, not solely on macron use.
Key text conventions: whakapapa/genealogy, 'akatara (storytelling), pe'e (chants), 'īvī (songs) and tuatua ('orero/speech) - formal speeches follow a pattern of greeting the land, ancestors, and the living in that order.
Cultural concepts commonly tested: 'ākono'anga (custom/tradition), peu Māori (customs), 'aronga (meaning/purpose), mana, tapu, 'akatapu (to make sacred), and the value of 'aka'ā'ā (respect) toward elders (metua).
Exam skill focus at Level 1: understanding short spoken and written texts, using context to infer meaning of unfamiliar words, and responding in Cook Islands Māori using correct pronouns, tense markers and word order.