Language māori (New Zealand)

Official statute

Maori is since 1987 and the " Maori Language Act" , one of the three official languages of New Zealand with the English and the Language of the signs. The majority of the administrative texts, decrees and other laws are bilingual today. Same manner, the ministries, administrations and government organizations have double designations. Thus, the ministry for the Interior (Department off Internal Affairs) is also called " Te Dried up Taiwhenua". Another example, the New Zealand Post office recognizes from now on the postal addresses comprising a name maori. In March 2004, was created a Television with the programs exclusively in language maori.

However, on the side of the highway network, one tries contrary to limiting the use of the bilingual Signalisation, under pretext of guarantee a better legibility of the road panels. Indication thus remains monolingual English in the majority of the cases. It is bilingual only around the major points of cultural interest.

Dialectal alternatives

There exist several dialectal alternatives of the maori. The work of the archbishop Anglican of Auckland, R. Maunsell, entitled “ Grammar off the New Zealand Languages ” (1894) distinguished thus only for the island from North seven alternatives: Rarawa , Nga Puhi , Waikato , Bay off Plenty , Port-Nicholas-Wanganui and Wanganui Mokau ). The current standard maori for historical reasons is primarily inspired by the alternative of the Waikato (area of Rotorua).

Always it is that there is nowadays immediate mutual comprehension between all the dialects maoris, the variations relating primarily to differences in pronunciation.

Three tribes of North ( Nga Puhi , Your Aupouri and Te Rarawa ) pronounce // ( wh ) like one.
the tribes of Wanganui ( Whanganui ) and of the Taranaki (west coast of the island of North) pronounce // ( wh ) like one and carry out // ( H ) by the occlusive glottale ( `).
the tribes of Tuhoe and Bay off Plenty (east coast) pronounce velar // ( ng ) like one.
the southernmost tribes of the island of the South also have their own dialectal alternative called the kai tahu . Among the differences, velar // ( ng ) decides; // ( rangi , sky) will decide thus.

Some examples drawn from the article of the wikipedia maori

Phonology

The maori is composed of 15 phonemes (20 if one takes into account the vocalic lengthening of the 5 vowels):

10 consonants: written H , K , m , N , p , R , T , W , and two digraphs wh (fricative deaf person) and ng (nasal velar). Two of them, the W and the H have different phonetic achievements according to the dialects, but these phonetic differences are recognized like phonologiquement equivalent. In the same way the R is normally rolled but can also be beaten (as in French).

5 vowels: written has , E , I , O , U . Each perhaps short or lengthened vowel; vocalic lengthening is noted in the C-W communication recommended by a Macron called pōtae , literally “hat”: ā , ē , ī , ō , ū . it is however current to find them also noted by doubling of the vowel in many texts whose coding does not support the transcription of the macron.

It is necessary to note in table above that phonetics indicated does not take account of the diphthongs (of which most current are I.E.(internal excitation) , with the , or ), changes consonnantales (of which mp which becomes easily, or nk which becomes easily) or vocalic (of which the nasalisation of the vowels), of the also current changes in other languages (whose English) and whose phonetic realization also varies according to the dialectal alternatives.

Grammar

The linguists who they are European or autochtones a long time analyzed the maori and the whole of the languages of the Pacific through the prism of traditional descriptions of our European languages. They theirs imposed a certain number of frameworks préconstruits, grids of reflection, inspired of the metalanguage and Indo-European grammatical classifications. Regarding these traditional descriptions as a form of glottocentrism, linguistic research that it has been French-speaking or anglophone tent for a few years to leave this yoke with it is necessary to acknowledge it more or less happiness. The question arises particularly with regard to grammatical categorization. The well-known categories that are the verb, the name, the adjective… have in these languages of the borders much more permeable. Certain lexemes can thus be used as noun, adjective, verb according to the marker who accompanies it. In the same way, the frequent use of sentences described like not-verbal, make say to certain linguists who these languages are languages without verbo-nominal opposition. Concerning Maori of New Zealand, Bruce Biggs, a New Zealand linguist recently deceased thus tried to define alternative grammatical categories, without to completely call into question the postulate of the verbo-nominal opposition. The question is also to know if this approach is applicable in the first time to the whole of the other Polynesian languages, then austronésiennes.

This one thus distinguishes what it names particles bases (lexical words) (grammatical words)

Bases

These bases are subdivided in several categories which it names names, universals (undoubtedly transcatégoriels should be included/understood), stands, locatives, personnel.

Particles

These particles are subdivided in their turn in several categories which it names verbal (we will speak in French rather about aspectual markers), pronouns, rental, possessive, final particles.