Te reo Maori

It's Maori language week! We discovered this when the morning weather report came on tv on Monday. Suddenly we didn't recognize any of the cities on the map.

They're all in Maori! Apparently, many New Zealand cities have Maori names. Our city, Christchurch, is called Otautahi in Maori. On the map above, only Hokitika has retained its native name.

Here are a few more useful Maori phrases for you. See if you can incorporate one into a conversation today:

He wai ārani māku.
I would like an orange juice.

Kei ēnā tikanga hoki.
Hey, you're a bit dodgy.

Tō hātakēhi hoki.
You are hard case.

Me āta inu koe.
Go easy on the drinking.

E āta inu ana au.
I'm just taking it easy (i.e. drinking).

Ka rawe te kōrero Māori.
Gee speaking Maori is good fun.

Ka rawe.
Choice, awesome.

Ka mau te wehi!
Awesome!

We don't actually speak any Maori. These all came from the web (you can get more here). It's kind of funny (but then again, kind of not) that a high proportion of the phrases offered on the website have to do with drinking. Drinking seems to be a big part of Maori culture.