Pronunciation
Wh is pronounced f
Word Order
In the Maori language, adjectives follow nouns, the same as in French (moulin rouge, red mill), Italian and Spanish (casa mia is my house).
Double Words
Rotorua → roto "lake" + rua "two" = "two lakes"
Common Words
Te is the, singular. Think of it as the word the shortened with the letter h missing.
Maori - English
iti - small (think of bitty and little, itty-bitty)
kia ora - hello, thanks,
kiri - bell, bark (of a tree), skin
komiti - committee
maunga - mountain
miti - meat
motu - island
motuka - motorcar
nau - come / ship
Nau mai / (and or) haere mai - welcome / welcome to (seen on signposts as you enter a region or city)
Nui - big (think of e-normous)
panana - banana
pea - pear
pune - spoon
Rotorua (place name) - literally lake two = two lakes
two
te - the (as in Kiri Te Kanawa the opera singer, New Zealand soprano, sang at British royal wedding) te reo - the language i.e. Maori
Te Arai - The River (the name of a wine from chenin blanc grape, made by Millton Vineyard 7 Winery, Gisborne, North Island, New Zealand
Tereina - train
wai - water (in landscape), drinking water
Wahine - woman/ wife / ladies (toilet)
Waiheke - water cascading /trickling /ebbing
Wai hirere - waterfall
Waitangi - weeping waters (waters weeping) place of Waitangi treaty
whanga - harbour, bay
English - Maori
big - nui
hello - how are you - kia ora
island - motu
lake - in the lake
small - iti
the - te (singular)
two - two
http://www.nzhistory.net.nz/culture/maori-language-week/100-maori-words
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Māori_words_and_phrases
http://www.maoridictionary.co.nz/
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