Pronunciation of Maori Letters

There are 5 vowel sounds in Māori:

Māori Vowels:	Sounds like the underlined part of the English word
A	Are
E	There
I	Three
O	Or
U	Two

Vowels can be pronounced short or long.

In written form the long vowel is usually marked with a macron

e.g. ā (long a sound)

Consonant	Pronunciation
R	Is pronounced with a slight roll of the tongue. The tongue lightly touches the roof of the mouth once near the front.
WH	Is generally pronounced like an F (the top front teeth and bottom lip barely touch).
NG	The sound is similar to the middle ng in singing.
T	Somewhere between the sound of D and T in English pronunciation.

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Last Updated: 23 November 2009