Māori

Also known as: Maori

Māori (te reo Māori) is an Eastern Polynesian language, the indigenous language of New Zealand (Aotearoa), with ~186K speakers (2018 census; ~50K daily fluent users + larger learner population). Co-official with English and New Zealand Sign Language under the 1987 Te Reo Māori Act, recognised as a treasure (taonga) protected by the 1840 Treaty of Waitangi. Linguistically Māori is closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tahitian, and Hawaiian within the Eastern Polynesian branch — Polynesian voyagers reached New Zealand around 1250-1300 CE from East Polynesia. Latin orthography developed by missionaries from 1814, refined by the 1820 Williams primer; uses 5 vowels (a/e/i/o/u with macron-marked long forms ā/ē/ī/ō/ū) and 10 consonants. Verb-initial VSO order. Major revitalization since 1980s through kōhanga reo (language nest preschools, est. 1982), kura kaupapa Māori schools, Māori Television (2004), and the Māori Language Commission (Te Taura Whiri).