Bhuel d’fhoghlaim mé seo: is rud deacair é aon ceachtanna faoi te reo Māori (an teanga Māori) a fháil ar an tIdirlíon! Ach tháinig mé ar an suíomh Gréasáin seo, Kōrero Māori. Níl ceachtanna acu, ach tá comhráite idirghníomhacha ar físeáin ann agus tá cúpla focal agus frásaí acu. Ach is é an rud is fearr liom an léarscáil seo. Tá na h-áiteanna atá ag Nua-Shéalainn/Aotearoa aige i Māori chomh maith le i mBéarla, agus is féidir leat na focail Māori a éist! Tá sé an-suimiúil!
Agus anois, tar éis go bhfuil an suíomh Gréasáin seo léamh agam, d’fhoghlaim mé cúpla focal as Māori! Tá siad anseo:
Kia ora - Haigh
Tēnā koe - Dia dhuit
Tēnā kōrua - Dia dhuibh (beirt duine)
Tēnā koutou - Dia dhuibh (tríur nó níos mó duine)
Kei te pēhea koe? - Cén chaoi a bhfuil tú?
Kei te pai ahau - Tá mé go maith
Ka nui te ora - Tá mé go hiontach
Haere rā - Slán! (leis duine atá ag imeacht)
E noho rā - Slán! (leis duine atá ag fanacht)
Is é an brí le na macróin go bhfuil an guta fada, cosúil leis an Ghaeilge! Agus den chuid is mó, tá na consain cosúil le Béarla, seachas: “r” (is tap é, cosúil le “r” Iodálach), “ng” (is /ŋ/ é, cosúil le “singer”, agus in ionad “finger”), agus “wh” (is /ɸ/ é, beagnach cosúil le “f” i mBéarla, ach míchúramach!). OK - gabh mo leithscéal faoin gcaint theangeolaíocht, stopfaidh mé nuair atá mé ar aghaidh! Slán slán!
-Morgan
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So I learned this: it’s really hard to find any te reo Māori (=Māori language) lessons online! But I did find this website: Kōrero Māori. They don’t have lessons but they do have “interactive conversations” on video and some words and phrases. But my favourite part is this map. It’s got the place names of Aotearoa/New Zealand in Māori as well as in English, and you can hear the Māori names spoken if you click on ‘em! It’s really cool!
And now, after having read that website, I’ve got some words in Māori! Here’s what I’ve got so far:
Kia ora - Hi
Tēnā koe - Hello
Tēnā kōrua - Hello (to two people)
Tēnā koutou - Hello (to three or more people)
Kei te pēhea koe? - How are yea?
Kei te pai ahau - I’m good
Ka nui te ora - I’m great
Haere rā - Goodbye (said to someone going)
E noho rā - Goodbye (said to someone staying)
The macrons (the long lines over letters) over a vowel means that it’s long, just like Irish and its fada’s! And for the most part the consonants sound like they do in English, except for “r” (it’s a tap, like Italian “r”), “ng” (it’s /ŋ/, like in “singer” but not like in “finger”), and “wh” (which is /ɸ/, sort of like a lazy English “f”, or like blowing out candles!) OK - sorry about the linguist-talk, I’ll quit while I’m ahead! Cheers!!
-Morgan
