Table of Contents
How many dialects are in New Zealand?
The most widely spoken language in New Zealand is English, but it is far from the only language spoken there. Te reo Māori, Samoan, Mandarin and Hindi all have sizeable speaker numbers. In fact, there are seven languages spoken in New Zealand (in addition to English) that have speaker populations of 50,000 or more.
Is Māori a Polynesian language?
The New Zealand Maori language is part of the Polynesian sub-family of languages which form a very closely related group spoken for the most part within the Polynesian triangle. Thus Maori speech is a dialect of the language spoken throughout Polynesia and hence conveniently called the Polynesian language.
Is Māori an isolated language?
Introduction to Maori It was isolated from the rest of Polynesian languages for about 500 years and some dialects developed in different regions of NZ as a result of isolated populations. During this time, Maori had no written form of communication, but they used other methods included carving, knots, or weaving.
How many Māori speakers are there in NZ?
As of 2015, 55\% of Māori adults reported some knowledge of the language; of these, 64\% use Māori at home and around 50,000 people can speak the language “very well” or “well”….Māori language.
| Māori | |
|---|---|
| Māori, Te reo Māori | |
| Native to | New Zealand |
| Region | Polynesia |
| Ethnicity | Māori people |
How many Māori are there in NZ?
New Zealand’s estimated Māori ethnic population was 850,500 (or 16.7 percent of national population). There were 423,700 Māori males and 426,800 Māori females.
Why did te reo Maori decline?
Why did Te Reo Māori decline? Many early English settlers spoke Te Reo to communicate and trade with Māori. Over time, the language declined. The colonists didn’t believe in the sacredness or purpose of Te Reo.
When did Maoris not speak te reo?
Māori was made an official language of New Zealand under the Maori Language Act 1987. There are now many institutions, most set up since the 1980s, working to recover te reo. Even so, the decline of the Māori language has only just been arrested.
Is Maori an official NZ language?
Māori was made an official language of New Zealand under the Maori Language Act 1987.
What percentage of Māori can speak te reo?
46 Overall, 50,000 adults (11 percent) could speak te reo Māori very well or well, 12 percent could speak fairly well, and 32 percent could talk about simple/basic things in te reo. The remaining 45 percent could speak no more than a few words or phrases.