Different languages
The Maori
The Maori was brought to New Zealand by Polynesians who presumably lived in the area of Tahiti, which probably arrived in double canoes.
In the past 200 years Maori language has had a very dynamic history, from the dominant language in New Zealand until 1860, when he became a minority language in the shadow of the English language brought by white settlers, missionaries, gold miners and merchants.
Until the Second World War, however, most still speak the Maori language Maori. The worship was in Maori as well as political meetings, and some newspapers and literature were published in Maori.
Even in 1930, some Maori MPs were prejudiced because bills were written in English. During this period, the number of Maori speakers began to decline rapidly, even before the 1980 less than 20% of Maori people spoke well enough to be considered native speakers. Even for many of those people, the Maori language was not used in their homes.
Around the year 1980, Maori leaders began to recognize the dangers of the loss of their language and began to initiate recovery programs Maori language as the movement Kohanga Reo (Language Nest), which immerses children in the Maori from the pre-school age. This was followed by the founding of the Kura Kaupapa Maori, a program of Maori language education in primary education, and ending with "Wharekura" in secondary education. A feature of this type of educational institutions is that only Maori is the language accepted, speaking English is frowned upon.
The Maori language belongs to the Austronesian language family. A member of the branch Tahita of Polynesian languages, is more closely related to Tahitian, spoken in Tahiti and the Society Islands, and the Rarotongan, spoken in the southern Cook Islands.
Maori is spoken almost exclusively in New Zealand for a little over 100,000 people, almost all of Maori descent. Estimates of the number of speakers vary: the 1996 census reported 160,000, while other estimates have reported a number below 50,000. The other country with a significant number of Maori speakers are Cook Islands, which were part of New Zealand, but became independent in 1965, but are still closely linked with New Zealand.
Maori is one of the two official languages of New Zealand, the other is English. Most government departments and agencies now have bilingual names, for example, the Department of Internal Affairs is known as Te Tari Taiwhenua, and bodies such as local government offices and public libraries also have bilingual signs. The New Zealand Post acknowledges Maori place names in postal addresses.
July 26 to August 1, 2004 is officially celebrated Maori Language Week.
The 1894 edition of Grammar of the language of New Zealand (by the Archdeacon of Auckland, R. Maunsell, LL.D.), described seven distinct dialects only for North Island - Rarawa, Ngapuhi, Waikato, Bay of Plenty, Cape East Port Nicholson-Wanganui, and Wanganui-Mokau - but mentioned some variations within some of those
By 2004, many of the minor dialects have probably declined almost to extinction, and newer students and speakers used by official standards, Maori Television.
There is no native writing system for the Maori. The missionaries made their first attempts to write the language using the Roman alphabet in 1814, and Professor Samuel Lee of Cambridge University worked with chief Hongi Hika and Waikato close relative, to systematize the written language in 1820.
Literacy was an exciting new concept that the Maori embraced with enthusiasm. The missionaries reported in 1820, that Maori throughout the country taught each other to read and write, sometimes using innovative materials such as leaves and charcoal, wood carving, and the cured skins of animals, if not paper was available.
There was speculation that the petroglyphs, once used by Maori, evolved into a form similar to Rongorongo Easter Island, but there is no evidence that these petroglyphs ever evolve into a true writing system.
The Maori have a very similar phonology and phonetics in Spanish and Rapa Nui language, but very different from English
The Guinness Book recognizes Taumatawhakatangihangakōauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupokaiwhenuakitanatahu hill in New Zealand with 85 points, as the name of the world's longest place name.