English Loanwords in Maori

Maori is the indigenous language of New Zealand. It is a Polynesian language which has borrowed many words from English. However, Maori has few consonants. The result is that many English loanwords look quite different in Maori. 

In Maori long vowels are written with a bar over the vowel. All syllables end with a vowel. Here is a list of ten words to illustrate:

hararei (holiday)

hipi (sheep)

hupa (soup)

kāreti (carrot)

keke (cake)

kirīmi (cream)

miraka (milk)

paraihe (brush)

pēpi (baby)

tēpu (table)

witi (wheat)

From the list, it is clear that sh in English corresponds to h in Maori, l corresponds to r and b to p. The consonant clusters in brush and cream are not consonant clusters in Maori. Many Maori loanwords appear quite different from their English words.