Māori lecturers say mispronunciation of te reo remains a significant issue in New Zealand

Continued mainstream mispronunciation of te reo Māori in New Zealand  has left Māori feeling that their culture is being discredited.

While this shouldn't discourage people learning, it's important to realise that the constant mispronunciation of Māori words and place names strips them of their meaning and significance, says AUT Te Ara Poutama Senior Lecturer Sandy Hata (Te Tāwera/Ngāti Tionga).

“When we mispronounce the names of places, we dishonour  the histories — the histories that come with that name. We dishonour the people that place belongs to, but we also dishonour the people that belong to that place.”

Hata feels that the pronunciation is not only fundamental to the actual language, but also a way for New Zealanders to acknowledge their unique culture.

She added that Māori place names are not just names but also a part of their indigenous identity.

Hata says that as a Kaiako (teacher) at AUT, it is her job to help students acknowledge the importance of New  Zealand’s native language and understand why correct pronunciation is so significant.

“I  journey with lots of people on their own journeys of learning te reo Māori, so whether they're  learning it as a language for themselves, to actually understand their place, and acknowledge their place, as part of who we are as New Zealanders.

“We're actually talking about, that sense of belonging and what that looks like for us.”

University of Auckland Senior Lecturer and Māori linguist Peter Keegan (Waikato-Maniapoto, Ngāti Porou) says that there are a multitude of reasons why te reo Māori is still mispronounced.

“Obviously  for many, it is an ignorance factor,” he said.

“But what we tend to do is we adjust our speech to accommodate the environment that we are in. And again, you adjust your vocab and adjust your topics and people don’t realise it, but you also adjust your speech, you don’t  want to sound out different to them.”

One AUT student says that the environment in which she was brought up has affected how she pronounces certain te reo Māori words.

"I always try to make myself say Taupō correctly. But I used to holiday there as a kid, and that's just what my family would say, and I've just gotten into the habit of saying it like that."

However, Hata and Keegan both agree that the fear of mispronouncing te reo Māori shouldn’t discourage people from wanting to learn and practice the language.

“Practice makes perfect. If you learn a language as an adult, it is very, very difficult to pronounce things as perfectly as a native speaker, but you can get up to a very, very good standard,” says Keegan.

Hata added:  “Even if it is as basic as one conversation at a time. It is part of creating the awareness and the importance of pronunciation.”

Listen: Peter Keegan reveals a reason why the mispronunciation of Te Reo Māori occurs and shares a solution to help combat this.