One of the scariest things as a new learner of te reo Māori is speaking the reo out loud. What if you make a mistake? What if everyone laughs at you? What if you accidentally offend someone? What if you can never show your face at a reo class or marae ever again?

The good news is that reo experts Hona Black and Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell have written Ngā Hapa Reo, a book about common reo Māori mistakes and how to correct them.  

Here, they talk to Siena Yates about why they’ve written a whole book on errors.

 

Kia ora kōrua. I have to ask: What prompted you to write a book on hapa reo? That feels like quite a big thing to do, given what sensitive ground making mistakes is for a lot of people on their reo journeys.

Hona: It was exactly that. A lot of people think of hapa, or errors, as one of the big taniwha of te reo Māori even though we all make mistakes all the time, even in English. But while we tend to laugh those off, making an error in te reo Māori is almost a cardinal sin to some people, and the fear stops people even trying a lot of the time.

So I think it’s important to normalise the idea that it’s all right to make mistakes and to open a discussion around that. But at the same time we want to correct the most common hapa so speakers can improve. Because you don’t know something’s an error until you know, right?

There are errors in the book that beginners make in reo class, and there are errors that fluent speakers make during whaikōrero on the paepae. Te Aorangi and I have spoken te reo Māori our whole lives, and a lot of these errors are errors that we’ve made ourselves.

Te Aorangi: Several of the hapa in the book are ones that I made during our master’s programme, such as putting a hāngū (passive) after the command “me”. It’s a basic rule that a passive verb can’t be part of a command, but I still got it wrong.

I think it’s important to remember that even advanced speakers make mistakes like that, because when you go back and fix it, everyone, including you, can see that it’s not that big a deal.

The other big taniwha of te reo, and probably any language, is grammar. Do you have any advice for people who see references to nouns, statives and particles and want to run a mile?

Hona: Honestly, I think that unless you’re setting out to be a translator or do something where the technical side of the reo forms a big part of your career, having a deep understanding of grammar and its components doesn’t really matter.

Te Aorangi: I agree. Especially because speaking or communicating well, and knowing why an error is an error, are two very different skill sets.

Often you hear the phrase: “Ko te reo kia tika, ko te reo kia rere, ko te reo kia Māori.” That’s the ultimate goal, to have all three at once: Reo that is right and grammatically correct, that is Māori, and that flows all the time.

But the reality is, for most people learning a language, that’s not going to happen anytime soon. That’s a long-term goal. There’ll be times in people’s lives when they focus more on one, and it makes sense to do that. I think we should stop punishing ourselves if we can’t get all three going together at the same time, especially not right away.

So when we’re talking about errors, I guess the ultimate message is: Learn from them and don’t disregard them — but know that there are other markers of language ability.

Hona: If you get too caught up on mistakes all the time, you get into analysis paralysis, where you focus so much on not messing up that it stunts your ability to speak.

I’m sure we’ve all experienced that, and it happens because you want to speak well. But how are you going to speak well if you never speak at all?

Āe, tika tāu. For me, grammar seemed much less intimidating because it has clear-cut, right and wrong answers. The bigger struggle for a lot of us seems to be figuring how to say something in a Māori way, instead of just a word-for-word translation of the English way. In the book, you’ve called that “Errors of influence”. Can you tell me more about that?

Hona: Yeah, interestingly, that kind of hapa was the impetus for this whole book.

It’s one of those things that I think all people struggle with, even people who’ve been speaking te reo Māori their whole lives. That’s because English is all around us all the time, so it’s always going to influence the way we want to speak. Even if you grow up going to kura kaupapa, chances are, some of your teachers are going to be second language learners, so that interference is always happening.

Hona: One of the examples in the book is when people say “Tō huri” for “Your turn”. But what we’re actually trying to say isn’t “Your turn”, but “You will do the mahi now”. So it becomes “Māu inaianei”. Another option could be “Ki a koe”, which is “Over to you”.

Te Aorangi: Errors of interference are ones that a lot of people may not see as errors, and some people will probably disagree with us on. But those are the things we need to figure out. We’ve put those ones in there to get us thinking about the types of words that we’re using and in which contexts.

We never wrote this book to say: “Hey, this is wrong, and this is right.” Because it’s not for the two of us to decide that — it’s for the Māori speaking population. We’re giving starting points for that kōrero.

Is there a point at which we stop calling something a hapa and just accept it as a new kind of slang or even kīwaha? I’m thinking specifically of phrases like “Ka kite” and “Aroha mai”.

Te Aorangi: It’s difficult because we don’t want to get complacent. It’s quite obvious that the reo is still not in a place where we have a mass population that’s speaking it, and we’re still fighting to keep it alive.

It’s doing a lot better than it was 50 years ago, absolutely. But at the same time, I don’t think we should get lax about being critical, or not focusing on accuracy, for the sake of modernity.

Hona: Exactly. I often hear people say that te reo Māori evolves much slower than other languages. In English, for example, we have so many idioms popping up out of nowhere, all the time, that it’s hard to keep up. I don’t even understand half the phrases that young kids use these days.

But the reason that doesn’t happen so much with te reo Māori isn’t because it’s an old language or because, by its nature, it evolves slowly. It’s simply because we don’t have enough people speaking it all the time. People aren’t speaking it enough to be able to be creative with it and come up with new phrases or cool little slang words.

There are definitely the beginnings of that happening, especially among our rangatahi. For example, I heard someone the other day talking about pizza. One of the words for pizza is parehe, right? But today’s generation tends to use the word “pīha”. So the question is, who wins that battle at the end of the day? We don’t know yet.

It’s not like we can convene a meeting and vote on which word we’re going to use, or which new idioms we’re going to choose. That’s not how languages evolve. They evolve within the communities that speak them. So if we really want to evolve, we need more speakers first.

Then, when the time does come for change, the key is that it’s internally motivated change — that Māori are the ones who get to decide what’s acceptable and what’s not. And I suppose that’s one of the reasons we wrote this book: to make people aware that we can and should be drawing lines in the sand in places where we think they should be.

Ka pai, ngā mihi ki a kōrua. Not only is this book a helpful resource but I think this kōrero will also be a helpful reminder that making mistakes isn’t a bad thing. It’s how we learn and improve, and how we encourage others to do the same.

Here’s a selection of common errors from the book, Ngā Hapa Reo:

Errors in the use of words

“Ōrite” vs “Kotahi”

Eg. “I haere māua ki te kura ōrite.”

The word ōrite (same) is used when comparing two things, such as people, food and so on. The word rerekē (different) is its opposite. However, sometimes people use ōrite when referring to the same place or the same time. If the phrase does not involve comparisons, the correct word to be used in those contexts is the word kotahi.

We went to the same school.

Incorrect: I haere māua ki te kura ōrite.

Correct: I haere māua ki te kura kotahi.

We returned at the same time.

Incorrect: I hoki atu māua i te wā ōrite.

Correct: I hoki atu māua i te wā kotahi.

Tame and Mere come from the same family.

Incorrect: Nō te whānau ōrite a Tame rāua ko Mere.

Correct: Nō te whānau kotahi a Tame rāua ko Mere.

“Moata” vs “Wawe”

Eg. “I moata taku hoki ki te moe.”

The word moata is currently used pervasively when speaking about someone doing something early. However, we think that this usage of the word is relatively new. The word moata is used for the morning and not for the afternoon or night. The more correct word to use in those contexts, when highlighting promptness and the early completion of a task, is wawe.

I went to bed early.

Incorrect: I moata taku hoki ki te moe.

Correct: I wawe taku hoki ki te moe.

You should get to the meeting early. 

Incorrect: Me tae moata atu koe ki te hui.

Correct: Me tae wawe atu koe ki te hui.

Why did you get here early?

Incorrect: He aha koe i tae moata mai ai?

Correct: He aha koe i tae wawe mai ai?

“Taea” vs “Āhei”

Eg. “Ka taea e au te haere ki te wharepaku?”

The word taea signals one’s ability and strength to complete a particular task. The word āhei, however, refers to one’s permission, one’s opportunity or access to something. There is a slight difference between the two. However, Māori today use the word taea more frequently than our predecessors. Our ancestors would not ask, ‘Ka taea e koe te kōrero Māori’, but would instead say, ‘He kōrero Māori koe?’

Can I go to the toilet?

Incorrect: Ka taea e au te haere ki te wharepaku?

Correct: Ka āhei au ki te haere ki te wharepaku?

Due to the rain, they were allowed to stay home.

Incorrect: Nā te ua i taea ai e rātou te noho ki te kāinga.

Correct: Nā te ua i āhei ai rātou ki te noho ki te kāinga.

Can you access the folder? 

Incorrect: E taea ana e koe te kōpaki te kuhu?

Correct: E āhei atu ana rānei koe ki te kōpaki?

Errors of influence

“Haere, mahi” vs “Hapa, kā”

Eg. “Kāore taku rorohiko i te haere.”

Over time, haere and mahi have become more common ways of stating that a digital device is “working”. This error has arisen as a result of English influence. There are many other ways to express this idea, some of which are shown below.

It’s not working.

Incorrect: Kāore i te mahi.

Correct: Kāore i te whai hua.

My computer isn’t working.

Incorrect: Kāore taku rorohiko i te haere.

Correct: Kua hapa taku rorohiko.

Is your phone working (turned on)?

Incorrect: Kei te mahi tō waea?

Correct: Kei te kā tō waea? 

“Kōrero ki runga” vs “Whāki, whakaatu”

Eg. “Ka kōrero au ki runga i a koe.”

This is another saying that is being heard more and more often, particularly from children in schools, meaning ‘I’m going to tell on you.’ There are many other ways to convey this idea in the Māori language, some of which are presented below.

I’m going to tell on you.

Incorrect: Ka kōrero au ki runga i a koe.

Correct: Ka whāki au i tō hara.

I told on your brother (of a female).

Incorrect: I kōrero au ki runga i tō tungāne.

Correct: I whakaaturia ngā mahi a tō tungāne.

Mere is telling on Tame.

Incorrect: Kei te kōrero a Mere ki runga i a Tame.

Correct: Kei te whāki a Mere i ngā mahi a Tame.

“Homai” vs “. . . mai”

Eg. “Homai te pakipaki.”

The meaning of homai is to give or to transfer something to the speaker, or to someone who is near the speaker. Supposedly, the thing that is being “given” or “transferred” is a physical possession. Therefore, it is incorrect for non-physical things to be the object of the word homai (or hoatu for that instance). Other avenues should be pursued to show this idea (as shown below).

Give a round of applause.

Incorrect: Homai te pakipaki.

Correct: Kia pakipaki mai.

Please, share your thoughts with the group.

Incorrect: Tēnā, homai ō whakaaro ki te rōpū.

Correct: Tēnā, tukuna mai ō whakaaro ki te rōpū.

Give me a high five!

Incorrect: Homai te rima!

Correct: Kia rima mai!

Errors of negation

“Ehara. . .he” vs “Ehara. . .i te”

Eg. “Ehara au he wahine.”

One of the first sentence types taught to learners of te reo Māori is the nominal phrase He … au (e.g. He wahine au — I am a woman). Its negation is not often taught with it and so Ehara…he is the common negation learners will use for this type of sentence (e.g. Ehara au he wahine). Instead, these types of phrases should be negated with Ehara…i te.

I am not a woman.

Incorrect: Ehara au he wahine.

Correct: Ehara au i te wahine.

Tame is not a promiscuous person.

Incorrect: Ehara a Tame he tou pūaha.

Correct: Ehara a Tame i te tou pūaha.

Mere is not the grandchild of Tahupōtiki.

Incorrect: Ehara a Mere he mokopuna a Tahupōtiki.

Correct: Ehara a Mere i te mokopuna a Tahupōtiki.

Other errors

“[Mahi] [āhua]” vs “[Āhua]. . .[mahi]”

Eg. “I haere tere mātou ki Tauranga.”

There are times when an adjective follows directly after a verb to describe the manner in which the verb was carried out. Additionally, there are adjectives that are regularly placed in front of a verb. The words āhua, āta, kaha, mātua, paku, pīki, tata and tere serve as some examples. While it’s not grammatically incorrect to use these adjectives after a verb in Māori, in most cases they should be placed in front.

We travelled fast to Tauranga.

Incorrect: I haere tere mātou ki Tauranga.

Correct: I tere tā mātou haere ki Tauranga.

They did a deep dive into the subject.

Incorrect: I ruku hōhonu rātou ki te kaupapa.

Correct: I hōhonu tā rātou ruku ki te kaupapa.

Why did he talk so slow?

Incorrect: He aha ia i kōrero pōturi ai?

Correct: He aha i pōturi ai tana kōrero?

 

Hona Black (Tūhoe, Te Whānau a Apanui, Ngāti Tūwharetoa) lectures on teaching for Māori medium schools at Massey University, Palmerston North. This is his third book about te reo Māori. Hona lives in Porirua with his partner and their son.  

Te Aorangi Murphy-Fell (Ngāti Kahungunu, Ngāi Tahu, Ngāti Apa) is a Māori language and education consultant for Haemata Limited. He has a keen interest in governance and holds several directorships. Te Aorangi lives in Whakatāne with his family.

E-Tangata, 2024