One incredible human has created a quick-fire tutorial on how to nail the pronunciation of the Māori language.
Posting to TikTok, @marshmallow_maori helped out an eager overseas learner who was keen to ace the word 'Māori'.
He begins by talking about how the language is structured using phonetics, before kicking into the vowels and explaining how each sounds to the ear.
A (ah), E (eh), I (ee), O (aw), U (oo)
“When a tohutō/macron is added on top of a vowel, it just elongates the sound,” he said.
Ā, Ē, Ī, Ō, Ū
Explaining the trickiest part to hack, he adds: “On top of that we use diphthongs, which melds two vowels together to create its own unique sound.”
Because the Ā includes the tohutō/macron it becomes the dominant sound of the diphthong.
“On top of that, we don’t have soft Rs, we have rolled Rs or hard Rs," he adds explaining Māori is said to use a rolled R - vibrating the tip of the tongue at the top of the mouth.
Many have poured in messages of aroha and tautoko for the incredibly easy-to-follow lesson, with one user writing: “One of the clearest explanations for the way it’s pronounced on this app.”
“👏 Ah! Finally! This breakdown got me over my last hurdle of my pronunciation,” celebrated another.
While a third said: “I love your enthusiasm for helping people.”
Know a mate who’s been asking for a little help or could do with practice? Send this lesson their way.
