Maori: A Linguistic IntroductionCambridge University Press, 2007 M04 12 Mäori, the indigenous language of New Zealand, is an endangered, minority language, with an important role in the culture and identity of the Mäori community. This comprehensive overview looks at all aspects of the Mäori language: its history, its dialects, its sounds and grammar, its current status and the efforts being made by the Mäori community and the state to ensure its survival. Central chapters provide an overall sketch of the structure of Mäori while highlighting those aspects which have been the subject of detailed linguistic analysis - particularly phonology (sound structure) and morphology (word structure). Though addressed primarily to those with some knowledge of linguistics, this book describes a language with a wealth of interesting features. It will interest anyone wishing to study the structure of a minority language, in fields as diverse as typology, sociolinguistics and linguistic anthropology, as well as all those interested in endangered languages and their preservation. |
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a-marking Actor Emphatic adjectives agent allomorphs base Bauer Benton Biggs chapter complement consonant constructions Cook Islands Det.Pl determiner dialects diphthongs discussion Eastern Polynesian Eastern Polynesian languages English especially examples further grammar haere Harlow head Hōne innovations instance intransitive Kōhanga Reo Lacy lexical locative long vowels M¯aori Māori language marae marked matua meaning middle verbs modern Māori modify Mōriori morpheme neuter verbs ngā Ngāti Ngāti Porou nominal phrases nominalisations nouns object occur particles passive suffix pattern phonemes phonological plural PN languages Polynesian languages position possessive possessor predicate phrase prefix pronouns pronunciation rātou reduplication referred reflexes relative clauses Rewi sentence sequences short vowels song South Island speakers speech stress subgroups syllable Table Tahitian tangata te Reo Māori tense/aspect marker Tongan transitive verbs Tūhoe types variation vocabulary wahine waiata waka whaka whare words Zealand