| Also Known As: Maori language,New Zealand Maori
Description:
Māori or te reo Māori, also commonly shortened to te reo (literally "the language"), functions as one of the official languages of New Zealand. Linguists classify it within the Eastern Polynesian languages as closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan and Tahitian; somewhat less closely to Hawaiian and Marquesan; and more distantly to the languages of Western Polynesia, including Samoan, Tokelauan, Niuean and Tongan.
New Zealand has three official languages — Māori, English and New Zealand Sign Language. Māori gained this status with the passing of the Māori Language Act in 1987. Most government departments and agencies now have bilingual names, for example, the Department of Internal Affairs also uses the name Te Tari Taiwhenua, and some places such as local-government offices and public libraries display bilingual signs and use bilingual stationery. New Zealand Post recognises Māori place-names in postal addresses. Citizens may conduct their dealings with government agencies in Māori, but in practice this almost always requires interpreters, restricting its everyday use to the limited geographical areas of high Māori fluency, and to more formal occasions, such as during..... full article at Wikipedia |