Aotearoa

For the country it refers to, see New Zealand. For other uses, see Aotearoa (disambiguation).

External audio
audio icon Pronunciation at Kōrero Māori, the Māori Language Commission website

Aotearoa (Māori: [aɔˈtɛaɾɔa])[1] is the Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference only to the North Island, with the whole country being referred to as Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu – where Te Ika-a-Māui means North Island, and Te Waipounamu means South Island.[2] In the pre-European era, Māori did not have a collective name for the two islands.[3]

Several meanings for Aotearoa have been proposed; the most popular translation usually given is "land of the long white cloud",[4] or variations thereof. This refers to the cloud formations which helped early Polynesian navigators find the country.[5]

Beginning in the late 20th century, Aotearoa has become widespread in the bilingual naming of national organisations and institutions. Since the 1990s, it has been customary for particular parties to sing the New Zealand national anthem, "God Defend New Zealand" (or "Aotearoa"), in both Māori and English,[6] which further exposed the name to a wider audience.

New Zealand English speakers pronounce the word with various degrees of approximation to the original Māori pronunciation, from /ˌɑːəteɪəˈrɔːə/ [ˌɐːɘtæeɘˈɹoːɘ] at one end of the spectrum (nativist) to /ˌeɪətiːəˈroʊə/ [ˌæeɘtiːɘˈɹɐʉɘ] at the other.[1] Pronunciations documented in dictionaries of English include /ˌeɪəteɪəˈroʊə/,[7] /aʊˌteɪəˈroʊə/,[8] and /ˌɑːoʊtiːəˈroʊə/.[9]

  1. ^ a b Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul (2004). "New Zealand English: phonology". In Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology. Berlin: Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 580–602. doi:10.1515/9783110197181-038. ISBN 978-3-11-017532-5. S2CID 242118647.
  2. ^ "Ngāi Tahu leader: Let's not rush name change". RNZ. 2 October 2021. Archived from the original on 12 November 2021. Retrieved 13 November 2021.
  3. ^ King, Michael (13 October 2003). The Penguin History of New Zealand. Penguin Random House New Zealand. p. 23. ISBN 9781742288260. OCLC 1100850063. Archived from the original on 29 August 2022. Retrieved 17 April 2022. In fact in the pre-European era, Maori had no name for the country as a whole. Polynesian ancestors came from motu or islands and it was to islands that they gave names.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference McLintock was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Morrison, Stacey; Morrison, Scotty (15 November 2021). "Why Referring to New Zealand as Aotearoa Is a Meaningful Step for Travelers". Condé Nast Traveler. Retrieved 29 June 2023.
  6. ^ "God Defend New Zealand/Aotearoa | Ministry for Culture and Heritage". mch.govt.nz. Ministry for Culture and Heritage. Archived from the original on 7 May 2017. Retrieved 29 April 2017.
  7. ^ "Aotearoa". ABC Pronounce. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. 21 December 2007. Archived from the original on 19 February 2019. Retrieved 7 October 2021. pron. as per Macq. Dict.
  8. ^ "Aotearoa". Lexico UK English Dictionary. Oxford University Press. Archived from the original on 7 October 2021.
  9. ^ Wells, John C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. ISBN 978-1-4058-8118-0.