Editing Māori language (section)

== Linguistic classification ==
{{See also|Austronesian languages}}
{{cladogram
|clades=
  {{clade
  |label1=[[Eastern Polynesian languages|East Polynesian]]
  |1=
    {{clade
    |1=''[[Rapa Nui language|Rapa Nui]]''
    |label2=Central Eastern
    |2=
      {{clade
      |label1=Tahitic
      |1=
        {{clade
        |1='''''Maori'''''
        |2=''[[Rarotongan language|Rarotongan]]''
        |3=''[[Tahitian language|Tahitian]]''
        |4=''[[Rapa language|Rapa]]''
        }}
      |label2=Marquesic
      |2=
        {{clade
        |1=''[[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]]''
        |2=
          {{clade
          |1=''[[Marquesan language|Marquesan]]''
          |2=''[[Mangareva language|Mangareva]]''
          }}
        }}
      }}
    }}
  }}
}}

Comparative linguists classify Māori as a [[Polynesian languages|Polynesian language]], specifically as an [[Eastern Polynesian languages|Eastern Polynesian language]] belonging to the [[Tahitic languages|Tahitic]] subgroup, which includes [[Cook Islands Māori]], spoken in the southern [[Cook Islands]], and [[Tahitian language|Tahitian]], spoken in [[Tahiti]] and the [[Society Islands]]. Other major Eastern Polynesian languages include [[Hawaiian language|Hawaiian]], [[Marquesan language|Marquesan]] (languages in the [[Marquesic languages|Marquesic]] subgroup), and the [[Rapa Nui language]] of [[Easter Island]].{{sfn|Biggs|1994|pages=96–105}}{{sfn|Clark|1994|pages=123–135}}{{sfn|Harlow|1994|pages=106–122}}

While the preceding are all distinct languages, they remain similar enough that [[Tupaia (navigator)|Tupaia]], a Tahitian travelling with Captain [[James Cook]] in 1769–1770, communicated effectively with Māori.{{sfn|Banks|1771|loc= 9 October 1769: "we again advanc'd to the river side with Tupia, who now found that the language of the people was so like his own that he could tolerably well understand them and they him."}} Hawaiian newspaper ''[[Ka Nupepa Kuokoa]]'' in 1911 covering [[Ernest Kaʻai]] and his Royal Hawaiians' band tour of New Zealand reported that Kaʻai himself wrote to them about the band able to communicate with Māori while visiting their rural [[marae]]s.<ref>See:
* {{cite news |title=Kamailio Pu Na Hawaii Me Na Maori |lang=haw|trans-title=Hawaiians and Maori Talk To Each Other<!--see https://nupepa-hawaii.com/2015/02/21/the-maori-and-the-hawaiians-1911 -->|url=https://papakilodatabase.com/pdnupepa/?a=d&d=KNK19110630-01.2.49 |newspaper=Ka Nupepa Kuokoa |date=June 30, 1911|page=8}}

* {{cite news |last=Low |first=Andrea |title=Bright the sky above: Hawaiian diaspora in Aotearoa |url=https://www.thepost.co.nz/culture/350269510/bright-sky-above-hawaiian-diaspora-aotearoa |work=[[The Post (New Zealand newspaper)|The Post]] |date=May 8, 2024}}{{page needed|date=September 2024}}
</ref> Māori actors, travelling to Easter Island for production of the film {{lang|mi|[[Rapa-Nui (film)|Rapa-Nui]]}} noticed a marked similarity between the native tongues, as did arts curator Reuben Friend, who noted that it took only a short time to pick up any different vocabulary and the different nuances to recognisable words.<ref>{{cite news |url= https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/118294/rapanui-expedition-reveals-similarities-to-te-reo-maori |title= Rapanui expedition reveals similarities to Te Reo Maori |work= [[Radio New Zealand]] |date= 16 October 2012 |access-date= 29 March 2019 |archive-date= 29 March 2019 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20190329021508/https://www.radionz.co.nz/news/te-manu-korihi/118294/rapanui-expedition-reveals-similarities-to-te-reo-maori |url-status= live }}</ref> Speakers of modern Māori generally report that they find the languages of the [[Cook Islands]], including Rarotongan, the easiest among the other Polynesian languages to understand and converse in.