Editing Māori language (section)

=== Consonants ===

The consonant phonemes of Māori are listed in the following table. Seven of the ten Māori [[orthography|consonant letters]] have the same pronunciation as they do in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA). For those that do not, the IPA [[phonetic transcription]] is included, enclosed in square brackets per IPA convention.

{| class="wikitable"
!
! align="center"|[[Labial consonant|Labial]]
! align="center"|[[Coronal consonant|Coronal]]
! align="center"|[[Velar consonant|Velar]]
! align="center"|[[Glottal consonant|Glottal]]
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
! align="left"| [[Nasal consonant|Nasal]]
| align="center"|{{IPA link|m}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|n}}
| align="center"|ng {{IPAblink|ŋ}}
|
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
! align="left"| [[Plosive consonant|Plosive]]
| align="center"|{{IPA link|p}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|t}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|k}}
|
|- style="vertical-align:top;"
! align="left"| [[Continuant]]
| align="center"|wh {{IPA|[{{IPA link|f}}, {{IPA link|ɸ}}]}}
| align="center"|r {{IPAblink|ɾ}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|w}}
| align="center"|{{IPA link|h}}
|}

The pronunciation of {{angbr|wh}} is extremely variable,{{sfn|Bauer|1997|loc=On page 532, Bauer lists seven [[allophone]]s (variant pronunciations)}} but its most common pronunciation (its canonical allophone) is the [[Voiceless labiodental fricative|labiodental fricative]], IPA {{IPA|[f]}} (as in the English word '''''f'''ill''). Another allophone is the [[voiceless bilabial fricative]], IPA {{IPA|[ɸ]}}, which is usually supposed to be the sole pre-European pronunciation, although linguists are not sure of the truth of this supposition.{{fact|date=February 2024}}<!--The citation needed tag applies to the claim that 'linguists are not sure of the truth of this supposition'. It's obvious that it must have been [ɸ], since if it had been /f/, then the letter <f> and not the letter sequence <wh> would have been chosen to express it.--> At least until the 1930s, the bilabial fricative was considered to be the correct pronunciation.<ref>Williams, H. W. and W. L (1930). ''First Lessons in Maori''. Whitcombe and Tombs Limited. p. 6.</ref> The fact that English {{angbr|f}} gets substituted by {{angbr|p}} and not {{angbr|wh}} in borrowings (for example, English ''February'' becomes ''Pēpuere'' instead of {{lang|mi|Whēpuere}}) would strongly hint that the Māori did not perceive English {{IPA|/f/}} to be the same sound as their {{angbr|wh}}.

Because English stops {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} primarily have aspiration, speakers of English often hear the Māori nonaspirated stops as English {{IPA|/b, d, ɡ/}}. However, younger Māori speakers tend to aspirate {{IPA|/p, t, k/}} as in English. English speakers also tend to hear Māori {{IPA|/r/}} as English {{IPA|/l/}} in certain positions (cf. [[Perception of English /r/ and /l/ by Japanese speakers|Japanese]] r).

{{IPA|/ŋ/}} can come at the beginning of a word (like 'sing-along' without the "si"), which may be difficult for English speakers outside of New Zealand to manage.

In some western areas of the North Island, {{angbr|h}} is pronounced as a glottal stop {{IPAblink|ʔ}} instead of {{IPA|[h]}}, and the [[Digraph (orthography)|digraph]] {{angbr|wh}} is pronounced as {{IPA|[ʔw]}} instead of {{IPA|[f]}} or {{IPA|[ɸ]}}.

{{IPA|/ɾ/}} is typically a [[alveolar flap|flap]], especially before {{IPA|/a/}}. However, elsewhere it is sometimes [[alveolar trill|trilled]].

In borrowings from English, many consonants are substituted by the nearest available Māori consonant. For example, the English affricates {{IPA|/tʃ/}} and {{IPA|/dʒ/}}, and the fricative {{IPA|/s/}} are replaced by {{IPA|/h/}}, {{IPA|/f/}} becomes {{IPA|/p}}/, and {{IPA|/l/}} becomes {{IPA|/ɾ/}} (the {{IPA|/l/}} is sometimes retained in the southern dialect, as noted below).