It belongs to under group of the Polynesian Langues of the family of the Langues austron\u00e9siennes. Its closer relationships among the Polynesian languages are those of Eastern Polynesia and more particularly the Tahitien , the maori of New Zealand, the Paumotu (language of Tuamotu), grated it harmed (language of the Easter Island and to a lesser extent the Hawa\u00efen and the Marquisien

The maori is since 2003 and the " Reo Maori Act" , the Official language of the Cook islands with English. According to, this law which also instituted the " Kopapa reo maori ", i.e. the " Commission with the Maori" language; , maori means:

on the various islands of the archipelago of Cook
Pukapuka such as it is spoken and written on Pukapuka
the maori conforms to the national standard approved by Kopapa Reo
Dialectal alternatives

There exist several dialectal alternatives of Maori. In addition to the rarotongien itself spoken on the island about Rarotonga, one distinguishes the dialects from Rakahanga - Manihiki, of Ngaputoru which gathers the three islands of Atiu, Mauke and Mitiaro, of Mangaia, Aitutaki and Penrhyn (reo tongareva) The language of Pukapuka is for reasons related to the settlement of the island, generally considered by the linguists closer to the Samoan and the spoken languages on the three atolls of Tokelau.

The standard maori or to be honest in the process of standardization, is strongly inspired by the dialect rarotongien, even if it integrates more and more vocabulary of the other islands of the archipelago, would be this only owing to the fact that nowadays a great number of inhabitants of Rarotonga even are originating in the other islands.

Below some examples of variations of vocabulary enters the various dialects of Maori. According to the dictionary of Tube and Taringa, there exists in all about fifty words having \u00e9tymons truly different, the remainder being related to alternatives of pronunciations (IE kumara/ku' macaw; kare/ka' ore/'a' ore). To note that 'akaipoipo\u2026 is a loan with the tahitien " fa' aipoipo" dating from the time missionary and introduction from the marriage

It comprises 9 consonants: ng, m, N, p, T, K, R, v. and the Glottale ( amata ) represented by an apostrophe in the C-W communication recommended by the kopapa reo (" commission with the language maori"). Are added the " to it; f" and the " h" in the dialectal alternative of Rakahanga-Manihiki and the " s" and the " h" in that of Penrhyn (reo tongareva). These sonorities replace the majority of the glottales other dialects.

The vowels are 5: has, E, I, O, U Each perhaps short or lengthened vowel. Lengthening is noted there still in the C-W communication recommended by the macron ( makaroni ): a, e, i, o, u

Apart from some documents of a didactic nature (dictionaries, methods of language), the glottale and the macron are generally never noted in the writings of the every day, the majority of the speakers estimating these two graphemes useless. The question makes remainder more or less debate at present.

The controversy rests on two logics which are opposed. For the partisans of the reform of the writing, the notation of these two sonorities proves to be essential in the optics of the teaching of the maori in the archipelago. Neglected a long time to the profit of English, this one was indeed given to the day order since 1965. However, so for the majority of the native speakers, the relevant pronunciation of the glottale and vocalic lengthening is done in a spontaneous way, their notation consequently becoming useless, it is not the same for the majority of young people or the expatriates of the second generation whose language first is from now on English. With that is added for the opponents to the reform, the more or less acknowledged idea which it would be to some extent about a treason even of a corruption of the biblical word. Very attached to the Christian values, the Bible remains indeed for Maori of the islands cook the ultimate reference the more so as it constitutes the first work written in this language of oral tradition. However the missionaries who translated the Bible, noted neither the glottale nor vocalic lengthening. Other " not dit" but which plays a big role in this reserve is the fact that this new written form was imported by New Zealand linguists and administrators. People are in the Cook islands very attached to their independence.

The first to use this new written form was indeed Stephen Savage within the framework of its dictionary published on a purely posthumous basis in 1962. Thereafter, other authors (Will conceal Rere, Kauraka Kauraka\u2026) chose an intermediate solution by duplicating the vowel for vocalic lengthening (" aa" ; " ee" \u2026) and

The rare linguists to be itself interested in the maori (Cook islands) a long time analyzed this language through the prism of traditional descriptions of our European languages. They theirs imposed a certain number of frameworks pr\u00e9construits, grids of reflection, inspired of the metalanguage and Indo-European grammatical classifications. Regarding these traditional descriptions as a form of glottocentrism, linguistic research that it has been French-speaking or anglophone tent for a few years to leave this yoke with it is necessary to acknowledge it more or less happiness. The question arises particularly with regard to grammatical categorization. The well-known categories that are the verb, the name, the adjective\u2026 have in these languages of the borders much more permeable. Certain lexemes can thus be used as noun, adjective, verb according to the marker who accompanies it. In the same way, the frequent use of sentences described like not-verbal, make say to certain linguists who this language is a language without verbo-nominal oppostion.

duel and plural like that between the inclusive one and the exclusive one
Singular
With: I, me; Kua kai with I you ika : I ate fish;

Ka 'aired with the ki you 'api' I apopo : I will go to school tomorrow; Ka 'arote with the inana' I, No you ua ra, kua 'akakore with the : I was yesterday plowing (the field), but I had to give up because it rained.

Koe : you, you; Kua kai koe I you ika : you ate fish; Kua kino ia koe to matou motoka : You broke our car; KB koe 'oki, you tangata your you 'akava E kimi nei : You are the man that the police force seeks.

I.E.(internal excitation)? : Why did it/it come (E)? ; Kare aia I konei : il/elle is not
there
Duel
Taua : inclusive, us two (inclusive: you and me); Kua kai taua I you ika : We (you and me) ate

Maua : us two, (exclusive: he/it and me); Kua kai maua I you ika : We (him/it and me) ate fish; Ka 'oki maua my Taria ki you kainga : Taria and me let us return on our premises; No maua will tera 'are : This house is ours