Phonological systems

The systems of Maori English are fundamentally those of New Zealand English, and usually relatable to the variants that are found in the broader realizations of that variety. We continue to use the same notation on the phonology of New Zealand English (Bauer and Warren, this volume).

Alongside the English system, speakers of Maori English frequently have a Maori system which they use when code-switching into Maori (or, an alternative interpretation, when using Maori loan words in their English). This is a marked contrast to the way in which most Pakeha speakers of English in New Zealand operate, where Maori loan words are assimilated to the English sound system to a much greater extent. This shift to a Maori system can be heard on personal names and toponyms as well as on Maori terms used in the middle of English sentences. This relatively dense use of Maori vocabulary is a marker of one particular type of Maori English, and the Maori terms which will be used are not (from a Pakeha point of view) entirely predictable – although words for Maori cultural institutions are clearly among them.