Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands.
Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right.
Cook Islands Māori is simply called Māori when there is no need to disambiguate it from New Zealand Māori, but it is also known as Māori Kūki 'Āirani (or Maori Kuki Airani), or, controversially, Rarotongan.
Many Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland".
Official status
Cook Islands Māori became an official language of the Cook Islands in 2003; from 1915 until then, English had been the only official language of the Cook Islands.
Te Reo Maori Act definition
The Te Reo Maori Act 2003 states that Māori:   (see external links).
Pukapukan is considered by scholars and speakers alike to be a distinct language more closely related to Sāmoan and Tokelauan than Cook Islands Māori.
It belongs to the Samoic subgroup of the Polynesian language family.
The intention behind including Pukapukan in the definition of Te Reo Maori was to ensure its protection.
The dialectsThese are ‘dialects’ in the sense of having mutual intelligibility.
of the East Polynesian varieties of the Cook Islands (collectively referred to as Cook Islands Māori) are:
Rakahanga-Manihiki
Penrhyn (Tongarevan or Mangarongaro);Tongarevan is sometimes also considered as a distinct language.
Southern: Rarotongan, Ngā Pū Toru (the dialects of Atiu, Mitiaro and Mauke), Aitutaki, Mangaia.
Cook Islands Māori is closely related to Tahitian and New Zealand Māori, and there is a degree of mutual intelligibility with both of these  languages.
The language is theoretically regulated by the Kopapa Reo created in 2003, but this organisation is currently dormant.
Writing system and pronunciation
There is a debate about the standardisation of the writing system.
Although the usage of the macron (־) te makarona and the glottal stop amata (ꞌ) () is recommended, most speakers do not use the two diacritics in everyday writing.
The Cook Islands Māori Revised New Testament uses a standardised orthography (spelling system) that includes the diacritics when they are phonemic but not elsewhere.
Consonants
Present only in Manihiki
Present only in Penrhyn
Present only in Manihiki and Penrhyn
Vowels
Grammar
Cook Islands Māori is an isolating language with very little morphology.
Case is marked by the particle that initiates a noun phrase, and like most East Polynesian languages, Cook Islands Māori has nominative-accusative case marking.
The unmarked constituent order is predicate initial: that is, verb initial in verbal sentences and nominal-predicate initial in non-verbal sentences.
Personal pronouns
you -2 or more- and I
they and I
Singular pronoun examples
Dual pronoun examples
Plural pronoun examples
Tense-Aspect-Mood markers
Most of the preceding examples were taken from Cook Islands Maori Dictionary, by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moeka'a, Auckland, 1995.
Possessives
Like most other Polynesian languages (Tahitian, New Zealand Māori, Hawaiian, Samoan, Tongan ...), Cook Islands Māori has two categories of possessives, "a" and "o".
Generally, the "a" category is used when the possessor has or had control over the initiation of the possessive relationship.
Usually this means that the possessor  is superior or dominant to what is owned, or that the possession is considered as alienable.
The "o" category is used when the possessor has or had no control over the initiation of the relationship.
This usually means that the possessor is subordinate or inferior to what is owned, or that the possession is considered to be inalienable.
The following list indicates the types of things in the different categories:
a is used in speaking of
Movable property, instruments,
Food and drink,
Husband, wife, children, grandchildren, girlfriend, boyfriend,
Animals and pets, (except for horses)
People in an inferior position
Te puaka a tērā vaꞌine :  the pig belonging to that woman;
ā Tere tamariki :  Tere's children;
Kāre ā Tupe mā ika inapō : Tupe  and the rest didn't get any fish last night
Tāku ; Tāꞌau ; Tāna ;  Tā tāua ;  Tā māua…. : my, mine ; your, yours ; his, her, hers, our ours…
Ko tāku vaꞌine tēia :  This is my wife;
Ko tāna tāne tērā :  That's her husband;
Tā kotou ꞌapinga : your possession(s);
Tā Tare ꞌapinga :  Tērā possession(s);
o is used in speaking of
Parts of anything
Feelings
Buildings and transport (including horses)
Clothes
Parents or other relatives (not husband, wife, children…)
Superiors
Te 'are o Tere :  The house belonging to Tere;
ō Tere pare : Tere's hat;
Kāre ō Tina no'o anga e no'o ei :  Tina hasn't got anywhere to sit;
Tōku ;  Tō'ou ; Tōna ; Tō tāua ;  Tō māua…: my, mine  ;  your, yours ; his, her, hers ; our, ours …
Ko tōku 'are tēia : This is my  house;
I tōku manako, ka tika tāna :  In my opinion, he'll be right;
Tēia tōku, tērā tō'ou : This is mine here, that's yours over there
Vocabulary
Pia : Polynesian arrowroot
Kata :  laugh at; laughter; kata 'āviri :  ridicule, jeer, mock
Tanu :  to plant, cultivate land
'anga'anga : work, job
Pōpongi : morning
Tātāpaka :  a kind of breadfruit pudding
'ura : dance, to dance
Tuātau : time, period, season ; ē tuātau 'ua atu :  forever
'īmene :  to sing, song
Riri :  be angry with (ki)
Tārekareka :  entertain, amuse, match, game, play game Dialectology
Although most words of the various dialects of Cook Islands Māori  are identical, but there are some variations:
Demographics
Notes
Sources
Cook Islands Maori Database Project, An online project created to build a collection of Cook Islands Maori Words based on existing print dictionaries and other sources.
Cook Islands Maori Dictionary, by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa, edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moeka'a, Auckland, 1995.
A dictionary of the Maori Language of Rarotonga, Manuscript by Stephen Savage, Suva :  IPS, USP in association with the Ministry of Education of the Cook Islands, 1983.
Kai Korero :  Cook Islands Maori Language Coursebook, Tai Carpentier and Clive Beaumont, Pasifika Press, 1995. (A useful learning Method with oral skills cassette)
Cook Islands Cook Book by Taiora Matenga-Smith.
Published by the Institute of Pacific Studies.
Maori Lessons for the Cook Islands, by Taira Rere.
Wellington, Islands Educational Division, Department of Education, 1960.
Conversational Maori, Rarotongan Language, by Taira Rere.
Rarotonga, Government Printer.
1961.
Some Maori Lessons, by Taira Rere.
Rarotonga.
Curriculum Production Unit, Department of Education.
1976.
More Maori Lessons, by Taira Rere.
Suva, University of the South Pacific.1976
Maori Spelling: Notes for Teachers, by Taira Rere.
Rarotonga: Curriculum Production Unit, Education Department.1977.
Traditions and Some Words of the Language of Danger or Pukapuka Island.
Journal of the Polynesian Society 13:173-176.1904.
Collection of Articles on Rarotonga Language,  by Jasper Buse.
London: University of London, School of Oriental and African Studies.
1963.
Manihikian Traditional Narratives: In English and Manihikian: Stories of the Cook Islands (Na fakahiti o Manihiki).
Papatoetoe, New Zealand: Te Ropu Kahurangi.1988
Te korero o Aitutaki, na te Are Korero o Aitutaki, Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga, Cook Islands.
1992
Atiu nui Maruarua :  E au tua ta'ito, Vainerere Tangatapoto et al.
University of South Pacific, Suva 1984. (in Maori and English)
Learning Rarotonga Maori, by Maki'uti Tongia, Ministry of Cultural Development, Rarotonga 1999.
Te uri Reo Maori (translating in Maori), by Maki'uti Tongia, Punanga o te reo.
1996.
Atiu, e enua e tona iti tangata, te au tata tuatua Ngatupuna Kautai...(et al.), Suva, University of the South Pacific.1993. (Maori translation of Atiu :  an island Community)
A vocabulary of the Mangaian language by Christian, F. W. 1924.
Bernice P. Bishop Bulletin 2.
Honolulu, Bernice P. Bishop Museum.
E au tuatua ta'ito no Manihiki, Kauraka Kauraka, IPS, USP, Suva.
1987.
External links
Cook Islands Maori Database
Dictionary of Cook Islands Languages.
Te akataka reo Rarotonga; or, Rarotongan and English grammar by the Rev Aaron Buzacott of the London Missionary Society, Rarotonga.
1854.
Old grammar in english and Rarotongan
"Tuatua mai!"
Learn Cook Islands Maori
Te Reo Maori Act 2003
SBS Cook Islands Maori Radio Program.
Updated each week
Cook Islands Biodiversity : Natural History Māori Dictionaries
Cook Islands Maori Dictionary Online version of Jasper Buse and Raututi Taringa Dictionary
Cook Islands Ministry of Cultural Development
Te Reo Māori Kūki 'Āirani i roto i te Kurakarāma o Aotearoa (Cook Islands Maori in the New Zealand Curriculum)
Collected songs and legends from the southern Cook Islands (c. 1883–1912) at the New Zealand Electronic Text Centre
Box of 324 index cards of plant and animal names archived with Kaipuleohone
Paradisec has an open access collection of Cook Island Maori materials
Materials on Cook Islands Maori are included in the open access [Arthur Capell] collection (AC1) held by Paradisec.
