During the 19th century,

New Zealand English New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator ...

gained many

loanword A loanword (also loan word or loan-word) is a word at least partly assimilated from one language (the donor language) into another language. This is in contrast to cognates, which are words in two or more languages that are similar because ...

s from the

Māori language Māori (), or ('the Māori language'), also known as ('the language'), is an Eastern Polynesian language spoken by the Māori people, the indigenous population of mainland New Zealand. Closely related to Cook Islands Māori, Tuamotuan, and ...

. The use of Māori words in New Zealand English has increased since the 1990s, and English-language publications increasingly using macrons to indicate long vowels. Māori words are usually not italicised in New Zealand English, and most publications follow the Māori-language convention of the same word for singular and plural (one kākāpō, three kākāpō).

Plants and animals

Large numbers of native plants and animals retain their Māori names in New Zealand English. Examples include: * Birds: kākāpō, kea, kererū, kiwi, kōkako, moa,

pūkeko The Australasian swamphen (''Porphyrio melanotus'') is a species of swamphen (''Porphyrio'') occurring in eastern Indonesia (the Moluccas, Aru and Kai Islands), Papua New Guinea, Australia and New Zealand. In New Zealand, it is known as the ...

, takahē, tūī, weka * Plants: kahikatea,

kānuka ''Kunzea ericoides'', commonly known as kānuka, kanuka, white tea-tree or burgan, is a tree or shrub in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to New Zealand. It has white or pink flowers similar to those of ''Leptospermum'' and from its ...

, kauri, kūmara,

mānuka ''Leptospermum scoparium'', commonly called mānuka, () mānuka myrtle, New Zealand teatree, broom tea-tree, or just tea tree, is a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family Myrtaceae, native to New Zealand (including the Chatham Islands ...

, mataī,

pōhutukawa ''Metrosideros excelsa'', commonly known as pōhutukawa ( mi, pōhutukawa), New Zealand Christmas tree, New Zealand Christmas bush, and iron tree, is a coastal evergreen tree in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, that produces a brilliant display o ...

toetoe ''Austroderia'' is a genus of five species of tall grasses native to New Zealand, commonly known as toetoe.

tōtara ''Podocarpus totara'' (; from the Maori-language ; the spelling "totara" is also common in English) is a species of podocarp tree endemic to New Zealand. It grows throughout the North Island and northeastern South Island in lowland, montane and ...

, tutu * Fish:

tarakihi ''Nemadactylus macropterus'', the tarakihi, jackass morwong or deep sea perch, is a species of marine ray-finned fish, traditionally regarded as belonging to the family Cheilodactylidae, the members of which are commonly known as morwongs. It is ...

, hāpuku *Invertebrates: huhu,

katipō The katipō (''Latrodectus katipo'') is an endangered species of spider native to New Zealand. It is one of many species in the genus '' Latrodectus'', such as the Australian redback (''L. hasseltii''), and the North American black widow. ...

Other terms

Kia ora Kia ora (, approximated in English as or ) is a Māori-language greeting which has entered New Zealand English. It translates literally as "have life" or "be healthy", wishing the essence of life upon someone, from one speaker to the other ...

" (literally "be healthy") is a Māori term of greeting, meaning "hello" or "welcome". It can also mean "thank you", or signify agreement with a speaker at a meeting. The Māori greetings "tēnā koe" (to one person), "tēnā kōrua" (to two people) or "tēnā koutou" (to three or more people) are also widely used, as are farewells such as "haere rā". The Māori phrase "

kia kaha Kia kaha is a Māori phrase used by the people of New Zealand as an affirmation, meaning ''stay strong''. The phrase has significant meaning for Māori: popularised through its usage by the 28th Māori Battalion during World War II, it is foun ...

", "be strong", is frequently encountered as an indication of moral support for someone starting a stressful undertaking or otherwise in a difficult situation. Although previously in common usage it became an iconic phrase of support following the 2010 Canterbury earthquake. Some hybrid words, part English and part Māori, have developed, the most common of which is probably ''half-pai'' — often written ''half-pie'' — meaning incomplete or substandard quality, ''pai'' being the Māori word for "good". (The portmanteau form ''half-pied'' is also used, derived from ''half-baked''.) Similarly, the Māori word ending ''-tanga'', which has a similar meaning to the English ending ''-ness'', is occasionally used in terms such as ''kiwitanga'' (that is, the state of being a New Zealander). Several Māori words are used in English as lighthearted, or even slang, equivalents of their more common English counterparts. The term ''puku'' for stomach, for example, is more likely to be encountered during a friendly chat than in more formal circumstances, with one of its uses being a euphemism for a large belly. English words intimately associated with New Zealand are often of Māori origin, such as

haka Haka (; plural ''haka'', in both Māori and English) are a variety of ceremonial performance art in Māori culture. It is often performed by a group, with vigorous movements and stamping of the feet with rhythmically shouted or chanted accompani ...

Pākehā Pākehā (or Pakeha; ; ) is a Māori term for New Zealanders primarily of European descent. Pākehā is not a legal concept and has no definition under New Zealand law. The term can apply to fair-skinned persons, or to any non-Māori New Z ...

Aotearoa ''Aotearoa'' () is the current Māori-language name for New Zealand. The name was originally used by Māori in reference to only the North Island, with the name of the whole country being ''Aotearoa me Te Waipounamu'' ("North Island and Sout ...

, kiwi, and the word Māori itself.

Plants and animals

Other terms

See also

References

Further reading