Māori colours: ngā tae, from whero to kiwikiwi
The Māori colours are whero ‘red’, kahurangi ‘blue’, kākāriki ‘green’, kōwhai ‘yellow’, karaka ‘orange’, māwhero ‘pink’, waiporoporo ‘purple’, parauri ‘brown’, pango ‘black’, mā ‘white’ and kiwikiwi ‘grey’. The word for colour is tae, so the colours are ngā tae. Several of them are named after a tree or a bird, which makes them easy to remember once you know which. Below are the words, how to say them, and the one sentence pattern you need to say what colour something is.
Tap 🔊 to hear an example. Māori examples play Papa Reo, the te reo Māori voice made by Te Hiku Media from recordings of native speakers.
The Māori colours
| Māori | English | Say it |
|---|---|---|
| whero | red | FEH-raw: wh is usually said like an English f |
| kahurangi | blue | kah-hoo-rah-ngee |
| kākāriki | green | KAA-KAA-ree-kee: the first two vowels are long |
| kōwhai | yellow | KAW-fie: a long ō |
| karaka | orange | kah-rah-kah |
| māwhero | pink | MAA-feh-raw |
| waiporoporo | purple | why-paw-raw-paw-raw |
| parauri | brown | pah-rah-oo-ree |
| pango | black | pah-ngaw: ng as in singer |
| mā | white | MAA: one long vowel |
| kiwikiwi | grey | kee-wee-kee-wee |
The macrons matter. A vowel with a line over it is held about twice as long, and the length is part of the word: mā is white, and without the macron it is a different word. The sounds are set out in the Māori pronunciation guide.
Where the colour words come from
Many Māori colour words are the name of something that has that colour. Te Aka Māori Dictionary gives both senses for each.
- Kōwhai is the kōwhai tree, known for its yellow flowers, and the colour yellow.
- Karaka is the karaka tree, which has orange berries, and the colour orange.
- Kākāriki is the name of the small green native parakeets, and the colour green.
- Kikorangi is the deep blue of the sky, and another word for blue.
- Māwhero, pink, contains whero ‘red’.
- Mā means clean as well as white.
- Kahurangi means precious or treasured as well as blue, and is also used of a person held in high regard.
This is useful for a learner and for a classroom: a child who knows the kōwhai tree already knows the word for yellow.
Two words for blue, two for black, two for brown
- Blue is kahurangi or kikorangi. An example quoted in Te Aka says both words are widely used for every shade of blue, so either is right.
- Black is pango or mangu. Both mean black.
- Brown is parauri, a dark or chocolate brown, or pākākā, a reddish brown.
Gold and silver are borrowed from English: kōura ‘gold’ and hiriwa ‘silver’. A rainbow is āniwaniwa, and also uenuku.
How to say what colour something is
One pattern does nearly all the work: He, then the colour, then the thing. There is no word for is.
| Māori | English |
|---|---|
| He whero te āporo. | The apple is red. |
| He kahurangi te rangi. | The sky is blue. |
| He kākāriki ngā rau. | The leaves are green. |
| He mā te hukarere. | The snow is white. |
| He pango taku ngeru. | My cat is black. |
The plural is shown by ngā ‘the, more than one’ in place of te ‘the’. The colour word itself does not change.
To describe a thing in passing, put the colour straight after it, where English puts it before:
| Māori | English |
|---|---|
| te whare whero | the red house |
| te motokā pango | the black car |
| ngā putiputi kōwhai | the yellow flowers |
| he pōtae kahurangi | a blue hat |
The order of a Māori sentence, and why the describing word comes after, is explained in Māori sentence structure.
Asking what colour something is
| Māori | English |
|---|---|
| He aha te tae? | What colour is it? |
| He aha tēnei tae? | What colour is this? |
| He aha te tae o te rangi? | What colour is the sky? |
| He kahurangi. | It is blue. |
Te Aka notes that tae is not normally used in front of the name of a colour. You ask about te tae, and you answer with the colour alone: He whero.
Colours for the classroom and at home
Colours are among the first words taught to children, because they can be pointed at. A few ways to use them every day:
- Name the colour of one thing at each meal or lesson. He karaka te kāroti. The carrot is orange.
- Ask the question and let the child answer in one word. He aha te tae? He kākāriki.
- Sort things by colour and say the word as each one goes in its pile.
- Use the trees and birds. A kōwhai in flower and a karaka in berry teach two of the words without a flashcard.
More ideas of this kind are in Māori for kids and te reo for teachers. Colours go naturally with counting: Māori numbers, days and months has the numbers. Verbavia’s te reo Māori course teaches the eleven main colours on this page, free on the web.
Sources
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: whero — red.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: kahurangi — blue; precious, treasured; with the quoted example saying kahurangi and kikorangi are widely used for all shades of blue.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: kākāriki — to be green; the native parakeets.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: kōwhai — be yellow; the kōwhai tree.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: karaka — be orange; the karaka tree and its orange berries.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: māwhero, waiporoporo, parauri, pākākā, pango, mangu, mā, kiwikiwi, kōura and hiriwa.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: tae — hue, colour; “not normally used before the names of colours”.
- Te Aka Māori Dictionary: āniwaniwa and uenuku — rainbow.