The following is the entry for this language as it appeared in the 14th edition (2000).
It was superseded by the corresponding entry in the 15th edition (2005). See also the corresponding entry in the current edition of Ethnologue.
| Population | 50,000 to 70,000 speakers (1991 Fishman, p. 231), 100,000 who understand it, but do not speak it, out of 310,000 or more Maori people (1995 Maori Language Commission). |
| Region | Far north, east coast, North Island. |
| Alternate names | NEW ZEALAND MAORI |
| Dialects | NORTH AUCKLAND, SOUTH ISLAND, TARANAKI, WANGANUI, BAY OF PLENTY, ROTORUA-TAUPO, MORIORI. |
| Classification | Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, East, Central, Tahitic. |
| Comments | Formerly fragmented into a number of regional dialects, some of which diverged quite radically from what has become the standard dialect. 71% lexical similarity with Hawaiian, 57% with Samoan. All or most use English as second language. 30,000 to 50,000 adult speakers over 15 years old (1995 Maori Language Commission). 33% of fluent speakers are over 60 years old, 38% are between 45 and 59. Until the 20th century spoken throughout New Zealand. The Moriori dialect in the Chatham Islands is extinct. Official language. VSO. 322 government-funded Maori language schools, including for pre-schoolers. Volcanic plateau. Christian. Bible 1858-1952. |
