The Ebbs and Flows of te reo Māori Use in New Zealand English

In this article, we associate the use of te reo Māori in vernacular New Zealand English with political alignments and transformations in Aotearoa New Zealand. The volume and direction of this lexical borrowing – from Māori into vernacular New Zealand English – is as unique as it is counterintuitive: lexical borrowing most typically involves words from dominant, majority languages being loaned into and shared with subdominant, Indigenous languages. Our contribution explores the persistent use of te reo Māori in New Zealand English. We start by offering a chronology of te reo Māori as an endangered and official language, and then review the existing scholarship on how and when te reo Māori loanwords have been incorporated into New Zealand English. We conclude by assessing the changing political space for te reo Māori in Aotearoa New Zealand, with a particular focus on new directions in language policy associated with the coalition government elected in 2023.