Languages of New Zealand
Encyclopedia
There are several languages of New Zealand
. English
is the dominant and a de facto
official language, spoken by most New Zealanders. The country's two other de jure
official language
s are Māori
and New Zealand Sign Language
(NZSL). Other languages are also used by ethnic communities.
There are around 70,000 native speakers of Maori out of a population of over 500,000 Māori people, with 161,000 of the country's 4 million residents claiming conversational ability in Māori.
. A number of outlying islands and territories of New Zealand have their own native languages:
resident in New Zealand than are resident in the country that language is native to (for example Niuean
). It also has immigrants from other European and Asian countries who have brought their languages with them. According to Ethnologue
, the largest groups are Samoan
(50,000), "Rarotongan" (Cook Islands Maori
, 25,000), Hindi
and other Indian languages (26,200), Yue Chinese (20,000) and Arabic
(4000).
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
. English
New Zealand English
New Zealand English is the dialect of the English language used in New Zealand.The English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. It is one of "the newest native-speaker variet[ies] of the English language in existence, a variety which has developed and...
is the dominant and a de facto
De facto
De facto is a Latin expression that means "concerning fact." In law, it often means "in practice but not necessarily ordained by law" or "in practice or actuality, but not officially established." It is commonly used in contrast to de jure when referring to matters of law, governance, or...
official language, spoken by most New Zealanders. The country's two other de jure
De jure
De jure is an expression that means "concerning law", as contrasted with de facto, which means "concerning fact".De jure = 'Legally', De facto = 'In fact'....
official language
Official language
An official language is a language that is given a special legal status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically a nation's official language will be the one used in that nation's courts, parliament and administration. However, official status can also be used to give a...
s are Māori
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
and New Zealand Sign Language
New Zealand Sign Language
New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL is the main language of the Deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006, alongside Te Reo Māori....
(NZSL). Other languages are also used by ethnic communities.
Official languages
New Zealand became the first country in the world to adopt a sign language as an official language when it became official on 10 April 2006. It is now legal for use and access in legal proceedings including in court and access to government services.There are around 70,000 native speakers of Maori out of a population of over 500,000 Māori people, with 161,000 of the country's 4 million residents claiming conversational ability in Māori.
Native languages
The pre-European inhabitants of the main islands of New Zealand all spoke MāoriMaori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
. A number of outlying islands and territories of New Zealand have their own native languages:
- Cook Islands MaoriCook Islands MaoriThe Cook Islands Māori language, also called Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the official language of the Cook Islands. Most Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland"....
is the official language of the Cook IslandsCook IslandsThe Cook Islands is a self-governing parliamentary democracy in the South Pacific Ocean in free association with New Zealand...
. - NiueanNiuean languageThe Niuean language or Niue language is a Polynesian language, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian languages. It is most closely related to Tongan and slightly more distantly to other Polynesian languages such as Māori, Sāmoan, and Hawaiian...
is an official language of NiueNiueNiue , is an island country in the South Pacific Ocean. It is commonly known as the "Rock of Polynesia", and inhabitants of the island call it "the Rock" for short. Niue is northeast of New Zealand in a triangle between Tonga to the southwest, the Samoas to the northwest, and the Cook Islands to...
(along with English). - TokelauanTokelauan languageTokelauan is a Polynesian language closely related to Tuvaluan.-Speakers:It is spoken by about 1,500 people on the atolls of Tokelau, and by the few inhabitants of Swains Island in neighbouring American Samoa. It is a member of the Samoic family of Polynesian languages. It is, alongside English,...
is an official language of TokelauTokelauTokelau is a territory of New Zealand in the South Pacific Ocean that consists of three tropical coral atolls with a combined land area of 10 km2 and a population of approximately 1,400...
(along with English). - Moriori languageMoriori languageMoriori is an extinct Malayo-Polynesian language most closely related to New Zealand Māori. It is the native language of the Moriori, the indigenous people of the Chatham Islands , which are east of New Zealand and under its sovereignty....
was the language of the Chatham IslandsChatham IslandsThe Chatham Islands are an archipelago and New Zealand territory in the Pacific Ocean consisting of about ten islands within a radius, the largest of which are Chatham Island and Pitt Island. Their name in the indigenous language, Moriori, means Misty Sun...
.
Immigrant languages
New Zealand has more speakers of several Polynesian languagesPolynesian languages
The Polynesian languages are a language family spoken in the region known as Polynesia. They are classified as part of the Austronesian family, belonging to the Oceanic branch of that family. They fall into two branches: Tongic and Nuclear Polynesian. Polynesians share many cultural traits...
resident in New Zealand than are resident in the country that language is native to (for example Niuean
Niuean language
The Niuean language or Niue language is a Polynesian language, belonging to the Malayo-Polynesian subgroup of the Austronesian languages. It is most closely related to Tongan and slightly more distantly to other Polynesian languages such as Māori, Sāmoan, and Hawaiian...
). It also has immigrants from other European and Asian countries who have brought their languages with them. According to Ethnologue
Ethnologue
Ethnologue: Languages of the World is a web and print publication of SIL International , a Christian linguistic service organization, which studies lesser-known languages, to provide the speakers with Bibles in their native language and support their efforts in language development.The Ethnologue...
, the largest groups are Samoan
Samoan language
Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most...
(50,000), "Rarotongan" (Cook Islands Maori
Cook Islands Maori
The Cook Islands Māori language, also called Māori Kūki 'Āirani or Rarotongan, is the official language of the Cook Islands. Most Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland"....
, 25,000), Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
and other Indian languages (26,200), Yue Chinese (20,000) and Arabic
Arabic language
Arabic is a name applied to the descendants of the Classical Arabic language of the 6th century AD, used most prominently in the Quran, the Islamic Holy Book...
(4000).
Statistics
At the 2006 New Zealand Census, the following languages were spoken by more than 0.5% of the population.| Language | Number | Percentage |
|---|---|---|
| English English language English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria... |
3,673,626 | 95.90% |
| Māori Maori language Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand... |
157,113 | 4.10% |
| New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language New Zealand Sign Language or NZSL is the main language of the Deaf community in New Zealand. It became an official language of New Zealand in April 2006, alongside Te Reo Māori.... |
24,087 | 0.63% |
| Samoan Samoan language Samoan Samoan Samoan (Gagana Sāmoa, is the language of the Samoan Islands, comprising the independent country of Samoa and the United States territory of American Samoa. It is an official language—alongside English—in both jurisdictions. Samoan, a Polynesian language, is the first language for most... |
85,423 | 2.23% |
| French French language French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts... |
53,757 | 1.40% |
| Hindi | 44,589 | 1.16% |
| Yue Chinese | 44,151 | 1.15% |
| Mandarin Chinese | 41,394 | 1.08% |
| Chinese Varieties of Chinese Chinese comprises many regional language varieties sometimes grouped together as the Chinese dialects, the primary ones being Mandarin, Wu, Cantonese, and Min. These are not mutually intelligible, and even many of the regional varieties are themselves composed of a number of... (not further defined) |
38,709 | 0.99% |
| German German language German is a West Germanic language, related to and classified alongside English and Dutch. With an estimated 90 – 98 million native speakers, German is one of the world's major languages and is the most widely-spoken first language in the European Union.... |
37,509 | 0.98% |
| Tongan Tongan language Tongan is an Austronesian language spoken in Tonga. It has around 200,000 speakers and is a national language of Tonga. It is a VSO language.-Related languages:... |
29,499 | 0.77% |
| Dutch Dutch language Dutch is a West Germanic language and the native language of the majority of the population of the Netherlands, Belgium, and Suriname, the three member states of the Dutch Language Union. Most speakers live in the European Union, where it is a first language for about 23 million and a second... |
26,982 | 0.70% |
| Korean Korean language Korean is the official language of the country Korea, in both South and North. It is also one of the two official languages in the Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in People's Republic of China. There are about 78 million Korean speakers worldwide. In the 15th century, a national writing... |
26,967 | 0.70% |
| Spanish Spanish language Spanish , also known as Castilian , is a Romance language in the Ibero-Romance group that evolved from several languages and dialects in central-northern Iberia around the 9th century and gradually spread with the expansion of the Kingdom of Castile into central and southern Iberia during the... |
21,642 | 0.56% |
| Afrikaans | 21,123 | 0.55% |
| Japanese Japanese language is a language spoken by over 130 million people in Japan and in Japanese emigrant communities. It is a member of the Japonic language family, which has a number of proposed relationships with other languages, none of which has gained wide acceptance among historical linguists .Japanese is an... |
20,883 | 0.55% |
| None (e.g. too young) | 75,570 | 1.97% |