And if anyone reading this wants to get a better understanding of pronouncing Māori words, it’s got some similarity with Japanese. Here’s a tip:
a = ah
e = eh
i = ee
o = aw (as in hawk, but not USA’s ‘hock’)
u = oo (as in ew but less of the ‘e’)
wh = f
The r consonant rolls a bit, so it’s like a very soft d sound.
And when vowels are close together they tend to kind of mesh into one, like ‘ai’ into ‘eye.’
So the word whanau (family) is pronounced fah-know, and kaimoana (seafood) is k’eye’-maw-ah-nah. And the Māori word itself is maah-aw-ree, but we’d let you off if you said mow-ree (as in mowing the lawn) because you’re at least making an attempt.
https://external-content.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=https%3A%2F%2Fstatic.wikia.nocookie.net%2Ffcoc-vs-battles%2Fimages%2F4%2F41%2FScaryScooby.jpg%2Frevision%2Flatest%2Fscale-to-width-down%2F550%3Fcb%3D20230226184738&f=1&nofb=1&ipt=601e0f4fba6e32e141f9946f6433091a92765e8a4566f14edcbbffac3c84a7ee&ipo=images
In case I’m useless with technology now and the above image doesn’t show up, the dog’s faced reminds me of the AvocadoAnimations Scooby Doo skit on YouTube.