Māori language

An Eastern Polynesian language of the indigenous Māori people of New Zealand (Aotearoa). Its closest relative is Cook Island Māori, which has particular affinities to the New Zealand Māori dialects of Northland and Taranaki, and the k-dialect of much of the South Island. It is part of the Tahitic subgroup of Eastern Polynesian. The Moriori language of the Chatham Islands, east of mainland New Zealand, is a widely divergent dialect of Māori.