Is pronounced as a in bate, hate, &c., only not quite so slow, or so broad. Perhaps the final e in the French words café, felicité, would be a closer resemblance; e. g., koe, rea, re, kete, mate, tenei, rere.
(2.) As e in poetical, there; e. g., tena, renga-renga, kete, rere.
Few sounds in Maori are more frequently mis-pronounced by foreigners than e. Tohe, ngare, kumea, hoea mai te waka, te reinga, te rangi, rewera, korero, have been all so carelessly pronounced as to sound to the native ear as if spelt, tohi, ngari, kumia, hoia mai ti waka, to reinga, to rangi, Rewara, kororo. The reader should also be careful not to give e the dipthongal sound of ei; as in ne the interrogative particle, &c.
I
I is pronounced like the French i; as ee in sleep, green, &c.; when distinctly and fully pronounced it imparts much melodiousness to the sentence; e. g. ariki, kīki, to chatter, &c.
In the following it has a shorter sound: kĭki, crowded; mĭti, tĭti, &c.
N. B.—The speaker should be careful not to confound i with the Maori e; as in such words as wakatoi, hoi, &c.
O
Has a long and a short sound, a long; as toto, to drag.
A short; as toto, blood.