released to help revive endangered native language
An app providing an introduction to ta rē Moriori - the native language of the Moriori people - has been released in a bid to revive the endangered language.
The Ta Rē Moriori Language App was released on Tuesday by the Hokotehi Moriori Trust, an organisation representing the indigenous people of New Zealand's Chatham Islands (Rēkohu), located off the east coast of the South Island.
The free app provides an introduction to basic Moriori language and contains a beginner's guide to pronunciation, chants or prayer (karakii) and songs (rongo). It will eventually be developed to include access to a Moriori dictionary and phrasebook.
Although ta rē Moriori is most closely related to te reo Māori, it is its own distinctive language - and is not just a dialect of te reo. It has a similar grammatical structure to most Polynesian languages, especially to languages spoken in Tahiti, the Austral Islands and the Marquesan group.
Link to article: App for learning Moriori released to help revive endangered native language (msn.com)
