A Maori Podcast

Maori x Hawaiian - Harry Potter: Language Comparison and Similarities

January 21, 2026 / 15:47 / S1E53

Episode Description

Kia ora! I'm excited for todays episode. I thought I would do a language comparison of Te Reo Maori and Olelo Kanaka. Do excuse my olelo pronunciation. I'm still working on improving it, as I definitely sound like a Maori speaking Hawaiian haha. Enjoy!


Olelo Kanaka: Mokuna Ekahi - Ke Keiki i Pakele

Reo Maori: Te Wahanga Tuatahi - Te Tama i Ora tonu


Olelo Kanaka: Ua ha'aheo o Mr laua o Mrs Durley o Helu Eha, Ala Pilikino, i ka ha'i aku he po'e ma'amau no laua, mahalo nui loa.

Reo Maori: Whakahi ana a Mita raua ko Miha Tuhiri, no te kainga tuawha i te Ara o Piriweti, ki te ki he tino maori noa iho nei raua - kia mohio mai koe.


Olelo Kanaka: Aohe loa ou mahu'i he komo laua i ka hana ano 'e a hookahaha paha, no ka mea, aohe loa o laua pili aku me kela ano.

Reo Maori: Ko raua hoki tetahi tokorua e tino kore nei e uru ki nga ahuatanga e koroke ana ranei, e porehu ana ranei, na te mea kaore raua e paku pai ana ki aua hanga heahea.


Breakdown:

Olelo Kanaka:

Mokuna - This is related to our kupu maori Motunga.

Ua - Kua in the reo.

Haaheo - Whakahihi, whakahi, pohokereru all these types of words in maori.

laua o - raua ko. This one is very similar, basically the same, it works exactly the same too.

ha'i - whaki. Basically has the same vibe as the reo maori counterpart.

po'e - In the reo we have many words of this nature, hunga, kapa, kahui, tira, whakaminenga, minenga, marea, it's the same vibe.

hana - mahi.

ano 'e - whano ke. Pretty sure the maori word is of the same nature, 'e is ke in maori, but ano has loads of meanings in the olelo.

ano -

I thought I'd list out a few meanings that ano holds in the olelo which it has, but I give the maori counterpart:

  1. kano/kakano
  2. momo
  3. ahua
  4. whanoke (only in the ano 'e usage though -- I think)
  5. take/raru (Olelo would say something like 'He aha kou ano?' Maori being - 'He aha to take?/ He aha to raru?)



If you are keen to learn more about the Olelo Kanaka. These are the resources I used to teach myself.

  1. Clinton Kanahele Collection
  2. Wehewehe.org
  3. hawaiian-grammar.org
  4. Ka Alala
  5. Kanaeokana



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