English equivalents are only approximate, especially with the vowels, and only intended to give a general idea of the pronunciation. For more detail, see Māori language phonology.
^Māori wh is variable, and is often equated to English wh (for those without the wine-whine merger; New Zealand English has the merger). However, in contemporary Māori the most common pronunciation is [f], while the voiceless bilabial fricative [ɸ] or 'Japanese f', deemed by some to be the sole pre-European contact variant – an unsupported claim –, is rarer.
^Stress falls on the first long vowel; otherwise on the first diphthong; otherwise on the first syllable—though never further than the 4th vowel from the end of the word, with long vowels and diphthongs counting double.
