Whīwhiwhi, or arero whīwhiwhi, are tongue-twisters in te reo Māori. Practicing them can help us with our pronunciation skills, or can be a fun competition with friends and whānau to see who can say them correctly the fastest!
Try saying the whīwhiwhi below three times in a row. How fast can you say them?
Kutukutu ketuketu tukutuku tukua tonutia ki taku tekoteko
He kōrapa te hapa o Pāpā
Koia te hōia i tōia e te rōia, ka moea e Poia, ka rere ki Mokoia
E kara ka taka he huatakataka
Engari te ngaringari i kore rawa te korekore
Something is better than nothing
Ka kakakaka te Kākā me ōna kaka whakakakakaka
The Kākā stutters with its asymmetrically striped clothes
Ko te ngako o ngā kongakonga i ngā kokonga ngā nganga o ngā koko
The essence of the crumbs in the corners
Ka titongi te Titi totetote totitoti ai
I nibble at the salty mutton bird while limping
Ka tapa te tama tata kia tāpapa patata ki ngā pata patapata
The nearby boy said to bow close to the falling raindrops
Eaoia, i a ia i Te Papaioea, i uiuia uiui uaua e ia
Remarkably, while he was in Palmerston North, a difficult question was asked by him
Ka ruriruri ngā riroriro i ngā rārā parapara
The grey warblers shiver on the remaining branches
Turiwētaitai, turiwētautau kia tau kia mau
He whā tāwhara ki wāwe kiko tāmure ki tai
