haere mai anō
/ˈhaere ˈmai aˈnoː/word by word
The Māori phrase for "welcome back" is haere mai anō.
Meaning: welcome back (phrase)
What does it mean word for word?
The phrase is composed of haere (go/come), mai (towards the speaker) and anō (again).
How does it change in a sentence?
To specify how many people you are welcoming back, you can add a pronoun to the end of the phrase. Add koe to welcome one person, kōrua to welcome two people or koutou to welcome a group of three or more people.
How do you pronounce it?
/ˈhaere ˈmai aˈnoː/
Did you know?
- In traditional Māori culture, greetings are often accompanied by a hongi, where two people press noses and foreheads together to share the 'breath of life'.
- While haere literally means 'go', the addition of mai flips the meaning to 'come', reflecting a spatial logic where 'coming' is simply 'going toward me'.
- The root of mai can be traced back thousands of years to Proto-Austronesian, linking the phrase to the ancient migrations of people across Southeast Asia and the Pacific.
Examples in context
- Haere mai anō ki te kāinga.Welcome back home.
- Haere mai anō ki tēnei whare.Welcome back to this house.
- Haere mai anō, e hoa.Welcome back, friend.
Example conversation
Wiremu greets Anahera as she returns from a long trip.
- WiremuHaere mai anō, Anahera!Welcome back, Anahera!
- AnaheraTēnā koe, Wiremu.Thank you, Wiremu.
- WiremuI pēhea tō haerenga?How was your journey?
- AnaheraHe pai rawa!It was great!
Sources
- IPA marked “word by word” joins the Wiktionary pronunciations of each word (haere, mai, anō) and can differ in connected speech.
- Word origins: Wiktionary entries mai, CC BY-SA 4.0.
