Cook Islands Māori is an Eastern Polynesian language that is the official language of the Cook Islands. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to New Zealand Māori, but is a distinct language in its own right. Cook Islands Māori is simply called Māori when there is no need to disambiguate it from New Zealand Māori, but it is also known as Māori Kūki Āirani (or Maori Kuki Airani) or controversially Rarotongan. Many Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, literally "the language of the Ancestral Homeland". Official status Cook Islands Māori became an official language of the Cook Islands in 2003; from 1915 until then, English had been the only official language of the Cook Islands. Te Reo Maori Act definition The Te Reo Maori Act 2003 states that Māori: Pukapukan is considered by scholars and speakers alike to be a distinct language more closely related to Sāmoan and Tokelauan than Cook Islands Māori. It belongs to the Samoic subgroup of the Polynesian language family. The intention behind including Pukapukan in the definition of Te Reo Maori was to ensure its protection. The dialects of the East Polynesian varieties of the Cook Islands (collectively referred to as Cook Islands Māori) are: Rakahanga-Manihiki Penrhyn (Tongarevan or Mangarongaro); Southern: Rarotongan, Ngā Pū Toru (the dialects of Atiu, Mitiaro and Mauke), Aitutaki, Mangaia. Cook Islands Māori is closely related to Tahitian and New Zealand Māori, and there is a degree of mutual intelligibility with both of these languages. The language is theoretically regulated by the Kopapa Reo created in 2003, but this organisation is currently dormant. Writing system and pronunciation There is a debate about the standardisation of the writing system. Although the usage of the macron (־) te makarona and the glottal stop amata () () is recommended, most speakers do not use the two diacritics in everyday writing. The Cook Islands Māori Revised New Testament uses a standardised orthography (spelling system) that includes the diacritics when they are phonemic but not elsewhere. Consonants Present only in Manihiki Present only in Penrhyn Present only in Manihiki and Penrhyn Vowels Grammar Cook Islands Māori is an isolating language with very little morphology. Case is marked by the particle that initiates a noun phrase, and like most East Polynesian languages, Cook Islands Māori has nominative-accusative case marking. The unmarked constituent order is predicate initial: that is, verb initial in verbal sentences and nominal-predicate