It is also known as Māori Kūki ʻĀirani (or Maori Kuki Airani), or as Rarotongan [3] Many Cook Islanders also call it Te reo Ipukarea, which translates as "the language of the ancestral homeland".

Although usage of the macron (־) makarona and the glottal stop (ʻ) amata is recommended, most speakers do not use them in everyday writing.

The Cook Islands Māori Revised New Testament uses a standardised orthography that includes the ʻokina and macron.

E noʻo ana aia ki Nikao i tē reira tuātau : he used to live in Nikao at that time Ka imene a Mere ākonei ite pō : Mary is going to sing later on tonight Kua kite au ē ka riri a Tere : I know (or knew) that Tere will (or would) be angry Kua kite mai koe ia mātou : You saw us Kua meitaki koe ?

Kua oti te tārekareka : the match is over now Most of the preceding examples were taken from Cook Islands Maori Dictionary, by Jasper Buse with Raututi Taringa edited by Bruce Biggs and Rangi Moekaʻa, Auckland, 1995.