^Māori wh is variable, and is often equated to English wh (as pronounced by those without the wine-whine merger). However, contemporary Māori's most common pronunciation is [f]. The voiceless bilabial fricative [ɸ] is a rarer pronunciation, although it is deemed without proof by some to be the sole pre-European contact variant.
^Stress falls on the first long vowel or on the first diphthong. Otherwise, it is on the first syllable but never earlier than the fourth-last vowel in a word, with both long vowels and diphthongs counting twice.
