Ko te whakakotahi mai i ētahi kupu e rua, neke atu hei hanga kupu hou. Hei tauira, ko te ‘papakupu’. I ētahi kupu pūhui ka honoa ngā kupu ake ki te tohuhono pēnei i te ‘Whiringa-ā-rangi’ me te ‘uru-mā-raki’. Tērā hoki ētahi kupu i takea mai i te piringa tahitanga o ētahi kupu e rua, engari kua noho tangata whenua ki te reo hei kupu kotahi. Hei tauira, ko te 'ātaahua', me te 'manaaki'.
The combining of two or more words to form a new word with its own meaning. For example, the word ‘papakupu’. In some compound words, the individual parts are connected with a hyphen, such as in ‘Whiringa-ā-rangi’ and ‘uru-mā-raki’. There are also some words which originate from the combining of two words but have become normalised as single words. Examples include 'ātaahua' and 'manaaki'.
Ina mārama te tamaiti ki ngā kupu ake, ka whai māramatanga hoki ki te kupu pūhui.
He maha ngā kupu pūhui kua uru mai ki te reo Māori i ngā tau tata kua pahure nei.
I ētahi kupu pūhui, he nui ake i te rua ngā kupu ake e honoa ana, pēnei i te poro-tapawhā (poro + tapa + whā) me te mataono-rite (mata + ono + rite).