In line with the theme of Te Wiki o te Reo Māori 2026, ‘Te Reo Towns’, Google Maps has partnered up with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori to create proper pronunciation of cities and towns across Aotearoa on the app.
Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr, Chief Executive of Te Taura Whiri, called it an “exciting tool” which secures the future for te reo Māori in the digital age.
“Pēnei i ngā reo katoa, he pūrākau ka kawea e ngā ingoa wāhi Māori, e tūhono ana i a tātou ki ō tātou hītori, ki ō tātou tāngata, me ā tātou ekenga. Ko te tūāoma tuatahi ki te tūhura i aua pūrākau ko te whakahua tika. Mēnā tātou ka rongo i te whakahuatanga tika o ngā kupu, ka āhei tātou ki te whakahua tika i ngā kupu. He kōkiritanga hirahira tēnei ki te whakataunoa i te reo Māori hei reo o ia rā.
“I a Aotearoa ka whakatika ki te whakanui i Te Wiki o te Reo Māori i raro i te tāwharau o ‘Ngā Tāone Reo’, ko tā tēnei hangarau he tuku i ngā ārahitanga inamata mō te rongo me te whakahua tika i ngā ingoa wāhi Māori,” he wrote in a statement.
Unlike in the ‘Only in Aotearoa’ skit around te reo Māori map settings, where there is a fluent, bro, auntie, and Tame Iti voice setting, the new AI-powered text-to-speech model only has a generic kiwi accent.
@julesevisions Only in Aotearoa - Bro Reo and Tama Iti Reo could defintely be fun, for a bit. #onlyinaotearoa #maoritv #tereo #gps ♬ original sound - julesesestv
Country Director of Google New Zealand, Caroline Rainsford, is excited for the new “local voice” to be introduced to New Zealanders.
“E rua ngā āhuatanga waiwai i angitu ai tēnei whakahounga: Nā ngā kokenga i te Atamai Hangahanga i taea ai e tā mātou tauira Kuputuhi ki te Kōrero ngā ingoa wāhi reo Māori te whakahua i te rerenga kōrero reo Ingarihi. Ka mutu, e kore tēnei e taea i te korenga o tā mātou haere kōtui taumano, mahi tahi anō hoki ki a Te Taura Whiri.
“E poho kererū ana mātou ki te whakarewa i tēnei reo i Aotearoa, he mōhio nō mātou ki te hiranga o te whakahua tika i ō tātou ingoa wāhi,” she said.
At the core of the development of this kaupapa, Māori data sovereignty and Google’s AI Principles were at the centre of it.
At the start, the kaitiaki of the Māori lexicon will be Te Taura Whiri, with long-term plans being to establish a group of interested parties for the kaitiakitanga of the Māori data.
The new voice and pronunciations are to be rolled out over the next two weeks. It is expected that it will not pronounce every word properly from launch, but will get better over time.
Currently, the collab has only focused on cities and towns, with Google looking into potentially updating to streets and roads in the future.
Apanui-Barr said people can submit te reo Māori place and street names on the Te Taura Whiri website if they hear it being mispronounced.
