Google Maps users across Aotearoa will soon hear Māori place names pronounced more accurately, following a landmark collaboration between Google and Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori that combines artificial intelligence with the revitalisation of te reo Māori.
The new feature introduces a New Zealand English voice for Google Maps that uses a Kiwi accent while significantly improving the pronunciation of Māori town and city names. The initiative is designed to make everyday navigation more authentic while helping New Zealanders become more familiar with the correct pronunciation of the country’s original place names.
The project is the culmination of several years of collaboration between Google and Te Taura Whiri, bringing together language experts, technology specialists and artificial intelligence to ensure te reo Māori continues to have a meaningful place in the digital world.
Correct pronunciation plays an important role in language revitalisation and helps reinforce the cultural significance of place names that reflect the history, identity and whakapapa of Aotearoa.
By integrating improved pronunciation into one of the world’s most widely used navigation platforms, millions of users will be exposed to te reo Māori during their daily travel.
While the update may appear simple to users, developing artificial intelligence capable of accurately pronouncing Māori words required significant technical and linguistic work.
The project involved ensuring AI could recognise Māori sounds, vowels, macrons and pronunciation patterns while maintaining a natural New Zealand voice.
As Indigenous languages become increasingly integrated into emerging technologies, questions around ownership, governance and protection of language data continue to grow.
Te Taura Whiri says Māori data sovereignty formed an important part of the collaboration, ensuring Māori remained kaitiaki of the language throughout the development process.
The initial rollout focuses primarily on towns and cities across Aotearoa, but thousands of Māori street names, rivers, mountains, marae and landmarks remain part of the country’s rich linguistic landscape.
The technology has the potential to continue evolving as artificial intelligence becomes more sophisticated and additional language data is incorporated.
The partnership represents another significant milestone in the digital revitalisation of te reo Māori, demonstrating how technology can support language learning while making Māori more visible and audible in everyday life.
For Māori, the initiative aligns with the broader aspirations of Maihi Karauna and Maihi Māori, which seek to increase the everyday use of te reo Māori across homes, workplaces, education and public life. By embedding accurate pronunciation into globally recognised technology, the collaboration helps reinforce the status of te reo as a living language that belongs at the centre of Aotearoa’s future.
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