New Zealand finally gets a Google Maps tool that correctly pronounces Māori placenames

For a long time, Google Maps in New Zealand has been saying Māori place names in a way that sounded very different from the correct pronunciation. For people who know the language well, this was often annoying or even felt disrespectful.

Now, the Māori Language Commission, called Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, has worked with Google to fix this problem. They have created a New Zealand accent voice for the navigation tool that can say Māori words correctly. This is the result of a project that has taken many years to complete.

Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr, the chief executive of the commission, explained how important this is for making te reo Māori, the Māori language, more normal in everyday life. He stated that when everyone, including those learning or speaking the language, hears these place names pronounced correctly, it helps their language learning journey.

Te reo Māori has seen a significant increase in its use over the last ten years, even as some government policies aim to reduce its presence in public services. There are long waiting lists for Māori language classes, Māori songs are often at the top of the music charts, and Hollywood is even releasing movie versions in Māori.

According to the 2023 census, Māori is the second most spoken language in New Zealand, after English. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of Māori speakers grew by 15%.

Apanui-Barr shared that he was extremely happy when he heard the place names being pronounced properly. He felt it was a direct connection to his heart to hear his language spoken correctly on an app. He believes that hearing the language pronounced well will encourage people to say it correctly too, which is important for the future of the language.

He described the project as a great example of how a public organisation and a private company can collaborate effectively. The Google project has initially focused on cities, towns, and some street names, with plans to include more areas and roads in the future.

This initiative follows a previous attempt in 2017 when Google, with support from the language commission and the company One NZ (formerly Vodafone), asked the public to identify mispronounced Māori names, promising corrections by the end of that year. Despite over 60,000 corrections being submitted, technical difficulties caused delays.

Caroline Rainsford from Google New Zealand mentioned that recent improvements in AI speech technology have finally made this project possible. The system is based on English but uses data from Māori sounds and names, guided by the commission and official geographic information. A voice actor was hired to record many Māori sounds, which then trained the AI model. The commission will continue to oversee this data, ensuring access for Māori academics, researchers, and communities.

Other countries are also waiting for similar voice technology for their indigenous languages, with projects already starting in Australia and the US. Rainsford expressed pride that New Zealanders will now hear a local voice and hear the correct pronunciation of important Māori place names.