Google Maps has introduced a New Zealand-accented voice for its navigation tool that correctly pronounces Māori placenames, ending years of distorted pronunciations that grated on speakers of te reo Māori. The update is the result of a multi-year collaboration with Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori, the Māori Language Commission.
Normalising Te Reo Māori
Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr, the commission’s chief executive, hailed the launch as a major step in normalising the language. “We can’t underestimate just how important this is in terms of normalising te reo Māori. When everybody who is learning te reo Māori, or who speaks the language, hears those placenames being used, their language journey is being supported,” he told the Guardian.
Apanui-Barr said he “giggled with glee” when he heard the placenames pronounced properly. “It just spoke directly to my heart, to hear my language being pronounced properly on an app … this is the future of my language, is one of the foundations we need to have in place, because if people hear the language being pronounced properly, they are going to say it properly too.”
Resurgence of Māori Language
Te reo Māori has seen a major resurgence in the past decade, despite government policies to limit its use in the public service. According to the 2023 census, Māori is the second most widely spoken language in New Zealand, after English. Between 2018 and 2023, the number of Māori speakers increased by 15%. Waiting lists for classes are extensive, Māori songs often top the charts, and Hollywood studios have released Māori-dubbed versions of movies.
Project Background and Technical Details
The project began in 2017, when Google and telecommunications company Vodafone (now One NZ) launched a campaign calling on the public to identify mispronounced Māori names. More than 60,000 corrections were submitted, but technological hurdles caused delays. Advancements in AI text-to-speech models have now enabled the launch, said Caroline Rainsford from Google New Zealand.
The model is not bilingual—it operates in English—but draws on data of sounds and names, guided by the commission and publicly available New Zealand Geographic Board data. A voice actor recorded a large script of te reo Māori sounds, which feeds the model. The commission retains guardianship of that data to ensure Māori academics, researchers, and communities can access the lexicon.
Launch and Future Expansion
The initial launch prioritises cities, towns, and certain street names, with plans to expand into more roads and regions. Rainsford expressed pride that New Zealanders would now hear “a Kiwi voice” during navigation and “be able to hear really incredible pronunciation of our very sacred placenames in New Zealand.”
Apanui-Barr described the project as an example of how a public organisation can work with a private sector company to do a “really good job.” A number of other countries are on the waitlist for voice capture of their Indigenous languages, with projects under way in Australia and the US.
