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

The brief

For years, Māori placenames have been distorted into nearly unrecognisable sounds by Google Maps in New Zealand. For those with attuned ears, it can be grating or offensive. Now the Māori language commission – Te Taura Whiri i te Reo Māori – has collaborated with Google to fix it, launching a New Zealand-accented voice for its navigation tool that can correctly pronounce Māori words. It is the culmination of a project that has been years in the making. “We can’t underestimate just how important this is in terms of normalising te reo Māori [Māori language],” Ngahiwi Apanui-Barr, the commission’s chief executive, told the Guardian. “When everybody who is learning te…