Te Reo Māori
Macrons
In Māori, tohotō (macrons) are used to indicate how vowels should be pronounced (vowels with macrons have a longer sound). Sometimes however, words have double vowels which are different to tohutō (e.g., ātaahua (beautiful), whakaahua (photograph)).
An easy way to find out which vowels have macrons is to search the Māori Dictionary.
Typing macrons
To type a macron, press the tilde key (~) then type a vowel. This works for both Windows and macOS computers. To add a macron to a capital vowel, also hold down the shift key as you ordinarily would for a capital letter.
For macOS users, you can also hold down the Alt/Option key and type the vowel.
Adding tohotō to your keyboard
For Windows 11
- Click on the Windows Start icon then Language Settings (you may need to use the search bar)
- Click on the three dots to the right of English (New Zealand) and choose Language options
- Under Keyboards, click Add a Keyboard
- Click on Aotearoa NZ
- Remove the other keyboard layout
- Click on Language & Region at the top of the screen to get back to the languages
To add a language:
- Click Add a Language and type te reo Māori
- Click the language, then click Next
- If you don't want the user interface to be in te reo Māori, untick the language pack option. If you don’t handwrite on your computer, untick the handwriting option.
- Click Install
For Windows 10
- Click on the Windows Start icon then click on the Settings icon.
- Click on Time and Language, then Language in the menu on the left hand side.
- In the Windows Display Language dropdown menu, select English (New Zealand).
- Under Preferred Language, choose English (New Zealand) and click on Options.
- Under Keyboards on the menu on the left hand side, select Māori or Add a Keyboard if this not an option.
For macOS 10.11 and later
- Click on the Apple icon and open System Preferences
- Click on Keyboard
- Click on the Input Sources tab. Click on the + sign and scroll down the Input Methods List until you find Māori and add to the list.
- Make sure that Show Input Menu in Menu Bar is checked at the bottom of the window as this allows you to switch between languages.
Use of italics
If you are writing in English, italicise Māori words unless they are in common use (e.g., haka, hui, iwi, kai, kia ora, Pākeha, whānau).
APA style capitalisation
The recommendations for capitalisation in the 7th edition of APA Style are as follows:
- Ethnic and racial groups are capitalized, e.g. Māori rather than māori.
- Capitalise Indigenous and Indigenous People when a group is being referred to.
- Do not capitalise the word people when individuals are being referred to.
For more on this see https://apastyle.apa.org/style-grammar-guidelines/bias-free-language/racial-ethnic-minorities
Māori pronunciation
Many students may have to give oral presentations as part of their course assessment and its important te reo Māori is pronounced correctly. Alongside the friendly folk at Te Rau Tauawhi , Massey has a lot of online resources to help with pronunciation:
- Pronunciation guide
- Pōwhiri, mihi whakatau and mihimihi (Māori welcomes)
- Toro Mai (a free online introductory course on te reo Māori and tikanga Māori)
- Māori names for the university
Submit in Te Reo Māori
E āhei ana koe te tuhi i ō aromatawai ki Te Reo Māori. Ko tā Te Rau Tauawhi he āwhina i ngā tauira Māori ki te tuku aromatawatai ki Te Reo Māori, ki te tautoko hoki i ngā āhuatanga whakarite tuhinga, wetewete pātai, whakarārangi tohutoro me te whakawhanake i ō hononga ki ngā kaiako, ki te hunga āwhina tauira o te whare wānanga anō hoki.
Tuku –īmēra mai ki terautauawhi@massey.ac.nz, toro atu rānei ki tō mātou whārangi ipurangi ki http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/maori/get-help/current-students/maori-student-centre/maori-student-centre_home.cfm.
You are most welcome to write your assignments in Te Reo Māori. The Te Rau Tauawhi Māori Student Centre can help you to submit your assignment in Te Reo Māori and also provide general assignment structure support, breaking down the question, referencing and facilitating access to lecturers or other support services at Massey.
Email us at terautauawhi@massey.ac.nz or visit our webpage http://www.massey.ac.nz/massey/maori/get-help/current-students/maori-student-centre/maori-student-centre_home.cfm for more info.
Te Reo Māori resources:
Additional Te Reo Māori resources