Kua puta a Google Whakamāori ki te reo Māori.

 Nā te pukumahi o ētehi kaitūao i Aotearoa kua puta a Google Whakamahi ki te reo Māori i tēnei rā.

 Ka nui te mahi kia whai tūranga ai a reo Māori ki te Google Whakamāori nei. I ngā tau tata nei kua mahi ngātahi mātou ko Takuta Te Taka Keegan, he kaingākau ki te reo Māori, he pūkenga hoki kei te Tari Rorohiko o te Whare Wānanga o Waikato. Kua roa ia e kimi huarahi ana mō ngā reo taketake o te ao ki ngā kaupapa hangarau.

 I a Takuta Keegan e noho ana ki Google ka rangahau ia i nga hua o ngā reo taketake ki ngā pūmanawa whakawhiti reo. Nā taua mahi ka puta te reo Māori ki te Google Translator Toolkit, ā, ka āhei te reo ki ngā kaiwhakamāori o Aotearoa nei. I tua atu, ka pukumahi tētehi tīma o ngā kaiwhakamāori tūao i ngā marama tata nei, kua whakamāori te tīni o ngā kupu me ngā kīanga Māori e wātea ai te rapu me te hōpara atu ki ngā pae tukutuku, mā runga tonu i te reo Māori. Ko te otinga atu, ko te reo Māori ki te Google Whakamāori i tēnei rā.

 Ko te hua mō ngā reo taketake, whērā i te reo Māori, ko te whānui atu o te kite me te whakamahi atu o te reo, ā, ka noho ngāwari iho ki ngā taringa o te hunga kore mōhio ki taua reo. Me whai hua ngā reo taketake ki te ipurangi, kia noho mana tonu aua reo ki te hunga tamariki, i te mea kei a rātou kē te oranga o te reo ahakoa te aha.

 Ko te wawata iho nei, ka tokomaha ake ngā tāngata ka kite atu i te ātaahua o te reo Māori nā runga i te whakamahi o te reo Māori ki tēnei tūmomo hangarau.

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 Google Translate now in Māori

 Today, thanks to the efforts of passionate volunteers in New Zealand, we’re adding Te Reo Māori to Google Translate.

 Bringing the Māori language to Google Translate has been an ongoing project. Over the last few years, we’ve worked with Dr. Te Taka Keegan, a Māori language activist and senior lecturer in computer science at the University of Waikato, who spent much of his career working on how technology can assist in minority language revitalisation.  

 While at Google, Dr. Keegan researched how computer-aided translation tools can help preserve minority languages. From that research, we released an alpha version of the Translator Toolkit to various members of Māori translation community here in Aotearoa.  And after months of hard work, an amazing team of Māori-speaking volunteers helped translate thousands of words and phrases so Māori language speakers and students could search and explore webpages online. Today, we’ve fully graduated to Google Translate.

 For minority languages such as Te Reo Māori, Google Translate provides more ways for the language to be seen and used, and greater understanding for those who are unfamiliar with the language. Online presence of small languages keeps languages relevant in the age of the Internet and globalisation, encouraging minority language use by children who are ultimately responsible for bringing the language to future generations.

 We hope that making this language more accessible through this technology will help more people experience our beautiful native language.

 Ross Young, Public Policy Manager, Google New Zealand