Te Kete o Karaitiana Taiuru (Blog)

Post Archive


  • Māori predictive TXT database

    Māori predictive TXT database

    First published in 2011 as a pdf with the title “Recommendation to update the NZ predictive TXT database: to create a new Māori predictive TXT database. Republished in January 2024 with the updated title “Māori predictive TXT database”. Using word frequency lists including: a Māori predictive text list, lists of common Māori words in New…

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  • Te Reo Māori revitalisation and adaption with AI

    Te Reo Māori revitalisation and adaption with AI

    ChatGPT has become a household name for many, and is usually in the mainstream media each day. There has been very little discussion about ChatGPT and the risks and benefits to Indigenous languages, and in particular Māori language – the indigenous language of New Zealand. ChatGPT and other Artificial Intelligence (AI) Language Learning Models (LLM’s)…

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  • Māori culture and language observations with ChatGPT

    Māori culture and language observations with ChatGPT

    ChatGPT (Chat Generative Pre-trained Transformer) is a chatbot launched by OpenAI in November 2022.  It has been discussed by international mainstream media with many academics and education facilities concerned at it’s ability to assist with plagiarised writings and research. As with any new technologies, there is very little Indigenous perspectives or input into developments which…

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  • Why I support a dual name for New Zealand

    Aotearoa, while not an original name for New Zealand, has been popularised and is commonly used as the Māori name for the North, South and Stewart Islands. For this reason, I support the dual name being proposed by the Māori Party, to be an official dual name for New Zealand. It is important to note…

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  • Culturally Safe Mihimihi for non Māori

    At the beginning of meetings, as practiced on marae and in meetings all over the country, a round of introductions and speeches usually occurs. During this time, Māori ordinarily stand to share a little bit about where they come from and who they are. If you are of Māori descent, these introductions often start with…

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  • Google Translate Māori – Sexist and Ignorant of LGBTQ+

    Google Translate is another example of AI, Algorithms and Machine Learning discriminating against minorities, while misrepresenting the Maori language and customs . Google Translate interprets te reo Maori more accurately as it learns and is supporting the revival of te reo Māori. While it had the expertise of Dr Te Taka Keegan in its development,…

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  • Origins of the term Pākehā

    The word Pākehā is a controversial word for some people. Some Māori and non Māori claim that the word Pākehā is offensive. Others have attempted to explain the word based on their own understandings and sometimes own hapū and whānau interpretations. Introduction This article provides an holistic analysis based on research from the early 18th…

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  • Kingi appropriation or ill informed individuals

    The NZ Herald and Stuff have run a number of stories about a restaurant using the name “Kingi” and a few Māori and non Māori claiming it is cultural appropriation. The arguments are in my opinion getting so absurd that that I worry about the knowledge of some people who claim to be cultural experts…

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  • macrons in .nz domain names

    macrons in .nz domain names

    This blog post is an update to my June 05 2011 post “Registering a domain name with a macron“. Since July 26, 2010 in New Zealand, all authorised .nz registrars have to be able to register a .nz domain name with a macron. Not all offer this service though. This type of domain is called…

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  • Office 365 Māori Spell Checker

    Te Ngutu Kura free Māori Spell checker has been freely available since 2001. Microsoft do have a Māori Language Pack with a spell checker that is largely based on Te Ngutu Kura. The Microsoft Māori Language Pack is ideal for people writing in te reo Māori only. For those who need to predominately write in…

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  • Te reo Māori alternative for Lorem Ipsum

    Te reo Māori alternative for Lorem Ipsum

    Te Re Māori is an official language of New Zealand. It is the Indigenous language of New Zealand/Aotearoa. The use of Latin as a place holder, while an international practice, there is no reason why any Indigenous Peoples can not and should not promote their own identity with their own language. Use of te reo…

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  • Dictionary of Māori Computer and Social Media terms

    Dictionary of Māori Computer and Social Media terms

    Over 374,000 unique headwords with translations from 32 different recorded sources makes this dictionary over six times larger than Ryan Modern Māori Dictionary, with almost 15 times more head words than the Williams dictionary.

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  • Kauamatua threatened with arrest for speaking e reo Māori

    Kauamatua threatened with arrest for speaking e reo Māori

    Kaumatua Kura Moeahu parliament’s Senior Māori Advisor was threatened with arrest for speaking te reo Māori after a traffic stop in Lower Hutt MāorTV has reported. It is only when the officer noticed Kura’s jacket had a Police related logo on it that the officer was informed by Kura that he is a Police Māori advisory board…

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  • Word list of te reo Moriori

    Word list of te reo Moriori

    This is not an academic or linguist publication, but a compilation of several historically published sources that contain word lists of Moriori. For full details including sources and an analysis download the publication here. My intention as a researcher was to compile and publish this material which is scattered among many historical publications that are…

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  • Māori baby names list

    Māori baby names list

    Over 1300 Maori Baby names; Christian, Mormon and non religious first names and their equivalent English name. Before using a name in the list, you should also check what other meanings are associated with the name. In the Maori language one word may have multiple meanings.

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  • Top 20 Māori baby names for 2015

    The most popular Māori baby names collated by Department of Internal Affairs was names were Maia for girls and Nikau for boys. All names were verified by Te Taura Whiri to be Māori. The list is below. The top 20 names for girls were: 1. Maia 2. Manaia 3. Anahera 4. Ana 5. Aroha 6.…

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  • NZ School oversight of Maori in the house system.

    NZ School oversight of Maori in the house system.

    Little or no consideration has been applied to the house system in New Zealand Schools and the impacts that they have on Māori children. Many Māori children may be placed in a house that competes against another house that may have their ancestral name or other significant tribal sensitive name. The house system at school is…

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  • Macrons in Gnome

    Macrons in Gnome

    Preferences->Keyboard (from the gnome panel menu), the Layout tab has the Maori keyboard layout. –

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  • Macrons for Mac OSX (older than Lion)

    Macrons for Mac OSX (older than Lion)

    To enable macrons to be created in Mac OSX systems that are older than Lion. 1. Launch the System Preferences application 2. Navigate to Language & Text, then the Input Sources tab 3. Find Māori on the list and tick the checkbox next to it 4. Tick the box next to “Show Input menu in…

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  • Macrons in iPad 4, iPhone 4 and later

    Macrons in iPad 4, iPhone 4 and later

    These devices and their operating systems have system wide keyboard(s) available by default. Mac OSX Lion can also create macrons this way. Hold down the key for the vowel you want to macronise (Maybe a second). A small dialog will pop up showing you several options, including a macron.

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  • Te Reo Maori macrons in Samsung Galaxy

    Te Reo Maori macrons in Samsung Galaxy

    Samsung Galaxy 4 Samsung Galaxy 4 has several default common languages that do not include Māori or other language to create macrons. To install Māori and other languages, the easiest method is to install an app from Google Store. Latvian is the only language currently available that will create and recognise macrons. Install any soft keyboard…

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  • Macrons in Microsoft Surface

    Macrons in Microsoft Surface

    Typing macrons in Microsoft Surface tablet is the same as with an Apple i-device such as an iPhone or iPod, but the macrons are installed by default. To create a macron,  hold down the key of the vowel you want to add a macron to and a list of characters will appear. It is important to…

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  • Te Reo Māori Strategy lacks todays thinking

    The Minister of Māori Affairs, Hon Dr Pita Sharples announced a proposed change in te reo strategy but failed to miss the fact that technology plays a vital role in this area. For any language to be spoken by the masses it must be normalised and easy to access and widely used in not only…

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  • te reo Māori Spam brings te reo Māori into 21st Century

    With so much emphasis on te reo Māori being normalised; it looks as though spammers are now using Google Translate to translate spam into te reo Māori according to Robyn Gallagher http://www.robyngallagher.com/2014/01/11/te-reo-Māori-419-spam/ . Is this a new avenue of normalisation albeit an annoying but normal part of our online lives? I suspect so! and that…

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  • Automated te reo Māori translations via Google

    Google recently announced its support for several minority languages to translate into and from English with Māori being one of the minority languages. Background information from my October 15 2009 post is here. To use the translator visit http://translate.google.com For years a computer generated system to translate to and from te reo Māori has only…

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  • Google autocomplete: shocking racist and offensive to Maori

    Responding to Stuff.co.nz story about sexism against women titled “Shocking sexism in Google search” I have written about the way Google autocomplete discriminate against Maori. It is unfortunate that no effort has, nor has ever been made to discuss the racist and offensive auto complete relating to Māori or any other Indigenous Peoples of the…

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  • Te Reo 2 Tweet

    A fantastic Twitter tool that Tweets pre-set Māori language phrases, questions and sentences is available to use. Created by Professor Kevin Scannell of Saint Louis University, the te reo Māori sentences have been added by myself, by sourcing popular phrases and high frequency lists of sentences. It is an ideal tool for beginners of te…

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  • Macrons available in .iwi.nz web address

    A recent collaboration between GodZone Internet Services a domain name company and myself as the .iwi.nz moderator will ensure that Iwi can now register their web addresses and names with macrons within the exclusive .iwi.nz address. For example ngāi-mea.iwi.nz is now a feasible web address. Despite such technology being available for the past 3 years,…

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  • Te Reo Maori gate keepers for the future or for the cemetery

    Reo has to evolve or it will die, and it cannot be controlled by a small team; it has to be community driven. Gate keepers of the Māori language only hinder and halt its evolution. We live in an Information Technology driven society that needs Maori language to adapt. I have documented my personal thoughts…

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  • Papakupu Maori

    Commercial Māori language projects hold our people to ransom for what is our birth right – our language  The Papakupu is a Māori Language Dictionary that consists of headwords from published Māori dictionaries , databases, glossaries and Iwi dictionaries. It is estimated there will be over 150,000 unique headwords with each headword consisting of up…

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