KEY POINTS:
There's every chance a Tauranga kura kaupapa bus might drive a few people nuts during Maori Language Week which starts today.
Motorists travelling behind Te Kura Kaupapa o Maori o Otepou students might take a few attempts to puzzle out the sign in the back window which says 22RU 4KAMAUA, Ngaiterangi Iwi Runanga chairman Paul Stanley said.
But working out what the text says, in this case tuturu whakamaua, a phrase which encourages holding on to the language permanently, is part of the challenge of the week.
For the past couple of months, the iwi authority has been working on coding te reo for texting. The idea came from people's reaction to college students using text language in exams, Mr Stanley said. "It's a challenge for people like me because I text longhand, it challenges die hard te reo experts, the technophobes and the reo-phobes. But challenges are great."
Mr Stanley has a masters degree in socio-linguistics. Part of the problem of texting in Maori was what to do with the vowels - which in many cases were omitted in English texts.
The code was based simply on phonetics, there weren't too many rules to it, and it was something Maori and Pakeha would be able to pick up, he said.
"People have dabbled in developing a code. We plan to take it a step further. When people see it, they'll see it is a phonetic concept, which fits the language.
"We tested it out on some Pakeha and they got it just like that, so that tells me it's easy."
Te Reo expert Reweti Te Mete said the project was about modernising the language.
"We've got the chance to do this right now because te reo texting is new and still developing. We also want to widen its appeal to more people. Our designs are one way in which people can start thinking about the wider uses of te reo and have fun doing it."
The runanga plans to update the text messages on the bus fortnightly.
Maori Language Commission chairman Erima Henare praised the initiative and said anything which gave te reo a profile had to be a good thing.
TEXT TEASERS
E 2 ki te WRo - E tu ki te wero, Rise to the challenge
Hiremy kitky - Haere mai ki te kai, Come and eat
4re - Whare
4no - Whanau
4krngo - Whakarongo
2ranga?? - Turangawaewae
?kato - Waikato
Ttro - Titiro, to look
A FEW HANDY PHRASES TO KNOW
It's Maori Language Week and we'll be publishing in Maori each day. To kick things off, five phrases for Aucklanders:
Te kino hoki o te whaiwhai waka i t[e]nei ata! - The traffic was terrible this morning
Taihoa r[a] te m[a]kete rawa nei n[e]! - This property market is a worry
Te whai ai i a [ingoa] i te pepa o te R[a]tapu? - Did you see [insert NZ "celebrity here] in the Sunday's paper?
He pai te ngohe m[a] m[a]ku - I'll have a flat white
To really impress your mates, pull this proverbial saying out, which for Maori described the wealth and luxury of Auckland: - Te pai me te whai rawa o T[a]maki!
