Editing Māori language (section)

==== Long vowels ====
The alphabet devised at Cambridge University does not mark vowel length. The examples in the following table show that vowel length is phonemic in Māori.

{| {{table}}
| ''ata''||morning||'''''ā'''ta''|| carefully
|-
| ''keke''||cake||''k'''ē'''k'''ē'''''|| armpit
|-
| ''mana''||prestige||''m'''ā'''na''|| for him/her
|-
| ''manu''||bird||''m'''ā'''nu''|| to float
|-
| ''tatari''||to wait for||''t'''ā'''tari''|| to filter or analyse
|-
| ''tui''||to sew||''t'''ūī'''''|| [[parson bird]]
|-
| ''wahine''||woman||''w'''ā'''hine''|| women
|-
|}
Māori devised ways to mark vowel length, sporadically at first. Occasional and inconsistent vowel-length markings occur in 19th-century manuscripts and newspapers written by Māori, including macron-like [[diacritic]]s and doubling of letters. Māori writer [[Henry Matthew Stowell|Hare Hongi (Henry Stowell)]] used macrons in his ''Maori-English Tutor and Vade Mecum'' of 1911,<ref name="Stowell">{{cite book |title=Maori-English Tutor and Vade Mecum |first=Henry M. |last=Stowell |author-link=Henry Matthew Stowell |isbn=9781443778398 |date=November 2008 |publisher=Read Books }} This was the first attempt by a Māori author at a grammar of Māori.</ref> as does Sir [[Āpirana Ngata]] (albeit inconsistently) in his ''Maori Grammar and Conversation'' (7th printing 1953). Once the Māori language was taught in universities in the 1960s, vowel-length marking was made systematic. [[Bruce Biggs]], of [[Ngāti Maniapoto]] descent and professor at the [[University of Auckland]], promoted the use of double vowels (e.g. ''waahine''); this style was standard at the university until Biggs died in 2000.

Macrons ({{lang|mi|tohutō}}) are now the standard means of indicating long vowels,<ref>{{cite news |last1=Apanui |first1=Ngahiwi |title=What's that little line? He aha tēnā paku rārangi? |url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/96579604/whats-that-little-line-he-aha-tena-paku-rarangi |access-date=16 June 2018 |work=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |publisher=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=11 September 2017 |archive-date=16 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180616053312/https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/96579604/whats-that-little-line-he-aha-tena-paku-rarangi |url-status=live }}</ref> after becoming the favoured option of the [[Māori Language Commission]]—set up by the Māori Language Act 1987 to act as the authority for Māori spelling and orthography.<ref name="macrons">{{cite web |url=http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/english/pub_e/conventions3.shtml#Part_One_  |title=Māori Orthographic Conventions |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906110915/http://www.tetaurawhiri.govt.nz/english/pub_e/conventions3.shtml#Part_One_ |archive-date=6 September 2009 |publisher=Māori Language Commission |access-date=11 June 2010}}</ref><ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Keane |first1=Basil |title=Mātauranga hangarau – information technology – Māori language on the internet |url=https://teara.govt.nz/en/matauranga-hangarau-information-technology/page-3 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=29 June 2017 |date=11 March 2010}}</ref> Most news media now use macrons; [[Stuff (company)|Stuff]] websites and newspapers since 2017,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.stuff.co.nz/national/96578644/why-stuff-is-introducing-macrons-for-te-reo-maori-words.html|title=Why Stuff is introducing macrons for te reo Māori words|website=[[Stuff (website)|Stuff]] |date=10 September 2017|language=en|access-date=10 October 2018}}</ref> [[TVNZ]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/seven-sharp/clips/why-are-macrons-so-important-in-te-reo-m-ori-just-ask-weta-workshop|title=Seven Sharp – Why are macrons so important in te reo Māori|website=tvnz.co.nz|access-date=10 October 2018|archive-date=11 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181011013755/https://www.tvnz.co.nz/shows/seven-sharp/clips/why-are-macrons-so-important-in-te-reo-m-ori-just-ask-weta-workshop|url-status=dead}}</ref> and [[New Zealand Media and Entertainment|NZME]] websites and newspapers since 2018.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/horowhenua-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503788&objectid=12048013|title=Official language to receive our best efforts|author=Staff Reporters|work=[[The New Zealand Herald]]|access-date=10 October 2018|language=en-NZ|issn=1170-0777|archive-date=7 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200407170646/https://www.nzherald.co.nz/wanganui-chronicle/horowhenua-chronicle/news/article.cfm?c_id=1503788&objectid=12048013|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Technical limitations in producing macronised vowels are sometimes resolved by using a [[Diaeresis (diacritic)|diaeresis]]<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |last1=Keane |first1=Basil |title=Mātauranga hangarau – information technology – Māori language on the internet |url=http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/matauranga-hangarau-information-technology/3 |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |access-date=16 February 2020 |date=11 March 2010}}</ref> or [[circumflex]]<ref>{{cite book|title=Indigenous Cultural Heritage and Intellectual Property Rights|page=1|first1=Jessica Christine|last1=Lai|doi=10.1007/978-3-319-02955-9|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-3-319-02954-2|date=2014|location=Switzerland}}</ref> instead of a macron (e.g., wähine or wâhine). In other cases, it is resolved by omitting the macron all together (e.g. wahine).<ref>{{Cite web |date=2024-07-09 |title=About My Health Account |url=https://info.health.nz/services-support/websites-and-apps/my-health-account/about-my-health-account |access-date=2024-07-27 |website=Health Information and Services |quote=If your name contains letters with accents or macrons, type in the letter only, without the accent or macron. Our document-checking service does not recognise letters with accents or macrons.}}</ref>

Double vowels continue to be used in a few exceptional cases, including:
* The [[Waikato Tainui|Waikato-Tainui]] iwi preference is for using doubled vowels;<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://waikatomuseum.co.nz/exhibitions-and-events/view/2145882619|title=Te Wiki o Te Reo Maaori Discovery Trail – Waikato Museum|website=waikatomuseum.co.nz|access-date=10 October 2018|archive-date=10 October 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010213536/http://waikatomuseum.co.nz/exhibitions-and-events/view/2145882619|url-status=live}}</ref> hence in the [[Waikato]] region, double vowels are used by the [[Hamilton City Council (New Zealand)|Hamilton City Council]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.hamilton.govt.nz/Pages/Maori-Language-Week-2017.aspx|title=Māori Language Week 2017 – Hamilton City Council |website=hamilton.govt.nz |language=en-NZ|access-date=10 October 2018|archive-date=31 July 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210731151817/https://www.hamilton.govt.nz/Pages/Maori-Language-Week-2017.aspx|url-status=dead}}</ref> [[Waikato District Council]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://wdcsitefinity.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity-storage/docs/default-source/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/plans/district-plan-review/proposed-district-plan-chapters/13-definitions-notified-18072018.pdf?sfvrsn=f4cf80c9_2|title=Proposed District Plan (Stage 1) 13 Definitions|date=18 July 2018|website=Waikato District Council|page=28|access-date=10 October 2018|archive-date=10 October 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181010213630/https://wdcsitefinity.blob.core.windows.net/sitefinity-storage/docs/default-source/your-council/plans-policies-and-bylaws/plans/district-plan-review/proposed-district-plan-chapters/13-definitions-notified-18072018.pdf?sfvrsn=f4cf80c9_2|url-status=live}}</ref> and [[Waikato Museum]].
* [[Inland Revenue Department (New Zealand)|Inland Revenue]] continues to spell its Māori name {{lang|mi|Te Tari Taake}} instead of {{lang|mi|Te Tari Tāke}}, mainly to reduce the resemblance of {{lang|mi|tāke}} to the English word 'take'.<ref>{{cite encyclopedia |url= http://www.teara.govt.nz/en/taxes/page-8 |title= Taxes – Tax, ideology and international comparisons |first= Paul |last= Goldsmith |encyclopedia=[[Te Ara: The Encyclopedia of New Zealand]] |date= 13 July 2012 |access-date= 14 June 2013}}</ref> 
* A considerable number of governmental and non-governmental organisations continue to use the older spelling of {{angbr|[[roopu]]}} ('association') in their names rather than the more modern form {{angbr|rōpū}}. Examples include [[Te Roopu Raranga Whatu o Aotearoa]] ('the national Māori weavers' collective') and {{lang|mi|Te Roopu Pounamu}} (a Māori-specific organisation within the [[Green Party of Aotearoa New Zealand]]).
* Double vowels are also used instead of macrons in long vowels resultant from [[Compound (linguistics)|compounding]] (e.g. [[Mātaatua]]) or [[reduplication]].<ref>{{cite web | url=https://maoridictionary.co.nz/dictionary-info | title=Māori Dictionary Project | access-date=26 November 2020 | archive-date=2 December 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202160318/https://maoridictionary.co.nz/dictionary-info | url-status=live }}</ref>