Tohutō (macrons) are the lines you see above vowels in te reo Māori. Macrons are important for the correct elongated pronunciation of the vowel and if they are not used correctly, or at all, may alter the meaning of the word.
These CORE Education podcasts from Nichole Gully and Te Mihinga Komene discusses the use and importance of tohutō. Some key points from the podcasts include:
- to make the reading of te reo Māori much easier
- it is not good practice to mix tohutō and the use of double vowels – it affects the grades given in external examinations of te reo Māori
- cross referencing dictionaries to get the accurate placement of tohutō
As mentioned in the podcasts, the importance of consistency of tohutō in relation to Ministry of Education guidelines around tohutō and the direct link to te reo Māori assessment, it is important for schools and learners to be prepared for this. As digital technologies are used more often in classrooms and external examinations, are your devices enabled for tohutō?
2020 Digital Technologies in Schools surveys
The 2020 Digital Technologies (ICT) in Schools Report presented findings and information from surveys about the use of digital technologies in schools. Participating principals were asked if the software in their schools supported the use of tohutō in te reo Māori. 47% of principals said that their school’s software supported tohutō use.
When I reflect on the podcasts and this report, a few questions come to mind:
- What standard are we trying to set?
- How do we support schools and learners to enable macrons on their devices?
Adding tohutō to devices
Here is how to add a tohutō on a range of devices.
Mac
Windows
Tablet/iPad
Chromebook
Irrespective of what devices you use, it is important to be able to use tohutō to accurately represent the written use of te reo Māori, because it is part of the digital citizenship and literacy of all learners in Aotearoa respecting the indigenous reo of our country.
Anaru White
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Kia ora Anaru
I have often seen words like manaakitangi written and wondered why it doesn't have tohutō over the double aa.
Can you clarify this for me??
Cheers
Allanah
Kia ora Allanah
In the case of manaakitanga it is two words joined together; mana (prestige, status) and aki (to encourage). When you manaaki (care for) someone you are giving them status and are being hospitable.
Hei konā
Anaru
Kei te tungāne, te mutunga kē mai o te pai o āu nā whakamahukitanga mō te tohutō. Inā hoki te rawe o ngā kiriata poto nei hei āwhina i te tangata ki te patopato/tuhituhi i te tohutō. Kua ākona e au mē pēwhea te tuku tohutō ki ngā pukarangi ināianei :)
Nāku iti nei
Kei te huia kaimanawamōu i ārahi i a mātou i roto i ngā mahi ako i te reo Māori, e mihi ana.
Anaru
Kia ora Anaru,
Thanks to you, I now have easy access to macrons on my Windows computer. No more adding symbols or copying and pasting words from the internet.
Thanks for the practical advice.
Hei konā rā.
Adele.
Kia ora Adele
You are welcome, I have come across a lot of people doing what you were and this was one of the reasons for doing this blog.
Anaru
Kia ora Anaru, tēnā koe e hoa mō tou awhi, i have just recently changed over to using a tablet as my primary device, and it was frusturating me not having the macrons. How do you get macrons on your iphone ? Ngā Mihi
Kia ora Keela
To add macrons on your iPhone it is the same as adding them as shown on the iPad/Tablet video. Press the desired vowel and hold it down then slide to the macron option.
Ngā mihi o te wā
Anaru
Nga mihi Anaru, I have a keyboard for my ipad. How do you write macrons with the attached keyboard?
Kia ora Maxine,
Every iPad external keyboard maybe a little different.
I have a Logitech keyboard.
To add tohutō you have to bring up the iPad keyboard, insert the macron, then go back to the external keyboard.
To do that press the function key and (for me) the 3 key with a little picture of a keyboard.
The iPad keyboard will come up- insert the letter with the macron and then go back to the external keyboard.
I have uploaded a photo to show you how it looks on my keyboard.
https://drive.google.com/file/d/0BwaO1y3EpG29NERwNTFqSUpOc2s/view?usp=sharing
Kia ora Allanah
Thanks for that.
Anaru
Ngā mihi nui!! A really helpful video!
Thank you so much for this! It has been bugging me for ages how to get the macrons when I use my mac at school. You have solved the mystery!
KIa ora Ali
Pleased to hear.
Anaru
,Tena koe Anaru, how do i get the tohuto for windows 10 please.?
Never mind bro i've found it and thank you so much because i've been looking for the tohuto for ages, nga mihi….
How did you do it, e hoa? I’m still trying to figure it out…!
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