Taumatawhakatangihangakōauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupōkaiwhenuakitānatahu is the longest place name in the world. Photo / File
Taumatawhakatangihangakōauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronukupōkaiwhenuakitānatahu is the longest place name in the world. Photo / File
Smart devices like Amazon's Alexa are becoming more commonplace in Aotearoa but it seems they've still got a way to go before they can nail our reo.
A video shared to Te Reo Māori Launchpad, a Facebook page set up to promote the use of te reo Māori, shows anAlexa device struggling to pronounce one of the longest place names in the world, Taumatawhakatangihangakōauauotamateaturipukakapikimaungahoronuku- pōkaiwhenuakitānatahu (a place name too long to fit on a single line on this website).
Others suggested that the fact the name was even attempted was a good start.
"It's actually pretty impressive," one woman wrote. "She gave it a crack which is more than what some people could do".
Another man said: "People are giving Alexa crap....but how many people in this country can actually pronounce it correctly? I'm just surprised that the option for her to even attempt it is there."
It hit the headlines in 2015 when a video of a British weatherman tackling the notoriously tricky Welsh place name Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch went viral.
Not to be outdone, TVNZ's Renee Wright busted out our longest place name on-air and Te Karere's Oriini Kaipara went one further, delivering it before then making a valiant attempt on the Welsh location.
The 85-letter version, which translates roughly into English as 'the hill on which Tamatea, the chief of great physical stature and renown, played a lament on his flute to the memory of his brother', isn't even the longest version of the name - with a longer version registering 105 letters.
