Transcribe Maori audio with WhisperAI
WhisperAI transcribes Maori (Te Reo Māori) audio for the around 200,000 speakers, with active revitalisation in Aotearoa who use the language across Aotearoa New Zealand. Built on OpenAI Whisper and tuned for the realities of Maori speech, the service produces publication-grade transcripts in Latin alphabet with macrons over long vowels (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū).
Who actually needs Maori transcription
Te Reo demand comes from Whare Kura and Kura Kaupapa Māori (Māori-medium schools), Whakaata Māori broadcasting, iwi cultural work, and New Zealand government bilingual documentation.
Dialects and varieties handled
- Tai Tokerau (Northland)
- Waikato-Maniapoto
- Mātaatua
- Te Arawa
- Tūhoe
Macrons matter — and Te Reo revitalisation makes accuracy a cultural duty
Te Reo Māori uses macrons over long vowels, and stripping them changes word meaning ("keke" cake vs "kēkē" armpit). It's also in active revitalisation under Aotearoa's Māori Language Strategy. Whisper preserves macrons correctly, which is the bare minimum for any tool used in revitalisation contexts.
Tai Tokerau, Waikato-Maniapoto, Mātaatua, Te Arawa and Tūhoe dialects are all supported with proper macron preservation.
How Maori speakers actually use WhisperAI
- Kura Kaupapa Māori documentationMāori-medium schools transcribe Te Reo instructional content with proper macron preservation.
- Whakaata Māori broadcastingMāori Television transcribes Te Reo content for caption use.
- Iwi and hapū cultural workIwi cultural institutions document oral histories from kaumātua with proper Te Reo preservation.
- NZ government bilingual documentationCrown agencies transcribe Te Reo portions of bilingual meetings under Te Tiriti commitments.
What Maori transcripts include
Native Latin alphabet with macrons over long vowels (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū)
Output in Latin alphabet with macrons over long vowels (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū) with all diacritics, tone marks, special characters and script-specific conventions preserved — never transliteration.
Speaker labels
Diarisation that separates and labels speakers in Maori interviews, panels and multi-party meetings.
Timestamps and SRT
Word-level timestamps and SRT subtitle export for Maori video captioning, with proper line-breaking for the script.
Editor and exports
In-browser editor with PDF, DOCX, TXT and SRT exports. Edit the transcript without leaving the browser, then download the format your downstream workflow expects.
How to transcribe Maori audio
Upload your Maori recording
Drop in MP3, WAV, M4A, MP4 or similar — files up to 5GB. Long-form Maori interviews, lectures and meetings work without splitting.
Whisper transcribes the audio
The model recognises Maori speech across the dialects above and outputs Latin alphabet with macrons over long vowels (ā, ē, ī, ō, ū). Code-switched English and other languages in the same recording are handled inline.
Edit, label and export
Open the transcript in the editor, fix any names or terms, label speakers, and export to PDF, DOCX, TXT or SRT. Optional AI summary surfaces the key points and decisions.
Transcribe in 100+ languages
WhisperAI supports Maori alongside over 100 other languages with the same accuracy and editor experience.
Other widely-used pages: English, Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, Japanese, Korean, Chinese, Arabic, Russian, Hindi, Italian, and 80+ more languages including Swedish, Norwegian, Danish, Finnish, Greek, Malay, Filipino and beyond.
See every supported language, with transcription, realtime and translation coverage.
Transcription guides and best practices
Start transcribing Maori today
Sign up free, drop in your first Maori file, and have a usable transcript in minutes.