Bilingual Signage: Macrons, Glottal Stops and Public Spelling
The student council at a school in Titikaveka has NZ$400 and two weeks to produce 12 bilingual signs: a welcome at the gate, office, library, “please sign in”, “no smoking”, and classrooms 1–3. The English text is fixed. The principal wants “correct macrons and glottal stops”. The board chair wants “the spelling everyone uses on Facebook, no macrons, because that is what parents read”. Official government signs nearby omit macrons on place names such as Titikaveka and Rarotonga, but the new Cook Islands Māori dictionary uses them. A local elder can check the final text, but only on the last day. The sign-maker needs the files 24 hours before printing. You have a meeting with both the principal and the board chair in three days. One sign will name the school’s location and another will name Rarotonga. You notice the school’s existing letterhead uses “Kia orana” without a macron.
1. Recommend an orthographic policy for the 12 signs. Justify it by purpose, audience, consistency, and respect for official names.
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I would separate proper names from common text. For place names such as Titikaveka and Rarotonga, I would check whether the school or local authority has an official written form and follow it, because place names are identities and are often fixed by usage. For common words and greetings, I would use macrons and glottal stops consistently, because they mark vowel length and a consonant and can change meaning; they also help learners read correctly. “Facebook spelling” is an observation about informal usage, not a reliable standard, and a sign is a public, durable text. I would create a one-page style sheet listing every sign, the chosen spelling, and the reason, then ask the elder to check it. The letterhead’s older spelling is not a reason to repeat inconsistency; it is a reason to explain the change.
2. How would you manage the disagreement between the principal and the board chair, given the two-week deadline and $400 budget?
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I would avoid framing it as “correct versus wrong”. I would bring a short comparison showing the same phrases with and without macrons, plus a note that macrons are not decoration but information about pronunciation. I would propose a compromise: official spellings for place names, macrons and glottal stops for common words, and a brief note in the school newsletter explaining the policy. I would ask the elder to act as a respected checker rather than letting the meeting become a vote. I would also book the elder earlier than the last day and print a paper proof for community comment. With $400 for 12 signs, a reprint is not realistic, so the decision must be documented before the files go to the sign-maker.
3. What would you do if the elder is unavailable on the last day, and the sign-maker is waiting?
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I would not treat the elder’s absence as permission to guess. I would first ask the Cook Islands Māori teacher and another fluent speaker to check a paper proof, and I would compare doubtful words against a reputable dictionary. I would simplify any text that cannot be checked, because a shorter sign with safe wording is better than a long sign with uncertain spelling. If no fluent check is possible before the deadline, I would print only the signs whose text is uncontroversial, delay the rest, and explain the reason to the principal. The reasoning is that a public sign teaches every reader the spelling it displays, so an unchecked error becomes a model for learners.