New Zealand English
Encyclopedia
New Zealand English is the dialect of the English language
used in New Zealand
.
The English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. It is one of "the newest native-speaker variet[ies] of the English language in existence, a variety which has developed and become distinctive only in the last 150 years" (p. 300). The most distinctive influences on New Zealand English have come from Australian English
, British English in Southern England, Irish English, Scottish English
, the prestige Received Pronunciation
, and the Māori language
.
New Zealand English is similar to Australian English in pronunciation, with some key differences. One of the most prominent differences is the realisation of /ɪ/: in New Zealand English, as in some South African
varieties, this is pronounced as a schwa.
In 1997, Oxford University Press
produced the Dictionary of New Zealand English, which it claimed was based on over forty years of research. This research started with Orsman's 1951 thesis and continued with his editing this dictionary. To assist with and maintain this work, the New Zealand Dictionary Centre was founded in 1997. Since then, it has published several more dictionaries of New Zealand English, culminating in the publication of The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary in 2004.
A more light-hearted look at English as spoken in New Zealand, A personal Kiwi-Yankee dictionary, was written by the American-born University of Otago
psychology lecturer Louis Leland in 1980. This slim volume lists many of the potentially confusing and/or misleading terms for Americans visiting or emigrating to New Zealand. A second edition was published during the 1990s.
described it as a "carefully modulated murmur," though its history probably goes back further than that. From the beginning of the British settlement on the islands, a new dialect began to form by adopting Māori words to describe the different flora and fauna of New Zealand, for which English did not have any words of its own.
Audio recordings from the 1940s of very old New Zealanders have captured the speech of those born to the first generation of settlers in New Zealand, which means linguists can hear the actual origin of the accent. For example, a recording of 97-year-old Mrs Hannah Cross, who was born in New Zealand in 1851, and lived there her whole life, shows she had a Scottish accent. Even some second generation New Zealanders did not have a noticeable "New Zealand accent", such as Mr Ernie Bissett, who was born in Kaitangata in 1894 and lived in New Zealand his entire life. But people growing up in mining town Arrowtown
, where there was a mixture of accents, developed a recognizable New Zealand accent, such as Annie Hamilton, whose parents arrived there in 1862. The children growing up exposed to different accents picked up different features of these, but in their children, the second generation, there is a unification towards the ‘foundation accent’.
is dark in all positions, and is often vocalised in the syllable coda. This varies in different regions and between different socio-economic groups; the younger, lower social class speakers vocalise /l/ most of the time.
and RP
, but with some distinct variations, which are indicated by the transcriptions for New Zealand vowels in the tables below:
New Zealand adopted decimal currency in the 1960s and the metric system
in the 1970s. Despite this, several imperial measures are still widely understood and encountered, such as feet and inches for a person's height, pounds and ounces for an infant's birth weight, and in colloquial terms such as referring to drinks in pints (even though they are sold in 600ml quantities).
, including words for local flora, fauna, and the natural environment.
The dominant influence of Māori on New Zealand English is lexical. A 1999 estimate based on the Wellington corpora of written and spoken New Zealand English put the proportion of words of Māori origin at approximately 0.6%, mostly place and personal names.
The everyday use of Maori words, usually colloquial, occurs most prominently among youth, young adults and Maori populations themselves. Examples include words like "kia ora" ("hello"), or "kai" ("food") which almost all New Zealanders know.
Māori is also ever-present and has a significant conceptual influence in the legislature, government, and community agencies (e.g. health and education), where legislation requires that proceedings and documents are translated into Māori (under certain circumstances, and when requested). Political discussion and analysis of issues of sovereignty, environmental management, health, and social well-being thus rely on Māori at least in part. Māori as a spoken language is particularly important wherever community consultation occurs.
for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but since the 1980s, increased consciousness of the Māori language has led to a shift towards using a Māori pronunciation.
The anglicisations have persisted most among residents of the towns in question, so it has become something of a shibboleth
, with correct Māori pronunciation marking someone as non-local.
Some anglicised names are colloquially shortened, for example, "coke" for Kohukohu, "the Rapa" for the Wairarapa, "Kura" for Papakura, "Papatoe" for Papatoetoe, "Otahu" for Otahuhu, "Paraparam", or more simply, "Pram" for Paraparaumu and "the Naki" for Taranaki.
). Several words and phrases common in Scots
or Scottish English
still persist in this area as well. Some examples of this include the use of wee to mean "small", and phrases such as to do the messages meaning "to go shopping".
Some Māori have an accent distinct from the general New Zealand accent, tending to use Māori words
more frequently. Bro'Town
was a TV programme that exaggerated Māori, Polynesian, and other accents. Linguists recognise two main New Zealand accents, denoted "Pākehā English" and "Māori English"; with the latter strongly influenced by syllable-timed Māori speech patterns. Pākehā English is beginning to adopt similar rhythms, distinguishing it from other stress-timed English accents.
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
used in New Zealand
New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
.
The English language was established in New Zealand by colonists during the 19th century. It is one of "the newest native-speaker variet[ies] of the English language in existence, a variety which has developed and become distinctive only in the last 150 years" (p. 300). The most distinctive influences on New Zealand English have come from Australian English
Australian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
, British English in Southern England, Irish English, Scottish English
Scottish English
Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....
, the prestige Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
, and the Māori language
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
.
New Zealand English is similar to Australian English in pronunciation, with some key differences. One of the most prominent differences is the realisation of /ɪ/: in New Zealand English, as in some South African
South African English
The term South African English is applied to the first-language dialects of English spoken by South Africans, with the L1 English variety spoken by Zimbabweans, Zambians and Namibians, being recognised as offshoots.There is some social and regional variation within South African English...
varieties, this is pronounced as a schwa.
Dictionaries of New Zealand English
The first comprehensive dictionary dedicated to New Zealand English was probably the Heinemann New Zealand dictionary, published in 1979. Edited by Harry Orsman, it is a comprehensive 1,300-page book, with information relating to the usage and pronunciation of terms that were both widely accepted throughout the English-speaking world and those peculiar to New Zealand. It includes a one-page list of the approximate date of entry into common parlance of many terms found in New Zealand English but not elsewhere, such as "haka" (1827), "Boohai" (1920), and "bach" (1905).In 1997, Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press
Oxford University Press is the largest university press in the world. It is a department of the University of Oxford and is governed by a group of 15 academics appointed by the Vice-Chancellor known as the Delegates of the Press. They are headed by the Secretary to the Delegates, who serves as...
produced the Dictionary of New Zealand English, which it claimed was based on over forty years of research. This research started with Orsman's 1951 thesis and continued with his editing this dictionary. To assist with and maintain this work, the New Zealand Dictionary Centre was founded in 1997. Since then, it has published several more dictionaries of New Zealand English, culminating in the publication of The New Zealand Oxford Dictionary in 2004.
A more light-hearted look at English as spoken in New Zealand, A personal Kiwi-Yankee dictionary, was written by the American-born University of Otago
University of Otago
The University of Otago in Dunedin is New Zealand's oldest university with over 22,000 students enrolled during 2010.The university has New Zealand's highest average research quality and in New Zealand is second only to the University of Auckland in the number of A rated academic researchers it...
psychology lecturer Louis Leland in 1980. This slim volume lists many of the potentially confusing and/or misleading terms for Americans visiting or emigrating to New Zealand. A second edition was published during the 1990s.
Historical development
A distinct New Zealand variant of the English language has been in existence since at least 1912, when Frank Arthur SwinnertonFrank Arthur Swinnerton
Frank Arthur Swinnerton was an English novelist, critic, biographer and essayist.He was the author of more than 50 books, and as a publisher's editor helped other writers including Aldous Huxley and Lytton Strachey. His long life and career in publishing made him one of the last links with writers...
described it as a "carefully modulated murmur," though its history probably goes back further than that. From the beginning of the British settlement on the islands, a new dialect began to form by adopting Māori words to describe the different flora and fauna of New Zealand, for which English did not have any words of its own.
Audio recordings from the 1940s of very old New Zealanders have captured the speech of those born to the first generation of settlers in New Zealand, which means linguists can hear the actual origin of the accent. For example, a recording of 97-year-old Mrs Hannah Cross, who was born in New Zealand in 1851, and lived there her whole life, shows she had a Scottish accent. Even some second generation New Zealanders did not have a noticeable "New Zealand accent", such as Mr Ernie Bissett, who was born in Kaitangata in 1894 and lived in New Zealand his entire life. But people growing up in mining town Arrowtown
Arrowtown
Arrowtown is a historic gold mining town in the Otago region of the South Island of New Zealand. Arrowtown is located on the banks of the Arrow River approximately 5 km from State Highway 6...
, where there was a mixture of accents, developed a recognizable New Zealand accent, such as Annie Hamilton, whose parents arrived there in 1862. The children growing up exposed to different accents picked up different features of these, but in their children, the second generation, there is a unification towards the ‘foundation accent’.
The short front vowels
- In New Zealand English the short-i of KIT is a central vowel not phonologically distinct from schwaSchwaIn linguistics, specifically phonetics and phonology, schwa can mean the following:*An unstressed and toneless neutral vowel sound in some languages, often but not necessarily a mid-central vowel...
/ə/, the vowel in unstressed "the". It thus contrasts sharply with the [i] vowel heard in Australia. Recent acoustic studies featuring both Australian and New Zealand voices show the accents were more similar before the Second World War and the KIT vowel has undergone rapid centralisation in New Zealand English. Because of this difference in pronunciation, some New Zealanders claim Australians say "feesh and cheeps" for fish and chipsFish and chipsFish and chips is a popular take-away food in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand and Canada...
while some Australians counter that New Zealanders say "fush and chups".
- The short-e /ɛ/ of YES has moved to fill in the space left by /ɪ/, and it is phonetically in the region of [ɪ]. This was played for laughs in the American TV series Flight of the ConchordsFlight of the Conchords (TV series)Flight of the Conchords is an American television comedy series that debuted on HBO on June 17, 2007. The show follows the adventures of Flight of the Conchords, a two-man band from New Zealand, as its members seek fame and success in New York City. The show stars the real-life duo, Jemaine Clement...
, where the character Bret's name was often pronounced as "Brit," leading to confusion.
- Likewise, the short-a /æ/ of TRAP is approximately [ɛ], which sounds like a short-e to other English speakers.
Conditioned mergers
- The vowels /ɪə/ as in near and /eə/ as in square are increasingly being merged, so that here rhymes with there; and bear and beer, and rarely and really are homophones. This is the "most obvious vowel change taking place" in New Zealand English. There is some debate as to the quality of the merged vowel, but the consensus appears to be that it is towards a close variant, [iə].
- Before /l/, the vowels /iː/:/ɪə/ (as in reel vs real), as well as /ɒ/:/oʊ/ (doll vs dole), and sometimes /ʊ/:/uː/ (pull vs pool), /ɛ/:/æ/ (Ellen vs Alan) and /ʊ/:/ɪ/ (full vs fill) may be merged .
Other vowels
-/ɑː/ as in start, bath, and palm is a near-open central-to-front vowel [ɐː] or [ɐ̟ː]. The phonetic quality of this vowel overlaps with the quality for /ʌ/ as in strut. The difference between the two is entirely length for many speakers.- The vowel /ɜ/ (as in bird and nurse) is rounded and often fronted in the region of [ɵː~œː~øː].
Consonants
- New Zealand English is mostly non-rhotic (with linking and intrusive R), except for speakers of the so-called Southland burr, a semi-rhotic, Scottish-influenced dialect heard principally in SouthlandSouthland RegionSouthland is New Zealand's southernmost region and is also a district within that region. It consists mainly of the southwestern portion of the South Island and Stewart Island / Rakiura...
and parts of OtagoOtagoOtago is a region of New Zealand in the south of the South Island. The region covers an area of approximately making it the country's second largest region. The population of Otago is...
. Among r-less speakers, however, non-prevocalic /r/ is sometimes pronounced in a few words, including Ireland and the name of the letter R itself.
is dark in all positions, and is often vocalised in the syllable coda. This varies in different regions and between different socio-economic groups; the younger, lower social class speakers vocalise /l/ most of the time.
Other consonants
- The distinction between /w/ as in witch and /hw/ as in which, retained by older speakers, now seems to be disappearing.
- The intervocalic /t/ may be flapped.
Other features
- New Zealand English has the trap–bath split; words like dance, chance, plant and grant have /ɑː/, as in Southern EnglandSouthern EnglandSouthern England, the South and the South of England are imprecise terms used to refer to the southern counties of England bordering the English Midlands. It has a number of different interpretations of its geographic extents. The South is considered by many to be a cultural region with a distinct...
and South AustraliaSouth AustraliaSouth Australia is a state of Australia in the southern central part of the country. It covers some of the most arid parts of the continent; with a total land area of , it is the fourth largest of Australia's six states and two territories.South Australia shares borders with all of the mainland...
.
- As in Australian English, some New Zealanders will pronounce past participles such as grown, thrown and mown with two syllables, inserting an additional schwa /-oʊ.ən/. By contrast, groan, throne and moan are all unaffected, meaning these word pairs can be distinguished by ear.
- The trans- prefix is commonly pronounced /træns/. This produces mixed pronunciation of the as in words like "transplant" (/trænzplɑːnt/) whereas in northern (but not southern) British English the same vowel is used in both syllables (/trænzplænt/).
- The name of the letter HHH .) is the eighth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The Semitic letter ⟨ח⟩ most likely represented the voiceless pharyngeal fricative . The form of the letter probably stood for a fence or posts....
is usually /eɪtʃ/, as in North America, but it can be the aspirated /heɪtʃ/ of Hiberno-EnglishHiberno-EnglishHiberno-English is the dialect of English written and spoken in Ireland .English was first brought to Ireland during the Norman invasion of the late 12th century. Initially it was mainly spoken in an area known as the Pale around Dublin, with Irish spoken throughout the rest of the country...
origin also found in Australian English. (The /heɪtʃ/ pronunciation of 'h' is now widespread in the United Kingdom, being used by approximately 24% of British people born since 1982.)
Phonology
The phonology of New Zealand English is similar to that of other non-rhotic dialects such as Australian EnglishAustralian English
Australian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
and RP
Received Pronunciation
Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's English, Oxford English or BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to the relationship in other European languages between their standard varieties and their regional forms...
, but with some distinct variations, which are indicated by the transcriptions for New Zealand vowels in the tables below:
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New Zealand English vocabulary
There are also a number of dialectal words and phrases used in New Zealand English. These are mostly informal terms most common in casual speech.New Zealand adopted decimal currency in the 1960s and the metric system
Metrication in New Zealand
New Zealand started metrication in 1969 with the establishment of the Metric Advisory Board and completed metrication on 14 December 1976 .-Strategy toward Metrication:...
in the 1970s. Despite this, several imperial measures are still widely understood and encountered, such as feet and inches for a person's height, pounds and ounces for an infant's birth weight, and in colloquial terms such as referring to drinks in pints (even though they are sold in 600ml quantities).
Differences from Australian English
Many of these relate to words used to refer to common items, often based on which major brands become eponyms:| NZ | Australia | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| Cellphone / mobile / mobile phone (cell)/phone(mobile) | Mobile phone Mobile phone A mobile phone is a device which can make and receive telephone calls over a radio link whilst moving around a wide geographic area. It does so by connecting to a cellular network provided by a mobile network operator... (mobile) |
A portable telephone (that utilises a cellular network) . |
| Chilly bin | Esky Esky Esky is an Australian brand of coolers. Outdoor recreation company Coleman Australia bought the Esky brand from Nylex Ltd after the Company went into administration in February 2009.The name is a reference to the association of Eskimos with cold climates.... |
Cooler Cooler A cooler, cool box, portable ice chest, chilly bin , or esky most commonly is an insulated box used to keep food or drink cool. Ice cubes are most commonly placed in it to help the things inside stay cool... . |
| Crib / Bach Bach (New Zealand) A bach is a small, often very modest holiday home or beach house. Alternatively called a crib, they are an iconic part of New Zealand history and culture, especially in the middle of the 20th century, where they symbolized the beach holiday lifestyle that was becoming more accessible to the... |
Shack Shack A shack is a type of small house, usually in a state of disrepair. The word may derive from the Nahuatl word xacalli or "adobe house" by way of Mexican Spanish xacal/jacal, which has the same meaning as "shack". It was a common usage among people of Mexican ancestry throughout the U.S... |
A small, often very modest holiday property Vacation property Vacation property is a niche in the real estate market dealing with residences used for holiday vacations . In the United Kingdom this type of property is usually termed a holiday home, in Australia, a holiday house/home, or weekender, in New Zealand, a bach or crib... , often at the seaside |
| Dairy Dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting of animal milk—mostly from cows or goats, but also from buffalo, sheep, horses or camels —for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on a dedicated dairy farm or section of a multi-purpose farm that is concerned... |
Milk bar Milk bar Milk bar is a term in some parts of Australia for suburban local shops or general stores. They are known as tuck shops, delicatessens or delis in South Australia and Western Australia, and as corner stores in Queensland and New South Wales... Deli Delicatessen Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus.... |
Convenience store Convenience store A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and... . In larger cities in New Zealand convenience store Convenience store A convenience store, corner store, corner shop, commonly called a bodega in Spanish-speaking areas of the United States, is a small store or shop in a built up area that stocks a range of everyday items such as groceries, toiletries, alcoholic and soft drinks, and may also offer money order and... is used due to immigration (and to current NZ law forbidding a "dairy" from selling alcohol ), though "dairy" is used commonly in conversation. In New Zealand in the 1950s and 1960s "milk bar" referred to a soda shop Soda shop A Soda shop, also often known as a Malt shop, is a business akin to an ice cream parlor and a drugstore soda fountain. Interiors were often furnished with a large mirror behind a marble counter with gooseneck spouts, plus spinning stools, round marble-topped tables and wireframe sweetheart... . In some states of Australia "milk bar" is used; other states use "deli". |
| Duvet Duvet A duvet from the French duvet "down"), is a type of bedding — a soft flat bag filled with down, feathers, or a synthetic alternative, and protected with a removable cover, analogous to a pillow and pillow case... |
Doona | A padded quilt Quilt A quilt is a type of bed cover, traditionally composed of three layers of fiber: a woven cloth top, a layer of batting or wadding and a woven back, combined using the technique of quilting. “Quilting” refers to the technique of joining at least two fabric layers by stitches or ties... . |
| Ice block | Icy pole | Ice pop Ice pop An ice pop, also referred to in the United States as a popsicle, and in the United Kingdom as an ice lolly, lolly ice or ice lollipop, is a frozen, water-based dessert. It is made by freezing flavored liquid around a stick. Often, the juice is colored artificially... . |
| Jandals | Thongs | Flip-flops. |
| Candy floss | Fairy floss | Candy floss or cotton candy Cotton candy Cotton candy , candy floss or candyfloss or candy buttox , or fairy floss is a form of spun sugar. Since cotton candy is mostly air, a small initial quantity of sugar generates a tremendously greater final volume, causing servings to be physically large and voluminous... . |
| Judder bar | Speed bump | Speed bump Speed bump A speed bump is a speed-reducing feature of road design to slow traffic or reduce through traffic, via... . |
| Jersey | Jumper | Jumper or sweater Sweater A sweater, jumper, pullover, sweatshirt, jersey or guernsey is a garment intended to cover the torso and arms. It is often worn over a shirt, blouse, T-shirt, or other top, but may also be worn alone as a top... . In New Zealand and Australia "jersey" is also used for top part of sports uniform (e.g. for rugby Rugby football Rugby football is a style of football named after Rugby School in the United Kingdom. It is seen most prominently in two current sports, rugby league and rugby union.-History:... ) - another term for a sports jersey, guernsey Guernsey (clothing) A guernsey, or gansey, is a seaman's knitted woollen sweater, similar to a jersey, which originated in the Channel Island of the same name.-Origins:... , is frequently used in Australia but only rarely heard in New Zealand |
| No exit | No through road | A road with a dead end; a cul-de-sac Cul-de-sac A cul-de-sac is a word of French origin referring to a dead end, close, no through road or court meaning dead-end street with only one inlet/outlet... . |
| Oil skin / Swanndri Swanndri Swanndri is a trade name for a range of popular New Zealand outdoor clothing.The item was widely worn by farmers, but in recent years its popularity has spread and it has become something of a fashion item. The Swanndri company also now produces a range of more urban-focussed garments.The classic... |
Driza-Bone Driza-Bone Driza-Bone, originating from the phrase "dry as a bone", is a trade name for the company making full-length waterproof riding coats and apparel. The company was established in 1898 and is currently Australian owned and manufactures its products in Australia... Oil skin |
Oil skin: Country raincoat; Swanndri: heavy woollen jersey (often chequered). |
| Togs Swimsuit A swimsuit, bathing suit, or swimming costume is an item of clothing designed to be worn by men, women or children while they are engaging in a water-based activity or water sports, such as swimming, water polo, diving, surfing, water skiing, or during activities in the sun, such as sun bathing.A... |
Bathers Swimmers Cozzies Togs budgie smuggler |
Swimwear (see Australian words for swimwear) |
| a Used in New South Wales New South Wales New South Wales is a state of :Australia, located in the east of the country. It is bordered by Queensland, Victoria and South Australia to the north, south and west respectively. To the east, the state is bordered by the Tasman Sea, which forms part of the Pacific Ocean. New South Wales... . b Refers to swim briefs Swim briefs A swim brief, or racing brief, refers to any briefs style male swimsuit such as those worn in competitive swimming and diving. The popularity of the Australian Speedo brand racing brief has led to the use of its name to refer to any racing brief, regardless of the maker... . |
||
Usage
- New Zealanders will often reply to a question with a statement spoken with a rising intonationHigh rising terminalThe high rising terminal , also known as uptalk, upspeak, rising inflection or high rising intonation , is a feature of some accents of English where statements have a rising intonation pattern in the final syllable or syllables of the utterance.Empirically, Ladd proposes that HRT in American...
at the end. This often has the effect of making their statement sound like another question. There is enough awareness of this that it is seen in exaggerated form in comedy parody of working-class / uneducated New Zealanders. This rising intonation can also be heard at the end of statements, which are not in response to a question but to which the speaker wishes to add emphasis. High rising terminals are also heard in Australia and are more common.
- In informal speech, some New Zealanders use the third person feminine she in place of the third person neuter it as the subject of a sentence, especially when the subject is the first word of the sentence. The most common use of this is in the phrase "She'll be right" meaning either "It will be okay" or "It is close enough to what is required". This is similar to Australian English.
- Speakers of New Zealand English sometimes colloquially, affectionately or disparagingly refer to their own speech as "Newzild", which represents a local pronunciation of the international-English phrase "New Zealand".
Māori influence
Many local everyday words have been borrowed from the Māori languageMaori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
, including words for local flora, fauna, and the natural environment.
The dominant influence of Māori on New Zealand English is lexical. A 1999 estimate based on the Wellington corpora of written and spoken New Zealand English put the proportion of words of Māori origin at approximately 0.6%, mostly place and personal names.
The everyday use of Maori words, usually colloquial, occurs most prominently among youth, young adults and Maori populations themselves. Examples include words like "kia ora" ("hello"), or "kai" ("food") which almost all New Zealanders know.
Māori is also ever-present and has a significant conceptual influence in the legislature, government, and community agencies (e.g. health and education), where legislation requires that proceedings and documents are translated into Māori (under certain circumstances, and when requested). Political discussion and analysis of issues of sovereignty, environmental management, health, and social well-being thus rely on Māori at least in part. Māori as a spoken language is particularly important wherever community consultation occurs.
Pronunciation of Māori place names
The pronunciation of many Māori place names was anglicisedAnglicisation
Anglicisation, or anglicization , is the process of converting verbal or written elements of any other language into a form that is more comprehensible to an English speaker, or, more generally, of altering something such that it becomes English in form or character.The term most often refers to...
for most of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, but since the 1980s, increased consciousness of the Māori language has led to a shift towards using a Māori pronunciation.
The anglicisations have persisted most among residents of the towns in question, so it has become something of a shibboleth
Shibboleth
A shibboleth is a custom, principle, or belief distinguishing a particular class or group of people, especially a long-standing one regarded as outmoded or no longer important...
, with correct Māori pronunciation marking someone as non-local.
| Placename | Anglicisation | Te Reo Maori | IPA |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paraparaumu | para-pa- ram | pa-ra-pa-ra-u-mu | pɑ.ɾɑ.pɑ.ɾɑu.mu |
| Taumarunui | towm-ra-noo-ey | tau-ma-ra-nu-i | tɑu.mɑ.ɾɑ.nui |
| Hawera | ha-w'ra | ha-we-ra | hɑː.we.ɾɑ |
| Te Awamutu | tee-awa-moot or tee-a-mootu | te a-wa-mu-tu | te ɑ.wɑ.mu.tu |
| Waikouaiti | wacker-wite or weka-what | wai-kou-ai-ti | wai.kou.ɑːi.ti |
| Otorohanga | oh-tra-hung-a or oh-tra-hong-a | o-to-ra-ha-nga | oː.to.ɾo.hɑ.ŋɑ |
| Te Kauwhata | tee-ka-wodda | te kau-fa-ta | te kɑu.ɸɑ.tɑ |
Some anglicised names are colloquially shortened, for example, "coke" for Kohukohu, "the Rapa" for the Wairarapa, "Kura" for Papakura, "Papatoe" for Papatoetoe, "Otahu" for Otahuhu, "Paraparam", or more simply, "Pram" for Paraparaumu and "the Naki" for Taranaki.
Dialects within New Zealand English
Recognisable regional variations are slight, with the exception of Southland, where the "Southland burr" (see above) is heard. This southern area formed a traditional repository of immigration from Scotland (see DunedinDunedin
Dunedin is the second-largest city in the South Island of New Zealand, and the principal city of the Otago Region. It is considered to be one of the four main urban centres of New Zealand for historic, cultural, and geographic reasons. Dunedin was the largest city by territorial land area until...
). Several words and phrases common in Scots
Scots language
Scots is the Germanic language variety spoken in Lowland Scotland and parts of Ulster . It is sometimes called Lowland Scots to distinguish it from Scottish Gaelic, the Celtic language variety spoken in most of the western Highlands and in the Hebrides.Since there are no universally accepted...
or Scottish English
Scottish English
Scottish English refers to the varieties of English spoken in Scotland. It may or may not be considered distinct from the Scots language. It is always considered distinct from Scottish Gaelic, a Celtic language....
still persist in this area as well. Some examples of this include the use of wee to mean "small", and phrases such as to do the messages meaning "to go shopping".
Some Māori have an accent distinct from the general New Zealand accent, tending to use Māori words
Maori language
Māori or te reo Māori , commonly te reo , is the language of the indigenous population of New Zealand, the Māori. It has the status of an official language in New Zealand...
more frequently. Bro'Town
Bro'Town
bro'Town is a New Zealand Television animated series. The show used a comedy based format, targeted at a young adult audience.The series is set amongst New Zealand's fast growing Pacific Islander community, and focuses on a central cast of five young boys...
was a TV programme that exaggerated Māori, Polynesian, and other accents. Linguists recognise two main New Zealand accents, denoted "Pākehā English" and "Māori English"; with the latter strongly influenced by syllable-timed Māori speech patterns. Pākehā English is beginning to adopt similar rhythms, distinguishing it from other stress-timed English accents.
Spelling
- Where there is a distinct difference between British and US spelling (such as cancelling/canceling and travelled/traveled), the British spelling is universally used.
- In words that may be spelled with either an -ise or an -ize suffix (such as organise/organize) New Zealand English prefers -ise. This contrasts with American English, where -ize is generally preferred, and British English, where -ise is more frequent but -ize is preferred by some (the Oxford spellingOxford spellingOxford spelling is the spelling used by Oxford University Press . It can be recognized for its use, as in American English, of the suffix -ize instead of -ise. For instance, organization, privatize and recognizable are used instead of organisation, privatise and recognisable...
). - New Zealand favours the spelling fiord over fjordFjordGeologically, a fjord is a long, narrow inlet with steep sides or cliffs, created in a valley carved by glacial activity.-Formation:A fjord is formed when a glacier cuts a U-shaped valley by abrasion of the surrounding bedrock. Glacial melting is accompanied by rebound of Earth's crust as the ice...
, unlike most other English-speaking countries
See also
- Australian EnglishAustralian EnglishAustralian English is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia that form a major variety of the English language....
- British EnglishBritish EnglishBritish English, or English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere...
- Culture of New ZealandCulture of New ZealandThe culture of New Zealand is largely inherited from British and European custom, interwoven with Maori and Polynesian tradition. An isolated Pacific Island nation, New Zealand was comparatively recently settled by humans...
- New Zealand humourNew Zealand humourNew Zealand humour bears some similarities to the body of humour of many other English-speaking countries. There are, however, several regional differences.- The New Zealand experience :...
- New Zealand wordsNew Zealand wordsThe following is a list of words used in New Zealand English, both shared with Australian English and unique to New Zealand English.-Unique to New Zealand:...
- Regional accents of English
External links
- New Zealand Slang
- Origins of New Zealand English
- The Origins of New Zealand English Project at the University of CanterburyUniversity of CanterburyThe University of Canterbury , New Zealand's second-oldest university, operates its main campus in the suburb of Ilam in the city of Christchurch, New Zealand...
- New Zealand Dictionary Centre
- Kiwi Words & Phrases
- One News: Kiwi Accent
- New Zild - The Story of New Zealand English