New Zealand English is the dialect of English spoken in New Zealand.
In most respects, New Zealand English is very similar to Australian English. Both favour British spelling and choices between words given differences between American and British English. Many local words, largely borrowed from the indigenous Maori population, have arisen to describe the local flora, fauna, and the natural environment, and some other Maori words have made their way into the language.
In 1998 Oxford University Press produced a Dictionary of New Zealand English that it claimed was based on over 40 years of research. This research started with Harry Orsman's 1951 thesis and continued with his publishing this dictionary as the editor. To assist with and maintain this work, the New Zealand Dictionary Centre was founded in 1997.
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2 Differences from British English 3 Differences from Australian English 4 Dialects within New Zealand English 5 External links |
Most of the names for native flora and fauna come directly from the Maori names.
Examples of native birds are of course the kiwi, as well as the kea, kakapo, tui and pukeko, the extinct giant moa, and the kotuku or white heron.
There are also fish such as hoki, kahawai and terakihi, and shellfish like toheroa and paua.
Most of the native trees also have names from Maori, such as the kauri, rimu, totara, kowhai, matagouri and pohutukawa. Other vegetation with Maori names includes the kumara, a type of sweet potato.
The word kiwi has acquired other meanings, most commonly as an informal term for New Zealander, or as an adjective instead of New Zealand. The use of kiwi to refer to kiwifruit is not part of New Zealand English and will irritate many New Zealanders.
Many Maori words or phrases that describe Maori culture have become part of New Zealand English.
Some of these are:
The most noticeable difference in pronunciation is probably the flat "i", so that "six" is pronounced in a way sounding like "sucks". This is a part of the vowel shift that has occurred in New Zealand.
Below; the latter word is how the former word sounds-like to the ears of a non-New Zealander:
Although foreigners can find it hard to distinguish the New Zealand dialect from the Australian, there are differences in the pronunciation of vowel sounds, which are considerably more clipped in New Zealand English.
(Canadians face a similar problem, frequently being mistaken for U.S. Americans by non-North Americans.)
The main distinguishing sounds are the short 'i' and 'e', as well as words like "chance", as described below.
The short 'i' in New Zealand English is pronounced as a schwa (IPA [ə]).
In Australian English, the short 'u' is the vowel closest to the New Zealand pronunciation, so an Australian hears "fush and chups" when a New Zealander is saying "fish and chips".
Conversely, the closest sound in New Zealand English to the Australian short 'i' (IPA [ɪ]) is 'ee' (IPA [i]), so New Zealanders may hear Australians talking about the "Seedney Harbour Breedge".
Recent linguistic research has suggested that this trait is sourced from dialects of English spoken by lower-class English people in the late 19th century, though why it persisted in New Zealand whilst disappearing from Australia is a mystery.
The short 'e' in New Zealand English has moved to fill in the space left by 'i', and sounds like a short 'i' itself to other English speakers.
For example, you may hear New Zealanders talk about having "iggs for brickfast".
The New Zealand pronunciation of words like "dance" uses the same vowel sound as the "a" in "car", i.e. [dαnts], resembling the broad A of British English. The common Australian pronunciation rhymes with "ants", i.e. [dænts]. However, either form may be used in Australia, with the former usually used in South Australia, and common in New South Wales.Vocabulary
Other Maori words may be recognised by most New Zealanders, but generally not used in everyday speech:
There are also many non-Maori words that are
unique to New Zealand English, or shared with Australia.Differences from British English
Note that many of the differences listed in this section are avoided by New Zealanders speaking "properly," as in public speaking for example, in which case the main differences are the shifted vowel sounds listed in the following section.Additional Schwa
Typically, a New Zealander will insert the schwa to words such as grown, thrown and mown, resulting in grow-en, throw-en and mo-wen. However, groan, throne and moan are all unaffected meaning these word pairs can be distinguished by ear, unlike in British English.
Dropped L
The L sound is often dropped or pronounced as a W at the end of a word, or before a consonant, as in milk or mill; but the L would be pronounced in miller.No distinction between /eə/ and /iə/
"Chair" and "cheer" (/tSeə/, /tSiə/) are pronounced the same way (/tSiə/, i.e. as "cheer" in British, American or Australian English). The same occurs with "shared" and "sheared"; both are pronounced /Siəd/. (SAMPA used for phonetic transcriptions.)Differences from Australian English
Short i
Short e
Chance, dance, etc.
| NZ | Australia | Explanation |
|---|---|---|
| jandals | thongs | backless sandals |
| Gidday | G'day | Hello! |
| chilly bin | Esky | insulated container for keeping drinks and food cool |
| Swanndri | Driza-Bone | The quintessential back-country farmer's jacket of each country, a woollen shirt and oilskin jacket respectively. |
| dairy | milk bar | A kind of convenience store. |
In New Zealand, the word "milk bar" refers only to the milk bar of the 1950s and 1960s: a place that served drinks.
Most Kiwis speak Newzild "as she is spoke": geographical variations appear slight, and mainly confined to individual special local words. One group of speakers, however, hold a recognised place as "talking differently": the South of the South Island (Murihiku) harbours a "Celtic fringe" of people speaking with a "Southland burr" in which a back-trilled "R" appears prominently. The area formed a traditional repository of immigration from Scotland.Dialects within New Zealand English