New Zealand English (NZE)

Some history of NZE

From 1840 onwards: large-scale organised settlement in NZ from Britain and Australia A mixing bowl of varieties: o Australian accent (itself derived from southeastern England dialects) o Various British accents (incl. Scottish and RP English) o Irish accent o The influence of the Maori language (though mostly lexical) Around 1900: a distinctive New Zealand accent has emerged

The RP prestige model vs NZ accent

Until the 1950s: NZ accent much criticised and not tolerated in the broadcast media RP was good English the prestigous model A cultural cringe on the part of Kiwis about the way they talked Today: RP English in the broadcast media is a rarity Kiwis still rate their own accent low - RP and GA are rated higher Since the 1970: Exposure to GA via TV GA, the new prestige model?

Distinctive features of NZE vowel pronunciation

// centralisation, i.e. // approaching // // more fronted and rounded - like // Raising of /e/. Ex: 'bet'bt ; 'get' gt Raising of //. Ex: 'bat' bet In other words: // is approaching /e/ which is, in turn, approaching // Merger of /i/ and /e/ diphtongs. Ex. 'ear' and 'air' merge as 'ear'.

Distinctive features of NZE consonant pronunciation

Like RP, NZE is essentially a non-rhotic accent. Ex. hear and dear ending with /i/ The exception: the allegedly famous Southland post-vocalic /-r/ NZE has the so-called trap-bath split: dance, chance, plant and grant is realized with //

NZE audio examples

English41, male 44 English420, male 21 English309, female 44 English255, female 24

Flight of the Conchords - Racism (YouTube clip)