| New Zealand English | |
|---|---|
| Region | New Zealand |
| Ethnicity | New Zealanders |
Native speakers | 3.8 million in New Zealand (2013 census)[1] 150,000L2 speakers of English in New Zealand (Crystal 2003) |
Early forms | |
| Dialects |
|
| Latin (English alphabet) Unified English Braille | |
| Language codes | |
| ISO 639-3 | – |
| Glottolog | newz1240 |
| IETF | en-NZ |
| This article containsIPA phonetic symbols. Without properrendering support, you may seequestion marks, boxes, or other symbols instead ofUnicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, seeHelp:IPA. | |
New Zealand English (NZE) is thevariant of theEnglish language spoken and written by most English-speakingNew Zealanders.[3] Itslanguage code inISO andInternet standards isen-NZ.[4] It is thefirst language of the majority of the population.
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".[2] The variety of English that had the biggest influence on the development of New Zealand English wasAustralian English, itself derived fromSoutheastern England English, with considerable influence fromScottish andHiberno-English, and with lesser influences the British prestige accentReceived Pronunciation (RP) andAmerican English. An important source of vocabulary is theMāori language of the indigenous people of New Zealand, whose contribution distinguishes New Zealand English from other varieties.[5]
Non-rhotic New Zealand English is most similar to Australian English in pronunciation, but has key differences.[6] A prominent difference is the realisation of/ɪ/ (theKIT vowel): in New Zealand English this is pronounced as aschwa. New Zealand English has several increasingly distinct varieties, and while most New Zealanders speak non-rhotic English,rhoticity is increasing quickly, especially amongPasifika and Māori inAuckland and the upperNorth Island.[7][failed verification]
The first dictionary with entries documenting New Zealand English was probably theHeinemann New Zealand Dictionary published in 1979.[8] Edited by Harry Orsman (1928–2002), it is a 1,337-page book with information relating to the usage and pronunciation of terms that were 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 the many terms found in New Zealand English but not elsewhere, such as "haka" (1827), "boohai" (1920), and "bach" (1905). A second edition was published in 1989 with the cover subtitle "The first dictionary of New Zealand English and New Zealand pronunciation". A third edition, edited by Nelson Wattie, was published asThe Reed Dictionary of New Zealand English byReed Publishing in 2001.[8]
The first dictionary fully dedicated to the New Zealand variety of English wasThe New Zealand Dictionary published by New House Publishers in 1994 and edited by Elizabeth and Harry Orsman.[9][10] A second edition was published in 1995.[11]
In 1997,Oxford University Press produced the Harry Orsman-editedThe Dictionary of New Zealand English: A Dictionary of New Zealandisms on Historical Principles, a 981-page book, which it claimed was based on over 40 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 byVictoria University of Wellington and Oxford University Press. This was followed byThe New Zealand Oxford Paperback Dictionary in 1998, edited by New Zealandlexicographer Tony Deverson. It is based onThe Oxford Paperback Dictionary, fourth edition, andThe Australian Oxford Paperback Dictionary, second edition.[12] Further lexicographical work culminated in the 1,374-pageThe New Zealand Oxford Dictionary published in 2004, by Tony Deverson and Graeme Kennedy. The dictionary contains over 100,000 definitions, including over 12,000 New Zealand entries and a wide range of encyclopedic information.[13] A second, revised edition ofThe New Zealand Oxford Paperback Dictionary was published in 2006,[14] this time using standard lexicographical regional markers to identify the New Zealand content, which were absent from the first edition.[citation needed] The NZ Dictionary Centre ceased active operations after the retirement of its second Director, Dianne Bardsley, in 2012.[15]
Another authoritative work is theCollins English Dictionary, first published in 1979 byHarperCollins, which contains an abundance of well-cited New Zealand words and phrases, drawing from the 650-million-wordBank of English, a British research facility set up at theUniversity of Birmingham in 1980 and funded by Collins publishers.[16] Although this is a British dictionary of International English there has always been a credited New Zealand advisor for the New Zealand content, namely Professor Ian Gordon from 1979 until 2002 and Professor Elizabeth Gordon from theUniversity of Canterbury since 2003.[citation needed]
Australia'sMacquarie Dictionary was first published in 1981, and has since become the authority on Australian English. It has always included an abundance of New Zealand words and phrases additional to the mutually shared words and phrases of both countries. Every edition has retained a New Zealand resident advisor for the New Zealand content,[17] the first being Harry Orsman.[18] and the most recent beingVictoria University of Wellington lexicographerLaurie Bauer.[17]
From the 1790s, New Zealand was visited by British, French and American whaling, sealing and trading ships. Their crews traded European and American goods with the indigenous Māori.[19][20] The first European settlers to New Zealand were mainly from Australia, some of them ex-convicts or escaped convicts. Sailors, explorers and traders from Australia and other parts of Europe also settled.[21]
When in 1788 thecolony of New South Wales was formed, most of New Zealand was nominally included, but no real legal authority or control was exercised. As anon-sovereign nation, New Zealand remained ungoverned and most European settlers intermarried with and lived among the Māori iwi in harmony. Settlers were greatly outnumbered by Māori and relied on them for security and safety.[22] The first officialmissionaries, who were from England, arrived in New Zealand in 1814, bringing formal education and farming skills as well as Christianity to the communities, many of which by this time had becomebi-lingual.[23]
When theNew Zealand Company announced in 1839 its plans to establish formal colonies in New Zealand, this and the increased commercial interests of merchants in Sydney and London spurred the British to take stronger action to establish British sovereignty over New Zealand. CaptainWilliam Hobson was sent to New Zealand to persuade Māori to cede their sovereignty to the British Crown and on 6 February 1840 Hobson and about forty Māori chiefs (rangatira) signed theTreaty of Waitangi at Waitangi in the Bay of Islands.[24]
New Zealand broke its connection with New South Wales and became theColony of New Zealand on 1 July 1841.[25] From this point there was considerable European settlement, primarily from England, Scotland, Wales and Ireland, and to a lesser extent the United States, South Africa, and various parts of continental Europe. Some 400,000 settlers came from Britain, of whom 300,000 stayed permanently. Most were young people and 250,000 babies were born.
After the Treaty of Waitangi, the next few years saw tensions grow over disputed land purchases by settlers as well as some communities refusing to accept British rule. Conflicts escalated into what became theNew Zealand Wars from 1845 to 1872.[26] The colonial government summoned thousands of British troops from Britain and Australia, as well as locally recruited pro-Britishmilitia forces, to mount major campaigns to overpower the Māori and Māori-alliedseparatist movements, eventually resulting in the defeat of the rebel forces.[27][28][29]
Despite the wars, gold discoveries in Otago (1861) and Westland (1865) caused a worldwide gold rush that more than doubled the New Zealand population from 71,000 in 1859 to 164,000 in 1863. Between 1864 and 1865, under the New Zealand Settlements Act 1863, 13 ships carrying citizens of England, Scotland, Ireland and South Africa arrived in New Zealand under the Waikato Immigration Scheme.[30] According to census data from 1871, around half the early settlers were English, a quarter Scots, a quarter Irish and 5% Australian.[7]
The European population of New Zealand grew explosively from fewer than 1000 in 1831 to 500,000 by 1881. By 1911 thepopulation of New Zealand had reached a million, of which 49,844 were Māori. 702,779 were New Zealand-born. The largest foreign-born demographics were those born in England and Scotland, followed by Australia and Ireland.[31]
A distinct New Zealand variant of the English language has been recognised since at least 1912, whenFrank Arthur Swinnerton described it as a "carefully modulated murmur". From the beginning of the haphazard Australian and European settlements and latter official British migrations, 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 words.[32]
The New Zealand accent first appeared in towns with mixed populations of immigrants from Australia, England, Ireland, and Scotland. These included the militia towns of the North Island and the gold-mining towns of the South Island. In more homogeneous towns such as those in Otago and Southland, settled mainly by people from Scotland, the New Zealand accent took longer to appear,[33] while the accent was quick to develop in schools starting from the 1890s.[7]
Since the latter 20th century New Zealand society has gradually divested itself of its fundamentally British roots[34] and has adopted influences from all over the world, especially in the early 21st century when New Zealand experienced an increase of non-British immigration, which has brought about a more prominently multi-ethnic society. The Internet, television,[35] movies and popular music have all brought international influences into New Zealand society and the New Zealand lexicon.Americanisation of New Zealand society and language has subtly and gradually been taking place since World War II and especially since the 1970s.[36]
While theMāori language andNew Zealand Sign Language arestatutoryofficial languages of New Zealand, English is ade facto official language, which may be used in any public or official context.[37] In 2018, MPClayton Mitchell ofNew Zealand First put forward a bill for English to be recognised as an official language in legislation.[38][39]
| Lexical set | Phoneme | Phonetic realisation[40] | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cultivated | Broad | ||
| DRESS | /e/ | [e̞] | [ɪ] |
| TRAP | /ɛ/ | [æ] | [ɛ̝] |
| KIT | /ə/ | [ɪ̠] | [ə] |
| NEAR | /iə/ | [i̞ə],[e̝ə] | [i̞ə] |
| SQUARE | /eə/ | [e̞ə] | |
| FACE | /æɪ/ | [æɪ] | [ɐɪ] |
| PRICE | /ɑɪ/ | [ɑ̟ɪ] | [ɒ̝ˑɪ],[ɔɪ] |
| GOAT | /ɐʉ/ | [ɵʊ] | [ɐʉ] |
| MOUTH | /æʊ/ | [aʊ] | [e̞ə] |
Not all New Zealanders have the same accent, as the level of cultivation (i.e. the closeness toReceived Pronunciation) of every speaker's accent differs. An identifiable feature of New Zealand English is itschain shift where theTRAP vowel has moved up to the place of the traditionalDRESS vowel, which in turn has moved up towards the traditionalKIT vowel, which in turn is centralised. This makes "bat" sound like "bet", "bet" sound like "bit", and "bit" sound like "but" to foreign ears. For example "six" is[səks] in New Zealand English but[sɪks] in Australian English. General New Zealand English isnon-rhotic, however Southland is semi-rhotic due to the accent's Scottish influence.[citation needed]
New Zealand English has a number of dialectal words and phrases.[41] These are mostly informal terms that are more common in casual speech. Numerousloanwords have been taken from theMāori language or from Australian English.[42]
New Zealand adopted decimal currency in 1967 and themetric system in 1974. Despite this, several imperial measures are still widely encountered and usually understood, 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.[43][44][45] In the food manufacturing industry in New Zealand both metric and non-metric systems of weight are used and usually understood, owing to raw food products being imported from both metric and non-metric countries. However, per the December 1976 Weights and Measures Amendment Act, all foodstuffs must be retailed using the metric system.[46] In general, the knowledge of non-metric units is lessening.[citation needed]
Both the wordsamongst andamong are used, as in British English. The same is true for two other pairs,whilst andwhile andamidst andamid.[citation needed]
New Zealand English terms of Australian origin includebushed (lost or bewildered),chunder (to vomit),cooker (a derogatory term forconspiracy theorists),drongo (a foolish or stupid person),fossick (to search),larrikin (mischievous person),Maccas (slang forMcDonald's),maimai (a duckshooter's hide; originally a makeshift shelter, from aboriginalmia-mia),paddock (field, ormeadow),pom orpommy (an Englishman),skite (verb: to boast),station (for a very large farm),wowser (non-drinker of alcohol, or killjoy), andute (pickup truck).[citation needed]
Advancing from its British and Australian English origins, New Zealand English has evolved to include many terms of American origin, or which are otherwise used in American English, in preference over the equivalent contemporary British terms. In a number of instances, terms of British and American origin can be used interchangeably. Many American borrowings are not unique to New Zealand English, and may be found in other dialects of English, including British English.[47] Some examples of such words in New Zealand English are the preferred usage of the Americanbobby pin over the Britishhair pin,[48]muffler forsilencer,[49]truck forlorry,station wagon forestate car,[50]stove forcooker,creek[51] overbrook orstream,eggplant foraubergine,median strip forcentral reservation,[52]pushup forpress-up, andpotato chip forpotato crisp.[53]
Other examples of vocabulary directly borrowed from American English includethe boonies,bucks (dollars),butt (bum or arse),ding (dent),dude,duplex,faggot orfag (interchangeable with the Britishpoof andpoofter),figure[54] (to think or conclude; consider),hightail it,homeboy,hooker,lagoon,lube (oil change),man (in place ofmate orbro in direct address),major (to study or qualify in a subject),to be over [some situation] (be fed up),rig (large truck),[55]sheltered workshop (workplace for disabled persons),[56]spat[57] (a small argument), andsubdivision, andtavern.[58]
Regarding grammar,gotten can be used as opposed to the standard Britishgot in New Zealand English inactive contexts, though some speakers do not use it.[59] It has been increasing in usage in recent years and is rarely written down.[60]
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Some English words are used almost exclusively in New Zealand.
Many of these relate to words used to refer to common items, often based on which major brands becomeeponyms.
| NZ | Australia | Translation to US/UK English |
|---|---|---|
| chilly bin | Esky[note 1] | An insulated box used to keep food or drink cool, also known as acooler |
| bach crib[note 2] | shack[86] | a small, often very modestholiday property, often at the seaside |
| dairy[note 3] | milk bar deli | Convenience store, a small store selling mainly food |
| drinking fountain water fountain | bubbler | Drinking fountain. (Bubbler is also used in some parts of the United States, like Rhode Island and Wisconsin) |
| duvet | Doona[note 1] | Doona is an Australian trade mark for a brand of duvet/quilt. |
| ice block popsicle | ice block Icy Pole[note 1] | Ice pop,ice lolly |
| jandals[note 4] | thongs | Flip-flops |
| thong,G-string | G-string | Thong |
| candy floss | fairy floss | Candy floss in the UK,cotton candy in the US |
| cattle stop | cattle grid | A device for preventing cattle wandering onto country roads |
| sallies | salvos | Followers of theSalvation Army church; also the second-hand shops run by the Salvation Army Church. |
| speed bump speed hump judder bar[87][note 5] | speed bump speed hump[note 6] | A raised section of road used to deter excessive speed |
| no exit | no through road | Signage for a road with a dead end, acul-de-sac |
| Twink[note 1] | Liquid Paper[note 1] Wite-Out[note 1] | Correction fluid. Twink is a New Zealand brand name which has entered the vernacular as a generic term, being the first product of its kind introduced in the 1980s. The common Australian general term is white-out.[88] Liquid Paper is also a brand name which is sometimes used as a generic term in Australia or New Zealand. As with other countries (but not Australia) the European brandTipp-Ex is also available in New Zealand and is sometimes used as a generic term as well. |
| motorway | freeway,motorway | In Australia,controlled-access highways can be named as either freeway (a term not used in NZ; generally used inVictoria) or motorway (used in NZ, as well asNew South Wales,Queensland, etc.), depending on the state. Tolled roads are common in some cities in Australia, and the term freeway is not used for roads that require a toll for use, the implication being that their use is not "free". "Highway" is common outside major cities in Australia. |
| "kia ora" "howdy" "g'day" "hello" | "g'day" "hello" (etc.) | Although the greeting "g'day" is as common in New Zealand as it is in Australia, the term "howdy" can be heard throughout New Zealand[89][90][better source needed] but not as frequently in Australia. This contraction of "how do you do?" is actually of English origin (South English dialectc. 1860), however is contemporarily associated with cowboys and Southern American English, particularlyTexan English where it is a common greeting. It is possible the NZ origin is from the earlier British usage. In present day, "howdy" is not commonly used, with "how are you?" being more ubiquitous. When a rising intonation is used the phrase may be interpreted as an enquiry, but when slurred quickly and/or with a descending intonation, may be used as a casual greeting. |
| togs | bathers, swimmers, togs | Abathing suit. In NZ, "togs" is used throughout the country. In Australia however, it is one of the most well-known examples of regional variation in Australian English. The term for a bathing suit is "bathers" in the southern states as well asWestern Australia and theNorthern Territory, "swimmers" inNew South Wales and theAustralian Capital Territory and "togs" inQueensland. |
| vivid, sharpie | texta | Amarker pen; permanent marker. These are common brand names in their respective countries and they have become generic terms. |
| tramping hiking[91] | bushwalking (or less commonly) hiking | Travel through open or (more often) forested areas on foot |
Notes
| ||
Some New Zealanders often reply to a question with a statement spoken with arising intonation 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 New Zealanders, such as in the 1970s comedy characterLyn Of Tawa.[92] This rising intonation can also be heard at the end of statements that are not in response to a question but to which the speaker wishes to add emphasis. High rising terminals are also heard in Australia.[93]
In informal speech, some New Zealanders use the third person feminineshe in place of the third person neuterit 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". Similar to Australian English are uses such as "she was great car" or "she's a real beauty, this [object]".[citation needed]
Another specific New Zealand usage is the way in which New Zealanders refer to the country's two main islands. They are always (except on maps) referred to as "theNorth Island" and "theSouth Island". And because of their size, New Zealanders tend to think of these two islands as being 'places', rather than 'pieces of land', so thepreposition "in" (rather than "on") is usually used – for example, "my mother lives in the North Island", "Christchurch is in the South Island". This is true only for the two main islands; for smaller islands, the usual preposition "on" is used – for example, "onStewart Island", or "onWaiheke Island".[citation needed]
As in some other varieties of English, "us" is sometimes used in place of "me". A common example is "give us a go", meaning "give me a go".[94] About half the country pronounce the words "grown" and "known" with two syllables, as "growen" and "knowen". Similarly to other English varieties, when/l/ follows a vowel it is oftenvocalised, dropping the usual contact of the tongue and the sound becomes a vowel. An example of this is changing the words "feel" to "fee-u" or "railway" to "rai-u-way".[95]
Many local everyday words areloanwords that have been assimilated from theMāori language, including words for local flora, fauna, place names 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.[96]
Some Māori words occur in New Zealand English, such askia ora (hello).[97]
Māori is 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 be 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.[citation needed]
Recognisable regional variations are slight, except forSouthland and the southern part of neighbouringOtago, with its "Southland burr", where thepostvocalic R is pronounced rather than clipped. This southern area traditionally received heavy immigration from Scotland (seeDunedin). Several words and phrases common inScots or Scottish English persist there; examples include the use ofwee for "small", and phrases such asto do the messages meaning "to go shopping". Other Southland features which may also relate to early Scottish settlement are the use of theTRAP (short A) vowel in a set of words which usually use thePALM vowel (long A), such asdance orcastle, which is also common in Australian English. Another feature is the maintaining of the/ʍ/ ~/w/ distinction (e.g. wherewhich andwitch are not homophones).[98]
Recent research (2012) suggests that postvocalic/r/ is not restricted to Southland, but is found also in the central North Island where there may be aPasifika influence, but also a possible influence from modern New Zealand hip‐hop music, which has been shown to have high levels of non‐prevocalic/r/ after theNURSE vowel.[98]
Taranaki has been said to have a minor regional accent, possibly due to the high number of immigrants from the south-west of England. However, this is becoming less pronounced.[99]
SomeMāori have an accent distinct from the general New Zealand accent; and also tend to includeMāori words more frequently. ComedianBilly T. James and thebro'Town TV programme were notable for featuring exaggerated versions of this.[100] Linguists recognise this as "Māori English", and describe it as strongly influenced bysyllable-timed Māori speech patterns.[101] Linguists count "Pākehā English" as the other main accent, and note that it is beginning to adopt similar rhythms, distinguishing it from other stress-timed English accents.[102]
It is commonly held that New Zealand English is spoken very quickly.[103][104] This idea is given support by a study comparing adult New Zealand English and American English speakers which observed faster speaking andarticulation rates among the New Zealand English group overall.[105] However, a similar study with American and New Zealand English-speaking children found the opposite, with the speaking and articulation rates of the New Zealand children being slower.[106] The same study proposed that differences in the relative number oftense and lax vowels between the two speaker groups may have influenced the speaking and articulation rates.[106]
Since the advent of word processors with spell-checkers, in modern assignment writing in New Zealand universities[which?] the rule is to use either 100% British spelling or 100% American spelling, the emphasis being consistency.[120][failed verification –see discussion]
en-NZ is the language code forNew Zealand English, as defined by ISO standards (seeISO 639-1 andISO 3166-1 alpha-2) and Internet standards (seeIETF language tag).I read about a woman who bartered her way up from a bobby pin to a small cabin. I don't have enough faith or spare time for that, and I can never find a bobby pin when I need it
Milton O. Reeves and Marshall T. Reeves invented the first muffler to reduce petrol engine noise
it would be better if it was a little more squared off like a station wagon.
With Kiwis eating fewer hot chips during lockdown, one of New Zealand's largest potato chip manufacturers was forced to cut production significantly
Definitions from Wiktionary
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