New Zealand English

English has specific characteristics of each region. New Zealand has also its characteristic of them. When I had stayed in New Zealand in one month, I had heard a lot of interesting pronunciation and some wards that may come from Maori. I was really interested in that. I will tell you about it for 3 points. There are the origin of New Zealand English, the relation of Maori language, and the pronunciation and some interesting example of New Zealand English.

Which country is the origin of New Zealand English, England or Australia? The northern hemisphere English speakers, the New Zealand English is similar to its big neighbor, Australia. However they have difference historical settlement. Australia was probably settled by humans like aborigine over 50,000 years ago, but New Zealand was the last habitable landmass in the world to be colonized, so their English is different a little.

The origin of New Zealand English is England. As you know, New Zealand was one of the colonies of Britain. There are some varieties in British English as Japanese. Many people think all British people speak the Received Pronunciation (RP), but people in London spoke Estuary English (it means cockney). New Zealand was pioneered by people who spoke estuary English, so New Zealander usually speaks it, not Received Pronunciation, especially south island. Dunedin is the town which this english accent influence is most evident in the southern region in New Zealand. However some people say that new Zealand English is not from cockney, it is a gross over exaggeration because new Zealand English accent has some features markedly in others. The first English speaker came to New Zealand in 1792, but they were Australian rather than British. The trickle of settlers from Britain and Australia increased during 19th century, and it became a flood after the treaty of Waitangi in 1840.

New Zealand was settled by both big countries, which is Britain and Australia. By mid-century, the number of Pakeha (it means European people in Maori.) was got over the Maori people. All settlers of each country naturally spoke their own English accent and English varieties along with them, so there are many influences to New Zealand English from several dialects like Scottish, Irish America, Australia, and England.

According to Canterbury University researchers, New Zealand English is like “mixing bowl” because several English accents in New Zealand English as its base is the received English. However, recently, the research by Victoria University is that the British English and Scottish English had already been “pre-mixed” in Australia before coming to New Zealand.
Cleary then, the closest accent of New Zealand English is Australian English, because in many ways, New Zealand English is descended from Australia. Also new Zealand English is close to south African English, as all three southern hemisphere countries were settled at roughly same time.

New Zealand also has a big influence of Maori. The important source of new Zealand English vocabulary, and which makes it uniquely different from any other English dialect is Maori language. The Polynesian ancestors of Maori arrived only about 1150-1200 AD. New Zealand was occupied by the people speaking the single language, so Maori people were persecuted by the Pakeha, but they were not victimized, so some Maori language were still used in new Zealand. Almost of the Maori languages now is the name of plants, animal, trees, and some cultural wards like “marae” (it means ceremonial ground) and “mana” (it means authority). Maori language is closely related to Hawaiian, Tahitian, and other Polynesian language.
Some pronunciation is really interesting in New Zealand. It is close to Australian English and South African English. However some words are different. For example, Australian speaks “fish and chips” as “feesh and cheeps”, but in new Zealand, they speak “fish and chips” as “fush and chups”, “yes” as “yiss”, “sixty-six” as “suxty-sux”. They also write like this. When I stayed in New Zealand, I heard these wards in school, town, and anywhere. I was confused when I heard these words for the first time. In addition, some vocabulary words are also different. For example, Australian says “mobile phone”, but New Zealander says “cell phone”. There are a lot of differences from American English. American speaks “candy” but New Zealander speaks “lolly”. My host mother said “lolly”, I couldn’t understand its meaning. The answer in the classroom is “here” in America, but in new Zealand, the answer is “yes”. American says “fall” but New Zealander says “autumn”.

There are a lot of vocabulary differences from other countries and differences of pronunciation. New Zealand English is similar to Australian English actually, but it has a many ingredients of English dialects, so we will be confused sometimes. However it is very interesting and good characteristic of New Zealand English. We can also understand its history. I want to study more about New Zealand English and I want to speak it.