New Zealand English - A dialect.
Created | Updated Apr 1, 2005
Once upon a time, English was one language which had arisen from several, as is often the case for languages. Because of colonialism, exploration and history in general, the English language spread around the world. Now, we find ourselves in the 21st century, with a good many dialects of English, as many as 19 - and they are known as ‘Englishes.'
The dominant English is currently, the American version. With 280 million native speakers, and Microsoft spell check defaults on its side, it’s in an overpowering position – and that’s without mentioning television and film. Many countries abound with people who grew up from the cradle with American voices in their living room, and in their cinema.
All Englishes though, have distinct lexical, morphological, and syntactic items peculiar to their geographic or political sphere.
Australian English for instance has vocabulary peculiar to the Lucky Country, some of it influenced by the Koori people. Woe betide the New Zealander who thinks their languages are closer than they are! Devon is not just an English county, but what we here, call ‘luncheon meat.’ Then there are doona (duvet) and stroller (pushchair.) There are other more recent delights to be found with 'Strine,' as the TV comedy 'Kath and Kim' shows - what, for instance, is a hornbag?
New Zealand English (also known as ‘New Zild,' and ‘Noo Zillund’) has several strands of influence. One, of course, is Maori – there are vocabulary items, and pronunciation details clearly traceable to Maori influence. Such words as puku, (stomach, informally meaning beer belly) hapu (pregnant), kia ora, punga (tree log) and korero (speak, communicate) are Maori borrowings which have entered English. The word Kiwi, originally limited to the small flightless bird, has become a term for New Zealanders themselves. Many New Zealanders are unaware of the extent to which Maori words have entered the language and are in common use, because they are so much a part of every day. It is hard to believe that in a time as recent as the 1980s, receptionists were forbidden to use the greeting 'Kia Ora' when welcoming callers to both public and private businesses.Since then, the use of 'Kia Ora' has become usual, however, and in 1988, Maori was made an official language of New Zealand.
The recent history of New Zealand as a country settled mainly by Scottish people in the 19th century has had an influence as well. Any New Zealand phone directory will list hundreds of ‘Mac’ names. In the South Island, the post vocalic ‘r’ is an example of Scots influence. Place names (especially in Dunedin); the use of the word ‘wee,' (little) and the peculiar pronunciation of vowels observable in South Islanders are evidence. A character on a New Zealand soap opera said ‘Wullie’ (referring to a family member) in exactly the same way as the name is presented in the dialect cartoon in the Scottish Sunday Post newspaper.
There are other pronunciations unique to New Zildish, or 'New Zild,' as a popular book of the 1960s called it. One recently noticed change , is that ear/air, fear/fair and the like, are taken to be homophones. A radio reporter was recently heard to say that someone was 'staring' a company to fiscal success. (It is to be presumed that she meant 'steering'.) 'Fush and Chups' (compare Australian 'feesh and cheeps' is well known.
World War II was another strong influence on the development of New Zild. During the war, American forces came to New Zealand on “R&R”, spreading vocabulary items, informal phrases and pronunciation promiscuously around. Women of my mother’s generation had many stories about the meeting of American service men and Maori place names, and such women retained usages such as ‘I guess’ (instead of suppose) from their 1940s friends. In later years, American film and television, and a surge in American immigration has led to wholesale borrowings. Some items are so established as ‘Kiwi’ that some authorities don’t even accept their American origin, while others are more recent. New Zealanders now say:
Rubber necker = Gawker
Refuse, garbage, trash = rubbish
pants = trousers
Fill out = Fill in
‘Skedyool’ =‘Shedyool’ (schedule)
elevator =lift
Fries, chips = Chips, crisps
Gas = petrol
Talk with = Talk to
Gotten =Got
Mad = Angry
Store = Shop
One hundred one (101) = One hundred and one
Quarter after = A quarter past (time)
Some of these Americanisms have led to the loss of useful distinctions – pants/trousers for instance, or are inaccurate – petrol and ‘gas’ are not the same, but these items are so ingrained that they will stay for ever. The use of American lexis is not limited to any one generation, neither is it widespread through out any sector of society. However, quite inexplicable, was the renaming of the Prison division of the Justice Department as the ‘Department of Corrections.'
Other changes are more authentic. Recent studies have shown that to a New Zealand child, ear/air and fear/fair are homophones. This was first noticed in Christchurch in the 1970s. Linguists studying this change say that it will be complete by 2050.
The leaving out of syllables and a rapidity of speech that can be bewildering to foreigners are also characteristic.
‘Advertising speak’ has had an influence on syntax. For instance the word ‘spend’ has recently become a noun – as in “20% of your weekly grocery spend”.
Parts of speech change places, as shown by a radio reporter outside court - speaking of a police non-association application, she said; “The judge disallowed the application, as that would unable the men to protest”. Unable as a verb? Mmm, doesn’t seem right, does it?
Spelling alters – it’s not just in NZ, that ‘lite’ and the like are now accepted. ‘Lite’ is, (as a means of spelling ‘not heavy’ or low fat content), quite logical, and would make a useful distinction from the other meaning, illumination.
There are many issues of pronunciation, including the famous ‘vowel shift’ that cannot be conveyed here, although it is said to be accelerating.
We all know that constant change, in language as in everything else, is here to stay. While some may fight against the developments that I have noted, and some others fight against some of them, it is important to realise that there is no longer one standard English, and never could be, for historical reasons. If the various dialects however, ever become mutually unintelligible, they all will be separate languages – and that would be a different matter. It is unlikely that this could ever happen, because of the dominance of the world’s only Hyperpower, the United States, and because of Instruments of Mass Communication.
The dominant English is currently, the American version. With 280 million native speakers, and Microsoft spell check defaults on its side, it’s in an overpowering position – and that’s without mentioning television and film. Many countries abound with people who grew up from the cradle with American voices in their living room, and in their cinema.
All Englishes though, have distinct lexical, morphological, and syntactic items peculiar to their geographic or political sphere.
Australian English for instance has vocabulary peculiar to the Lucky Country, some of it influenced by the Koori people. Woe betide the New Zealander who thinks their languages are closer than they are! Devon is not just an English county, but what we here, call ‘luncheon meat.’ Then there are doona (duvet) and stroller (pushchair.) There are other more recent delights to be found with 'Strine,' as the TV comedy 'Kath and Kim' shows - what, for instance, is a hornbag?
New Zealand English (also known as ‘New Zild,' and ‘Noo Zillund’) has several strands of influence. One, of course, is Maori – there are vocabulary items, and pronunciation details clearly traceable to Maori influence. Such words as puku, (stomach, informally meaning beer belly) hapu (pregnant), kia ora, punga (tree log) and korero (speak, communicate) are Maori borrowings which have entered English. The word Kiwi, originally limited to the small flightless bird, has become a term for New Zealanders themselves. Many New Zealanders are unaware of the extent to which Maori words have entered the language and are in common use, because they are so much a part of every day. It is hard to believe that in a time as recent as the 1980s, receptionists were forbidden to use the greeting 'Kia Ora' when welcoming callers to both public and private businesses.Since then, the use of 'Kia Ora' has become usual, however, and in 1988, Maori was made an official language of New Zealand.
The recent history of New Zealand as a country settled mainly by Scottish people in the 19th century has had an influence as well. Any New Zealand phone directory will list hundreds of ‘Mac’ names. In the South Island, the post vocalic ‘r’ is an example of Scots influence. Place names (especially in Dunedin); the use of the word ‘wee,' (little) and the peculiar pronunciation of vowels observable in South Islanders are evidence. A character on a New Zealand soap opera said ‘Wullie’ (referring to a family member) in exactly the same way as the name is presented in the dialect cartoon in the Scottish Sunday Post newspaper.
There are other pronunciations unique to New Zildish, or 'New Zild,' as a popular book of the 1960s called it. One recently noticed change , is that ear/air, fear/fair and the like, are taken to be homophones. A radio reporter was recently heard to say that someone was 'staring' a company to fiscal success. (It is to be presumed that she meant 'steering'.) 'Fush and Chups' (compare Australian 'feesh and cheeps' is well known.
World War II was another strong influence on the development of New Zild. During the war, American forces came to New Zealand on “R&R”, spreading vocabulary items, informal phrases and pronunciation promiscuously around. Women of my mother’s generation had many stories about the meeting of American service men and Maori place names, and such women retained usages such as ‘I guess’ (instead of suppose) from their 1940s friends. In later years, American film and television, and a surge in American immigration has led to wholesale borrowings. Some items are so established as ‘Kiwi’ that some authorities don’t even accept their American origin, while others are more recent. New Zealanders now say:
Rubber necker = Gawker
Refuse, garbage, trash = rubbish
pants = trousers
Fill out = Fill in
‘Skedyool’ =‘Shedyool’ (schedule)
elevator =lift
Fries, chips = Chips, crisps
Gas = petrol
Talk with = Talk to
Gotten =Got
Mad = Angry
Store = Shop
One hundred one (101) = One hundred and one
Quarter after = A quarter past (time)
Some of these Americanisms have led to the loss of useful distinctions – pants/trousers for instance, or are inaccurate – petrol and ‘gas’ are not the same, but these items are so ingrained that they will stay for ever. The use of American lexis is not limited to any one generation, neither is it widespread through out any sector of society. However, quite inexplicable, was the renaming of the Prison division of the Justice Department as the ‘Department of Corrections.'
Other changes are more authentic. Recent studies have shown that to a New Zealand child, ear/air and fear/fair are homophones. This was first noticed in Christchurch in the 1970s. Linguists studying this change say that it will be complete by 2050.
The leaving out of syllables and a rapidity of speech that can be bewildering to foreigners are also characteristic.
‘Advertising speak’ has had an influence on syntax. For instance the word ‘spend’ has recently become a noun – as in “20% of your weekly grocery spend”.
Parts of speech change places, as shown by a radio reporter outside court - speaking of a police non-association application, she said; “The judge disallowed the application, as that would unable the men to protest”. Unable as a verb? Mmm, doesn’t seem right, does it?
Spelling alters – it’s not just in NZ, that ‘lite’ and the like are now accepted. ‘Lite’ is, (as a means of spelling ‘not heavy’ or low fat content), quite logical, and would make a useful distinction from the other meaning, illumination.
There are many issues of pronunciation, including the famous ‘vowel shift’ that cannot be conveyed here, although it is said to be accelerating.
We all know that constant change, in language as in everything else, is here to stay. While some may fight against the developments that I have noted, and some others fight against some of them, it is important to realise that there is no longer one standard English, and never could be, for historical reasons. If the various dialects however, ever become mutually unintelligible, they all will be separate languages – and that would be a different matter. It is unlikely that this could ever happen, because of the dominance of the world’s only Hyperpower, the United States, and because of Instruments of Mass Communication.
