New Zealand English

E3667

New Zealand English is the distinctive variety of the English language spoken in New Zealand, characterized by its unique accent, vocabulary, and influences from Māori.


Statements (62)
Predicate Object
instanceOf dialect
variety of English
countryOfOrigin New Zealand
hasCharacteristic distinct pronunciation of KIT vowel
distinctive diphthong pronunciations
merger of NEAR and SQUARE vowels for many speakers
non-rhotic accent
short front vowel shift
use of Māori loanwords
use of local slang and colloquialisms
use of rising intonation in statements
hasOrthographicFeature use of Māori macrons in many texts
hasSpellingConvention predominantly British spelling
use of -ise endings (e.g. organise)
use of -our endings (e.g. colour)
use of -re endings (e.g. centre)
hasSubvariety Māori English
Pacific English in New Zealand
Pākehā English
historicalDevelopment developed from varieties of British English brought by settlers
emerged in the 19th century
influencedBy Australian English
British English
Māori language
Pacific Island languages
languageFamily Germanic languages
Indo-European languages
lexicalItem Aotearoa (Māori name for New Zealand)
Kiwi (meaning New Zealander)
bach (holiday home)
chilly bin (cooler, ice box)
chur (thanks, acknowledgement)
crib (holiday home, South Island)
dairy (corner shop)
haka (ceremonial dance)
hard out (intensifier)
heaps (a lot)
iwi (tribe)
jandals (flip-flops)
kai (food)
kia ora (greeting)
mana (prestige, authority)
marae (communal meeting place)
puku (stomach)
pākehā (New Zealander of European descent)
sweet as (very good, no problem)
ta (thank you)
taonga (treasure, something prized)
togs (swimsuit)
whānau (extended family)
yeah nah (pragmatic discourse marker)
officialStatusIn New Zealand
partOf English language
primaryRegion Chatham Islands
New Zealand
Ross Dependency
spokenBy majority of New Zealand population
subfamily West Germanic languages
usedIn New Zealand education system
New Zealand government communication
New Zealand media
writingSystem Latin alphabet

Referenced by (12)

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