The Kiwi accent
Exploring the peculiarities of New Zealand pronunciation.
Why do we say it like that? Almost every day RNZ receives emails or letters, questioning the way a staff member has pronounced a word or place name.
Hewitt Humphries has the answers
Collection items
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Professor Elizabeth Gordon - speaking Kiwi
Professor Elizabeth Gordon - speaking Kiwi
6 Feb 2009Retired Professor of Linguistics at the University of Canterbury discusses the origins of the New Zealand accent. Audio
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New Zealanders Sound Like Neanderthals - Study
New Zealanders Sound Like Neanderthals - Study
Neanderthals have spoken out for the first time in 30,000 years, and - in a New Zealand accent. Audio
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Kiwi English
12 Oct 2009The New Zealand accent has been rated the most attractive and prestigious form of English outside of the UK, in a survey conducted by the BBC. Audio
Kiwi English -
NZ singing accent
5 Aug 2010Andy Gibson, musician and sociolinguist, Institute of Culture, Discourse and Communication at the Auckland University of Technology,is the author of a thesis exploring the variety of singing accents… Audio
NZ singing accent -
Macmillan Brown lecture 1, 2005
The New Zealand accent was first noticed around 1900 when it was called a 'colonial twang'. Recordings of old New Zealanders collected in the 1940's by the New Zealand National Broadcasting Service… Audio
Macmillan Brown lecture 1, 2005 -
Macmillan Brown lecture 2, 2005
'Afghans' and 'cheerios', 'kiwi' and 'iwi': the words we use. The beginnings of New Zealand English go back to the time when Captain Cook borrowed Maori words into English. In this lecture Elizabeth… Audio
Macmillan Brown lecture 2, 2005 -
Macmillan Brown lecture 3, 2005
'A whirlpool of impure vocalisation': attitudes to New Zealand English. When the New Zealand accent was first noticed it was roundly condemned. Critics said it was the product of poor homes and… Audio
Macmillan Brown lecture 3, 2005
Jemaine Clement of Flight of the Conchords. Photograph by Kim Melso