New Zealand English
Dialect of the English language / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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New Zealand English (NZE) is the variant of the English language spoken and written by most English-speaking New Zealanders.[3] Its language code in ISO and Internet standards is en-NZ.[4] It is the first language of the majority of the population.
New Zealand English | |
---|---|
Region | New Zealand |
Ethnicity | New Zealanders |
Native speakers | 3.8 million in New Zealand (2013 census)[1] 150,000 L2 speakers of English in New Zealand (Crystal 2003) |
Early forms | |
Latin (English alphabet) Unified English Braille | |
Language codes | |
ISO 639-3 | – |
Glottolog | newz1240 |
IETF | en-NZ |
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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 varieties of English that had the biggest influence on the development of New Zealand English were Australian English and Southern England English, with lesser influences from American English, Hiberno-English, Scottish English and the British prestige accent Received Pronunciation (RP).[5] An important source of vocabulary is the Māori 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/ (the KIT vowel): in New Zealand English this is pronounced as a schwa. New Zealand English has several increasingly distinct varieties, and while most New Zealanders speak non-rhotic English, rhoticity is increasing quickly, especially among Pasifika and Māori in Auckland and the upper North Island.[7][failed verification]