New Zealand Accent – Phonetic Breakdown
Listen below
Phonemic symbols are broad measurements of speech sounds. See notes below.
Notes: New Zealand English, which was established on the islands by colonists during the 19th century, has been shaped by three main influences; the accent from southern England, the Scottish English accent and the Maori language.
Tips for learners:
• There is a distinctly nasal resonance, similar to Australian and South African English, present in the New Zealand accent caused by a slightly lowered position of the velum(soft palate) and a natural point of tension at the back of the oral cavity.
• /l/ is ‘dark’ in environments, though generally not as dark as in Australian English.
• New Zealand English is non-rhotic, so /r/ is only pronounced before a vowel sound, but not a consonant sound.
• Occasionally ‘r’ can be a trilled sound due to the Scottish influence, especially on South Island.
• /h/ is sometimes dropped in certain mid-sentence pronouns.
• /j/ is not dropped following alveolar consonants in words such as new, duty, tune, assume.
• New Zealand English speakers only pronounce a »word-final ‘r’ if the next word starts with a vowel and often use the intrusive ‘r’
