Post by Kiwithrottlejockey on Oct 14, 2009 13:53:24 GMT 12
(compared with the ‘convict’ Aussie one)
Poms reckon New Zild accent's rilly choice
By GREER McDONALD - The Dominion Post | Tuesday, 13 October 2009
Kiwis have the most socially attractive English accent outside of the motherland, eh.
According to a BBC survey, the New Zealand accent is one of most charming and prestigious English accents outside of Britain.
New Zealand English came in ahead of Australian, American and most regional British accents in the study published in the international Journal of Sociolinguistics, edited by Auckland University of Technology professor Allan Bell.
More than 5000 respondents from throughout Britain completed an online survey rating the prestige and social attractiveness of 34 different accents of English speakers.
Dr Bell said that, like many former colonial peoples, Kiwis had a history of denigrating their own way of speaking.
"But that kind of attitude decreased over time."
He said it was "highly ironical" that Brits rated Kiwi accents so highly and that 30 years ago there was a lot of "dumping" on the New Zealand accent.
"It looks like the post-colonial cringe is now entirely outdated."
People had often thought the accent had been influenced by American and Australian English, but Dr Bell said New Zealanders were actually just "becoming more Kiwi".
He said the reason the British looked favourably on Kiwi English was "in part because of the relative similarity to Queen's English and BBC English".
Standard English, Scottish and Irish were rated top in the survey, which was analysed by researchers from the University of Wales Centre for Language and Communication Research.
New Zealand English rated highly for both attractiveness and prestige.
It was the sixth most "socially attractive" accent, ahead of the Queen's English and well ahead of Australian in 13th and American English in 15th place.
New Zealand ranked 7th on prestige, above American English in 8th and Australian which came in at 11th. The Queen's English got the highest ranking for prestige.
HOW WE SOUND FINE
INTONATION: Kiwis use high rising terminal intonation relatively strongly. This is the rise of pitch at the end of the sentence where you would expect it to stay flat, so a statement sounds like a question.
Kiwis are known for their use of ‘eh’ at the end of a sentence.
VOWEL PRONUNCIATION: For example, those who speak Kiwi English will pronounce the ‘e’ in "bed" and "pen" with their tongue high in their mouth. Australians will hear this as "bid" and "pin".
VOCABULARY: This has been made most distinctive by the increase in Maori English and Pasifika English which is noted for its difference in the timing of saying words in a sentence.
www.stuff.co.nz/dominion-post/2957186/Poms-reckon-New-Zild-accents-rilly-choice