Finding Our Own Voice New Zealand English in the Making

This academic but approachable ethnography analyzes the evolution and accent of vocabulary in New Zealand since the beginning of European settlement. Listening to old New Zealanders from the 1850s, recorded by the National Broadcasting Service, the gradual changes in the language are analyzed and discussed. This study examines the prevailing attitudes towards the New Zealand English from the time it was considered an abominable, odious, colonial twang to its present acceptance as a distinctive variety of English. In addition to the European influences on New Zealand English, this study also analyzes the fluctuating incorporation of Maori into this unique type of English.