My Dad was a Dutch immigrant in the 50's, he had a book titled "How to speak New Zild" really funny and quite accurate in how we speak.

The Scots had an absolutely huge influence on the south island accent which is different from the north island accent. They still use a pile of Scottish words.

Kiwi in Sydney that gets large kicks watching Aussie faces as i invite em to my deck

It was so surreal hearing our accent in Thor: Ragnarok. Just suddenly the voice of some normal guy amongst the movie characters' different accents that I'm used to hearing from the big screen.

Kiwi's don't have an accent, - it's the rest of the world that has the accent!

There are different accents around NZ depending on where you're from and your background. For example, someone from South Auckland will have a different accent compared to someone from North Shore . Both will sound different to someone raised on the East Coast. South Islanders have a distinct accent too .

This is really cool, although I still don't understand how people who aren't from Oceania can't tell kiwi as Aussie apart!

Very north island focused. Brought up in the deep south in the 60s the effect of scots and irish imigration lingered in vocab and sound (wee, crib, etc) This day I use more celtic vowels and roll/trill my r consonant

I was expecting the Southland accent to get a mention.North Islanders think the are Yanks sometimes. Get a Southerner to say "dirty purple work shirt"

Aunt Daisy's pronunciation on Kia Ora is so much better than many can say now. Doesn't make sense that most boomers can't get it but the Greatest generation nailed it.

during my final year of college i noticed most of the juniors had americanish accents, must be from too much youtube and tv

This is so interesting. Need more mini docos about how we have evolved as a fairly young country.

Was actually pretty astonished when you mentioned Mt Roskill. You got that right for sure, extremely diverse. You’ll here different versions of the NZ accent.

Māori have different accents from pākeha. we also have a different vocal style. There's a lot of differences in NZ really

Literally no one in New Zealand says "feesh and chups". This example of our accent is actually so jarring lmao

The production value on this video is amazing. This deserves so many more views. Great job!

Very interesting. Folks have always found my accent a bit weird. Ever since I was a child, my accent has been consciously self cultivated, to the point that people have told me that I sound English. Later at university, I came across a linguist who heard me speak. He found it extremely remarkable that (as a young person) my accent was so cultivated. Curiously enough, he could still clearly identify my accent as a NZ accent, though he admitted that it wasn't the easiest to identify (he noticed among other things that my front vowels do not rise).

Excents are funnee. Went on my OE to Scotland (in 80s) and didn't meet or speak to another Kiwi for months. When I met another Kiwi I was shocked at her (and probably my) accent. My old man was Scots but I thought he had no accent till I phoned home one day and some strange Scotsman (my dad) answered it.

i was raised in south auckland and have only ever pronounced it 'thuh' lol spot on.

Awesome video - great production. I'll be sharing this with my students at the NZ Voice Academy

I watched your video... One thing I was astounded at, how the hell was our abomination of an accent voted sexiest amongst world travellers? Also, you could have gone into more detail around bro-ism. How the english of the likes of Billy T James seeped into everyday parlance. Things like chur bro, sweet as, fanks cuz etc becoming commonplace.

I think that mass communication has revealed that whenever English speakers have travelled to other parts of the world and lived in obscurity, their accent has changed over time due to lack of influence from where they came from and increased influence from others around them. The general Australian accent is just a New Zealand accent with the vowel sounds intact, although many English speakers in Melbourne have al and el sounds reversed, ie. Malbourne, elbum, etc. Perhaps that also drifted in from across the ditch.

This is such a great video!! Well done !

2:16 despite living in Canterbury my whole life, and going to UC for 4 years, I still read the professors description and at first thought they were from a British university. My brain just couldn't accept someone so formal and eloquent in the same place as me

All other Englishes I’ve encountered pronounce the word “says” as “sez” but New Zealanders often rhyme it with “days”

this is something i have always thought about such as what did our accents sound in the past compared to now and what will it be in the future and why we sound different

I'm an Aussie & appreciate the explanation of the differences between the ways we and Kiwis form vowels. However, the video doesn't explain why our vowel sounds diverged. This aspect of the two accents fascinated me when the first big wave of Kiwis migrated here in the early 80s, and still does!

Incorrect at 6:49. It is not whether or not it begins with a vowel, but whether or not it begins with a vowel sound. One would say 'thuh' uniform. But 'thee' honour.

I’ve been friends with a kiwi gentleman for twenty years. I recently listened to Jane Harper’s “The Survivors” on audio. It takes place in Tasmania and is read by an Australian actor. Yes, I know NZ is not part of Australia, but the accents are similar. It took a while, but my mind transitioned from “huh?” to “translating” words from their accent to my American accent.

this also has implications for period drama shows as well, the accents need to be in context to the era involved... well done on the video btw

Fantastically interesting!

My grandparents were Dutch immigrants, but they decided not to teach the language to my mum, and so I never learned it either. And yet, when I came across an old Italian man one day, he could instantly tell I was of Dutch descent - because my Kiwi accent has a Dutch accent mixed in, despite never learning the language.

Can we please get more quality videos like this

That is the old pre 1804 Union Jack. By the time of the treaty in 1840. It had the modern red diagonal lines which it has now.

Great content. I wish the audio levels were more consistent.

My mother, born in Dunedin in1914, first took and later gave elocution lessons intended to get rid of the Kiwi vowel sounds. She then married an Englishman and moved to the UK, where despite all that training everyone immediately picked her out as a New Zealander. She once asked for a ticket to Marble Arch which needed several attempts before she was understood.

Kia Ora, Kiwi here. Interestingly, New Zealand also has regional accents that seem to be ignored quite a lot by the videos on Aotearoan accents here on You Tube.

This is some good quality content

As an Aussie from Adelaide I used to have people in Sydney think I was a Kiwi, probably because my accent is more rounded and less broad than a typical Sydneysider. Quite an honour, actually 😉

An Aussie here. Although I've met Kiwis who have strong New Zealand accents, for the most part I feel like our accents are quite similar, like the cousins we are. Admittedly, not similar enough to stop Aussies doing the "fush and chups" joke. Sorry about that. I've demonstrated to my children with old ABC recordings (as in our national broadcaster) that the very strong (so-called "ocka") Aussie accent was far less common when I was young. And never from a newsreader, who all spoke with a very "Oxbridge" plum. My wife and I both have what would be regarded by the average Aussie as a "cultivated" accent, not strongly ocka. Our children have all been homeschooled so their exposure to very ocka accents has been limited. Amusingly, after taking phone calls from locals (very drawling-accented farmers - we live in a rural area) I've actually heard my children complain that they "couldn't understand half of what they said" because the accent was so strong. I've often wondered why the Kiwi and Aussie accents have differences so I enjoyed your video, thanks. I had assumed that the Kiwi accent was strongly influenced by Scottish immigration because, to my ears, the Scots have vowels clipped in a similar way to Kiwis. Back in the 1980s there was an Aussie comedy show where in one of the episodes there was a reference to New Zealand as the place that vowels go to die (I think this was a reference to what used to be said of New Zealand as "the place that baby Austins go to die"). One last thing. There are still large pockets of plummy accented Aussies. If you go to South Australia for instance, particularly around Victor Harbour, the accent is very posh. They say "plahnt" and "dahnce" and words like "holy" are said like hoe-lee as opposed to hole-ee. Very posh.

Māori english is totally different

I always said people from epsum girls grammar have their own special accent

My family sound more like the associate professor than the general NZ. Idk why.

My parents were English-born - Mum from Surrey (middle middle class) and Dad from upper middle class with posh Mum. So my Kiwi accent was always somewhat moderated by that environment, though not posh Kiwi

t'scool how accents evolve like genres of music

I've only been in NZ about 18 months, but I find my vowels rising. That and starting lots of sentences with an almost surprised sounding 'ah'.

8:41 I know some memphis artists who say "plestic beg" etc

As a kiwi, to me the most obvious difference in vowel sounds between us and the aussies is the "a" especially when used with "n", such as in the words "plant" or "answer". While we might say "ant" very similarly, with the aussies being a bit higher pitch, they keep the exact same sound to say "plant", where as us kiwis will change it to a much softer vowel with more of an "r" sound mixed in.

Lunn's excent dozen sound uxeggerated et orl tummy!

Born in 03 and I'd say I don't have the standard Kiwi accent, mine is a bit americanised when I speak casually, but I can switch it to kiwi/uk-ish when communicating with people or reading a speech.

nz accent originated in central otago, where there were virtually no maori. it's a blend of english, scottish and irish accents. some north island towns with high maori populations sound a bit different. down in otago/southland, it has more of a scottish rolling of "r"s reflecting the scottish settlers.

Te Waipounamu/South Islanders, particularly South canterbury, have a more refined way of speaking than the more common sounding Te Ika-a-Māui/North Island dialect/aka Lynn of Tawa...

Yesterday much loved and ubiquitous TV personality Hillary was embarrassed by the translater thinking she enjoyed eating s*men rather than Salmon. The kiwi accent is certainly a novelty that is very quirky and humourous, the famous" gus a chup brew" ad was a cultural phenomena. Anyway be proud as this was voted world's finest and favourite accent ( although with south African coming in second was it satire by some cheeky Aussies?)

I lived overseas for a couple of decades - most of that time spent teaching English so l had pretty much neutralised my New Zealand accent - came home on holiday one year during the absolute height of Lyn of Tawa's popularity. She was EVERYWHERE - l was horrified - all l could think was Good God, did l used to sound like THAT? I couldn't believe how everyone was celebrating her and her accent. I didn't find out until several years later that she was/is a comedian and was taking the Mickey. 😂

I was born early Fifties in Pt Chevalier, a Western suburb, but not what is now called West Auckland. As the narrator says, I grew up with the unconscious thah/thee distinction for consonant/vowel sound beginnings. So much so that in my Thirties I considered "thah" before a vowel sound as a mark of poor education, or a giveaway of someone from an area of high Maori population. An older me knows language shifts and I don't judge anymore.

Very interesting. But why the pre-1801 Union Jack?

Beautiful Lynn

The one thing that still bugs me, is the shift that has added an ‘r’ sound to some words which really shouldn’t have it... like On and Off being vocalised as Orn and Orff.

Git the did hin in the shid and fid it to the peg. Someone actually said that to me once on a farm near Glenorchy.

I actually think it sounds closer to South African accent than Australian.

So how do you explain the difference between the South Island and north island accent ?

This is insightful, not only for the Kiwis! But for OOLLL.

Probably ms.Susan Maitland knows someone whose name is Mr mike Maitland.

My princible sounds literally says nu zulund

Should see the change with the kids growing up now. I call them generation you tube. They grew up watching toy unboxings on unused tablets after the tablet fad died out. A fair few kids now have a kiwi x american accent.

Brooooo, this is so interesting! Here's to becoming a predominantly bilingual nation again with English and Te Reo Māori! Wooo!

I was born in Nz but my accent is so mixed cause I grew up watching so many videos and shows in American English lmfao

"feesh and chups" is more Aussie than NZ. We say it more like literally how it's spelt - "fish and chips"

There is 5 or 6 different New Zealand accents so there is more to it....

Had no idea there was a rule about ‘the’. English is weird.

This is kind of irrilavent, but I have a story One of my relatives, was nicknamed Wild Bill. He had to flee Scottland because he was doing the dirty with someone else's wife, and he somehow ended up in Nz

When I worked in call centres in the UK, I used to get picked for a South African all the time. I have a very clipped phone voice 😅

1:12 He sounds like he's talking gibberish

WOOOP WOOP my teachers sisters on here lynn of tawa yayyyy

Yep! I'll just head off and get some of NZ's favourite fast food, *fush & chups!* LOL

even polynesian kiwis have their own accents too

Honourable mentions to unknown / unknowun and off / orf. And also the Southland accent in general - those guys are special 😀

fish and chups I-

Kiwis in Mount Roskill have Indian accents!

Our 'i' sound doesn't remotely sound like 'u' (fush), stop speling it this way. It's a slightly different sound that you can't put an existing letter on, accept it instead of trying to match it to another vowel like 'u'. The way we say tuck, is the same as general Americans do, and we say it vastly different to 'tick'.

Glad you think so ( that the NuZilund exsunt is suxxy) but to Australian ears it just sounds agrarian downmarket.

I feel like tiktok is going to change peoples’ accents even more

It’s Lyn with one N!

Kiwis sound more like South Africans than anyone else ay.

similarities with the south african accent

I didnt understand anything you said

What in the Vox

Na. I think the majority of this interpretation isn't right. And dont agree with how we say chips as chups. Kiwis simply eliminate the letter i in the most words: chips = chps in = nnn clip = clp Pig dog and pug dog sound totally different in kiwi slang, we dont replace an i with a u, we just tend to delete it. And disagree with the Oz interpretation as well. We say bet as b-eh-t, aussies say bet exactly how we say bat. We say s-eh-x, they say it how we say sacks. We say Sdnee, they say sed-nee. That's how I hear it anyway...

3:35 the changes named are very true but they sound funny and unnatural with kiwi accent. He’s virtually saying Pat, pit, and pet instead of Pat, pet, and put in standard accent.

"iccint".

I’ll have a family meal with 2 fush fillet and 2 quarter pounder, steam bun, Fanta please bro, chuur bro

As an australian i can assure everyone in the world that noone australian has ever pronounced 'pit' as 'peet', or 'fish' as 'feesh'. The word 'pit' might come out sounding like the t sound at the end is in between a t and a d sound if an australian is speaking fast, and you'll also notice the australian nasal sound as with every other word. the worst thing about being an australian is hearing people who cant do our accent but think they can, ive only ever seen one non-australian do it right. People trying to become good at accents are gonna see this video and think that 'fish' and 'pit' are actually feesh and peet for us and then they're gonna try to impress an australian and make themselves look like idiots.

Hallen Clark was not criticised so much for her pronunciation in isolation, more the way she sounds like a man.

Basically, it's English spoken with Maori vowel pronunciation.

Strange thinking that the British have the correct accent?? I lived two years in Britain (Somerset) and found so many different accents in Britain that were harder to understand for British people in other regions than my New Zealand speech. Another Kiwi I knew got a job teaching English as a second language to immigrants in Birmingham ahead of local teachers because it was realised that his accent was easier for foreigners to pick up and make themselves better understood by all other English speakers.

All the american KZfaq and TV has influenced my little siblings pronunciations a bit and its so weird to hear

Brah no one says "chups" and no one says "pat" like "pet" 🤦‍♂️👀

The accent has changed heaps. Even in 10 years. Go watch show like outrageous fortune and listen to how different we pronounce words now. Younger people are starting to sound more Australian. Most likely due to social media and Australian “influencers”

I'm Scottish and I only 'thee' the 'the' when I'm being sarcastic. 😉

What about how people from the South Island have a stronger R. Probably because they had less contact with Maori and Polynesian immigrants. Or central New Zealand sounds more stereotypical Nu Zuland. Central North Island and Central plateau farmers tend to sound more Australian