Are North Islanders generally more urbane than rustic South Islanders?

[Trimac20]

Originally Posted by hkgal

Compared to the US accents, NZ accents show only a small variation. In parts of the south island, there is that Scottish influence which gives the speakers a pronounced 'burr' i.e. where an Auckland would say 'heard' as something like 'heahd', a south island would say it more like 'huurd'. Basically, we drop off 'r' from the end of a word whereas this SI regional accent tends to really pronounce it.

The main variations in the NZ accent, apart from this regional characteristic, would be found between city and rural dwellers. The rural kiwi accent is much stronger. This, like in other parts of the world, is probably due to the fact that in cities you have a wide variation of accents from everywhere and the kiwi-ness in speech is tempered somewhat. In rural communities this may not be the case, so it tends to sound much stronger.

You will also find variations in the accents of some Maori and Pacific Island speakers, which I assume come from the influences of their native languages. I have to say I think these variances may become even more pronounced as I noticed last time I was home that there is a very strong trend toward young Maori children being educated in a 'language nest' environment where they are immersed in Maori language and culture. I heard little kids speaking Maori with their families and I NEVER heard that growing up.

Really, it's interesting you say the rural is MUCH stronger. I notice that's the case here in Australia, but when I went to New Zealand everyone seemed to have a pretty strong NZ accent...perhaps the rural/urban gap is less in the South Island.

[hkgal]

Originally Posted by Trimac20

Really, it's interesting you say the rural is MUCH stronger. I notice that's the case here in Australia, but when I went to New Zealand everyone seemed to have a pretty strong NZ accent...perhaps the rural/urban gap is less in the South Island.

Yeah, probably more noticeable for locals, but I really didn't notice the difference until I left NZ for a number of years and went back. Now I cringe when I hear some of the accents! However, I know that's how I sound too!