On the Origins of the New Zealand English Accent

Abstract

In this paper it is argued that the New Zealand English accent is a mixed accent in origin, showing input from many areas in England south of a line from Cheshire to the Wash. It is argued that attributing the accent to more specific areas in England is possible only if some of the phonetic evidence is ignored. Accordingly, the notion of swamping (Lass 1990) is not specifically required to explain most of the features of the New Zealand accent: such south-eastern focus as there may be is largely the result of the failure of specifically south-eastern features to become stigmatised.