I love accents.

I'm trying to learn to distinguish the New Zealand accent from the Australian accent and I know we have several Aussies here.

I'm pretty sure this is a good example of the NZ/Kiwi accent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zbk1PAYoT8o

Am I right?

I do encounter far more Aussies than Kiwis in my job, and asking someone where they hail from is an easy way to a fatter tip.

Usually I'll say to someone who says they're from Oz, "I though so, but see New Zealander's get mad if they're mistaken for an Aussie, so I thought I'd check."

That's usually good for a chuckle (Chris Matthews once said he never met an Aussie he didn't like, and I agree with him).

I'm told they pronounce "Fish and chips" differently...

There are folks from places like Liverpool, however, that sound exactly the same to me...

BTW, that looks like nifty cookware, but what's wrong with good old cast iron?



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2015 01:14PM by SL Cabbie.

Thanks, Cabbie.

Yeah, the old "fush and chups" test. I've heard that one too. I fell asleep wth the tv on and woke to this infomercial just as he was saying something similar and thought that's it!"

I'm right there with you on nonstick cookware. I love my heirloom cast iron. The only nonstick pan I own is the one I use for omelettes.

..between Aussie and Kiwi accents is, Aussies call them "raiza blaides," and Kiwis call them "roiza bloides."

I happen to know a lot of people from both countries and you've nailed it I would say.

I find new zealanders to sound like folks from melbourne who are a lot softer spoken than, say, folks from sydney or perth or darwin who are a lot harsher sounding, a bit like folks from rural maine. I have worked with loads of travelers and I think the aussies are the way they are because a lot of their ancestors were deported scots escaping the highland clearances and irish escaping the famines - always up for a bit of a laugh and if there is alchohol available all the better. In fact, it was aussies of scots descent who invented refrigeration so they could have cold beer. Necessity is the mother of invention.

Besides, how could you not be likeable when you grow up with all that sunshine and vitamin D and serotonin running through your system? It would be like growing up with a high dose of SSRI antidepressants constantly in your bloodstream.

I have only met one aussie I did not like wholeheartedly and she was from Melbourne and a self confessed snobby bitch but I did not dislike her. I've found folks from new zealand and melbourne are more reserved in general and softer in their accents than people I have met from the rest of australia.

I think that most of the Brits who settled New England were more from the big cities, so their speech was a little closer to the King's English. On the other hand, most of the Brits who settled in the American south were more of the Scotch-Irish-Welsh who hailed from more rural and/or poorer areas. There have been lots of studies which show how the American southern accent, words, speech patterns, etc., largely descended from the early Scotch-Irish settlers (much like American country/folk music is descended from the rural Scotch-Irish culture.)

I think the same thing happened with the Aussie settlers. Most of them have more of a rural/poor Cockney accent which their convict ancestors possessed. It's interesting to note the differences between for instance, Russell Crowe's and Paul Hogan's accents. Crowe sounds more "citified" and cultured, while Hogan's is more the broad, Cockney-style accent of rural Aussies and particularly North Queenslanders.

Speaking of that, I had a funny experience just weeks before I finished my mission. I had spent ten months in the north Queensland cities of Rockhampton and Mackay, 250-400 miles north of Brisbane. My last area was on the Gold Coast, about 60 miles south of Brisbane. We were knocking on doors one day, and the lady at one house asked me "Ah yew from Townsville?" (Townsville is even further north than Mackay.) I guess it was because I'm from Alabama, and already had a Southern accent, and then I had spent ten months among the more rural, small-town Aussies. My accent was apparently so broad by that time that the lady assumed I was from "up north."

aussie is really easy to pick up, after just a few minutes you already start to say your 'yes's' as 'yeah's' with a inclining end tone and a long vowel.

I am stuck with 'no worries' and have been for about 16 years now. Picked it up from a girl I worked with and have never managed to dispose of it.

Having played rugby with a lot of guys from New Zealand and Australia, plus watched a lot of rugby games from New Zealand and Australia commentated by native broadcasters, one big difference to my ears is in the vowel sounds. New Zealanders, for example, pronounce "hat" as "het", and "bed" as "bid"; Aussie vowel sounds are more like our own, though still inflected.

The best Rugby match I saw was between England and Australia in Australia, when England won and the Welsh-born BBC commentator became so excited that he began shouting in his native Welsh. ;o))

Two words: Masterchef New Zealand and Masterchef Australia.

We're having so much fun listening to the chifs prising all those duhlashious dushes thit are cocked een tha Masterchif kutchin!

We're kinda used to the Aussie accents (Come in, Victor Charlie Charlie) but New Zealand is a hoot.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2015 05:32PM by rt.

If a woman has an Australian or New Zealand accent it sends a delicious shiver up my spine. ;oD

"Round and flat" are the words I use to describe sounds. To my untrained ear, Kiwis pronounce vowels in a "rounder" way than Aussies do, which sound "flatter" to me. In the same way, I also think that there's a similar difference between Canadian and American pronunciation - we Canadians tend to round out our vowels more than Americans.

As an Aussie who has met and worked with lots of Kiwis, yep, that was a New Zealand accent although not as strong as some I've heard.

Exdrymo and Tal Bachman have given some good examples of how their vowel pronunciation differs from ours (fush and chups for fish and chips - het for hat and bid for bed). As for hearing them say six, that was always good for a laugh. Anyhow it will soon be their turn to have a laugh at my expense as I hope to be visiting the North Island in November.

I had the great pleasure of visiting both of those two great southern nations some forty years ago. Great hosts in both countries.

I can pretty easily distinguish an Aussie accent from a Kiwi one because I have known people from both places. Right now, though, I'm working on distinguishing various accents in Kentucky. They vary widely, depending on what end of the state the person is from.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 02/22/2015 07:22PM by rationalist01.

As a kiwi, I'd say there are a few variations in the New Zealand accent. Maori have a distinctive accent which is a product of the combination of Maori and English. South Islanders have a bit of a twang that at times sounds almost Australian. The rest of NZ sound pretty much the same.

I've heard a few actors try to mimic our accent over the years, but not one of them has come close, most have been quite hillarious. Actually one or two of the mishos I've met over the years have done a very decent job. One kid from Salt Lake could do a Maori-kiwi accent so well I had to do a double take...he sounded like one of my whanaunga (cousins).

Google " Beached Az" on You Tube. Aussies gently poking fun at the Kiwi accent.


" I'm beached az, bro, beached az."

Yes there is a difference between the Aussie accent and the Kiwi. The 'fush and chups' test is probably the best. But there are some regional differences too, in both countries, as has been discussed.

An accent in any area is usually the result of the mix of accents that first settled in the area, and the Aussies were descended from a lot of British working class convicts in the beginning, but of course there have been LOTS of changes since. I can pick up changes in the accents of my ancestors here in OZ (that I have on tape) and those of the accents around me now, as well as the addition to and erasure of some words . Time as changed the language and accent.

ONe difference that is noted is the correctness of the pronounciation. I am often asked if I attended a private (expensive) school where elocution was taught (to my generation - not so much today), I find that hilarious because I went to a school in the poorest area of the city I lived in - a public government run school.
What I think made the difference was that my parents picked me up on my pronounciation if I ever got lazy. They were not correcting my accent, just making sure that I pronounced my d's and t's etc.

I work with Austalian Aboriginal people, and there is a definate accent there too, on occasion with Aboriginal slang in the wording, which I find delightful. If something is really wonderful to an Aboriginal person it is 'deadly' which makes me giggle every time I hear it. We have an Aboriginal Academy Awards subsititute called 'The Deadly Awards'!!!

I miss the old Aussie slang which was used MUCH more when I was young, but I still use it on occasion. Fair Dinkum (really real) Dinky-di (really real), plus others. Not dissapearing is the amazing Australian swear world 'bloody' which some people use all the time.

A lot of American words have replaced the Australian words for things. 'Tomato sauce' is often now 'ketcup' and 'going to the pictures' is now 'going the movies', just as 'dating' has replaced 'going out' or 'keeping company'. Language and accents change and it is fascinating isn't it?

As a Kiwi, the video is pretty spot on. I think we kiwis have rather flat vowels.

The Masterchef quote cracked me up. There is one judge on there who has a really broad Kiwi accent. I am sure Key-wee knows.

The funniest thing was when I worked in Ireland and someone thought I was South African! To me and a South African lady that also worked with us thought it was hilarious.

Australians say 'six'

Americans say 'sax'

New Zealanders say 'sux'

Canadians say 'sex'

The problem is, unless you're Australian all of the above examples will be pronounced differently in your head...by the way, the example is for the number 6.

To Kiwis Aussies say "sex" for 6. To Aussies, Kiwis sound like they say "sux"

As a Kiwi living in Brisbane, yes, there is a big difference!

This is an Oz take on the Kiwi accent that never fails to crack me up!
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=DY6CiLH-_YM

Hilarious!

When on my mission to NZ many years ago I eventually learned to spot the transplanted Aussie or Pom. Now if I hear someone that’s not quite Aussie then I guess Kiwi.

As a Queenslander I think Sydneysiders pronounce their I sounds like EE far more than anywhere else. "Thees ees a feesh and cheep shop" really contrasts with the Kiwi "thus us a fush and chup shop".

Also a lot of women especially in southern states seem to say "phoin hoim" for phone home.

Victorians sound like they say "boins and pois" for beans and peas.

A lot of Scots went to New Zealand, hence the U sound for I, whereas the Aussie accent resembles cockney.