I have detected several accents and some regional accents like Auckland and Otago.
There is the Maori Accent, which comes across quite strong and has a very South African sound, however not all Maori speak that way, I know many maori who actually speak better english than pakeha. Especially the older generation, their english was close to Queens English.
So there is the SOuth African NZ ACCENT, The BBC NZ ACCENT, The General NZ ACCENT and The Australian sound ACCENT and then there is the British Sounding Accent - which if you listen to the Air New Zealand safety ads on the plane, you will hear the distinct upper class English accent. However, in New Zealand your accent has no connection to your class. New Zealand accent has changed alot within 50 years, we no longer attempt to speak the standard BBC accent.
We understand you clearer because it is your second language. People who speak English as a second language, there pronunciation is clearer because its taught, where we learn it from birth so become lazy and everyone within the country follows suit. Its lazy english
Thats wrong!! East Bondi?? you mean in Sydney?? if so you are WRONG! nor did we stop in Fiji, Fijians are of the Malanesian race. Bondi is in Australia, the aboriginals occupy Australia. Once again, Where we originate from is unclear, not even the Maori are 100% sure. So no point trying to tell us where we are from if the its own people dont even know
Some what true, The Maori royal family have close ties with the Hawaiian Royals, and much of our language is very much the same. Our stories are very much the same. Wahine in NZ means woman and Wahine in Hawaii means woman too. They believe we Maori come from a place called Hawaiki pamamoa or Rangiatea , well this could have been over the centuries pronounced wrong and were actually meaning Hawaii and Panama which if you look at the features of the natives of these countries, Maori carry a strong resemblence.
I don’t claim to be some Accent Lord who can tell every single accent apart, but I can certainly pick different varieties of British and American accents without too much trouble, at least for the major ones (Someone from California sounds very different from someone from Texas, who sounds different again to someone from New England, and someone from the Home Counties sounds totally different to someone from Liverpool).
I can understand why the Australian and New Zealand accents sound alike to pretty much anyone not from Australia or New Zealand, though.
It’s also worth noting both countries have at least two sub-accents, a “Received Pronunciation” one (the one that sounds fairly Queen’s English), and a broader one (“Strine” in Australia, the “Fush und Chups” one in New Zealand).
One time in Nepal, I, an American native speaker of English, could not understand the English of a local park guide very well. But my Thai wife could understand his English and so acted as an interpreter. Something there about odd accents, but I don’t know what.
I’m one who does: I was born in Lincolnshire and spent my first decade there – I have strong nostalgic feelings for the place. IMO Lincolnshire is England’s most undeservedly underrated county: right off the tourist beat, but it holds many treasures as regards architecture, and wildlife, and quietly undramatic but very pleasant scenery.
When I lived in the Scots Borders, where like most March folk they used to adopt either nationality at will, according to temporary advantage, I was informed in Hawick that there were villages each with their own unintelligible accent. Which didn’t fully understand each other. I believed them.
Hawick is pronounced ‘HOI-ck’.
