On Saturday, December 20, 2003, at 07:44 PM, Rudolf van Berkum wrote:
Also, I find some parallels between South African speech (whites) and the down unders. Most likely the Dutch influence.
I can't let this pass. Despite their abilities as navigators in improbably small ships, the Dutch have had no influence on English accents in this part of the world.
I'm a New Zealander who has been living in Europe for the last 23 years and I find this discussion extraordinarily interesting! I studied in London and whilst there heard the Cockney and Yorkshire accents; these seem to me to have been the greatest influence on the current NZ accent - and the Londoners and the Northeners formed over 80 percent of the immigrants from 1840 (first immigrant ship) to 1900 at least.
..but NZ seems a little brighter and sharper in general".
I perceive this totally differently; I hear the Australian accent (that of Sydney in particular) as being very bright, forward and nasal. The NZ accent has of course similarities, except that we don't often move our mouths or articulate as much as we should (pace my countrymen, these are generalisations...) and so many of the vowels tend towards (or become) the schwa. Folk tradition would have it that this is because of the incessant heavy winds around Wellington (open your mouth and things blow in...) and in many of the rural areas.
Greetings to all, tena koe, tena kotou.
Merry Christmas and a happy New Year, Mere Kirihimete me nga mihi nui o te Tou Hou.
Oudezijds Armsteeg 4a
1012 GP Amsterdam
The Netherlands
tel: +31 (0)20 420 6111
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“Gli uomini sono angeli con un’ala sola. Possono volare solo abbracciati.”
(Luciano de Crescenzo)
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