<I>

  <&>Wellington Corpus of Spoken New Zealand English Version One</&>
  <&>Copyright 1998 School of Linguistics & Applied Language Studies</&>
  <&>Victoria University of Wellington</&>

  <&>side one</&>
  <&>0:48</&>
  

  <WSC#MST051:0005:EG>
      recently i spent some time in britain on sabbatical leave from
      the university of canterbury <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0010:EG>
      ten years before on an earlier leave i found that other
      university academics <&>1:00</&> in britain weren't really very
      interested in MY own research interest which is the study of new
      zealand english <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0015:EG>
      oh they were very polite about it

  <WSC#MST051:0020:EG>
      but it was clear to me that this wasn't an area that people were
      concerned about

  <WSC#MST051:0025:EG>
      last year i found that things had really changed

  <WSC#MST051:0030:EG>
      i found universities where courses on varieties of english were
      being taught

  <WSC#MST051:0035:EG>
      and where new zealand english was considered an important and
      interesting variety

  <WSC#MST051:0040:EG>
      in fact i could have cheerfully occupied my time going about
      giving lectures on this particular topic as british lecturers
      were looking for more material on new zealand english

  <WSC#MST051:0045:EG>
      and to have a native speaker of the variety was considered a
      bonus <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0050:EG>
      this wider interest in new zealand english coincides with the
      development of the subject of sociolinguistics and its concern
      with language variation

  <WSC#MST051:0055:EG>
      it also coincides with a developing interest in other areas of
      english study <,> <&>2:00</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0060:EG>
      poetry and fiction drama and so on written IN english but
      outside england

  <WSC#MST051:0065:EG>
      in australia in canada in the west indies in africa and in new
      zealand for example <,,>

  <WSC#MST051:0070:EG>
      it seems to me that we've come a long way from the time in this
      century when new zealand english was seen by many within new
      zealand as a corruption and a perversion of pure british english

  <WSC#MST051:0075:EG>
      something to be stamped out wherever possible <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0080:EG>
      today new zealand english is recognised as an established
      variety of english

  <WSC#MST051:0085:EG>
      the study of new zealand english is a topic in the english
      classes in our schools

  <WSC#MST051:0090:EG>
      and by all accounts it's a popular one <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0095:EG>
      this year at the university of canterbury we will be offering an
      honours paper in the english department on the study of new
      zealand english

  <WSC#MST051:0100:EG>
      and this will eventually become a course in the undergraduate
      programme

  <WSC#MST051:0105:EG>
      one of the questions we frequently get asked about new zealand
      english is where did it come from and <&>3:00</&> when was it
      first noticed <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0110:EG>
      it's MUCH easier to find early evidence of vocabulary which
      people thought was distinctive to new zealand than it is to find
      good evidence about new zealand pronunciation

  <WSC#MST051:0115:EG>
      people wrote about new zealand words as quaint or interesting
      curiosities <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0120:EG>
      one such writer was samuel butler

  <WSC#MST051:0125:EG>
      later to be famous as the author of <title>erewhon</title>

  <WSC#MST051:0130:EG>
      and the novel <title>the way of all flesh</title> <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0135:EG>
      he came to canterbury as a young man in eighteen fifty nine and
      he wrote a book called <title>a first year in a canterbury
      settlement</title> <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0140:EG>
      butler had a keen ear for language and was anxious to fit into
      colonial life as quickly as possible <&>3:41</&> <&>nineteen
      second insert not transcribed</&> <&>4:00</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0145:EG>
      butler quickly picked up new terms being used in new zealand

  <WSC#MST051:0150:EG>
      he noticed that people in new zealand referred to a flax bush
      where in england they would have said a flax plant

  <WSC#MST051:0155:EG>
      and he noticed various slang terms in use <&>4:14</&> <&>eight
      second insert not transcribed</&> <&>4:22</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0160:EG>
      he also found the expression to go eyes out meaning to go as
      fast or as energetically as possible

  <WSC#MST051:0165:EG>
      now this is an expression that i still use

  <WSC#MST051:0170:EG>
      i've been going eyes out all morning getting the house tidy
      before the visitors come

  <WSC#MST051:0175:EG>
      however my own children laugh at it and they say they'd never
      use it

  <WSC#MST051:0180:EG>
      of the students i teach only the odd one has heard it from a
      grandparent

  <WSC#MST051:0185:EG>
      butler also commented on the large number of expressions
      relating to sheep farming and station life coming from australia
      together with other expressions

  <WSC#MST051:0190:EG>
      a good example of an <&>5:00</&> australian borrowing can be
      seen in his description of the use of the word cooee which is
      said to have come from an aboriginal word meaning to come
      <&>5:08</&> <&>two minute fifteen second insert not transcribed</&>
      <&>7:23</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0195:EG>
      this is another example of an early new zealand slang expression
      which seems to be going out of fashion

  <WSC#MST051:0200:EG>
      i can remember as a child being called with a cooee but again my
      students claim they'd never use it

  <WSC#MST051:0205:EG>
      and some claim never to have even heard of it

  <WSC#MST051:0210:EG>
      on the other hand i recently saw an advertisement in the
      christchurch press for a house which was described as being
      within cooee of schools and the university so the expression
      isn't dead yet <,,>

  <WSC#MST051:0215:EG>
      in many ways it isn't so difficult to track the development of
      the new zealand vocabulary

  <WSC#MST051:0220:EG>
      newcomers to new zealand in <&>8:00</&> the early days would
      comment on terms that were unusual or different

  <WSC#MST051:0225:EG>
      which they saw as interesting carriers of local colour <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0230:EG>
      but the early manifestations of the new zealand accent weren't
      so well received

  <WSC#MST051:0235:EG>
      it was seen as something horrible and degenerate which must be
      stamped out

  <WSC#MST051:0240:EG>
      references to lazy and slovenly speech abound in early accounts
      of the new zealand accent

  <WSC#MST051:0245:EG>
      but the interesting thing is that it wasn't like this in the
      very beginning

  <WSC#MST051:0250:EG>
      the first comments about new zealand speech were entirely
      complimentary

  <WSC#MST051:0255:EG>
      the best known of these came from an englishman called samuel
      mcburney who travelled around australia and new zealand
      promoting the tonic solfa singing method

  <WSC#MST051:0260:EG>
      mister mcburney's hobby was phonetics and he had taught himself
      to use a phonetic script called glossic

  <WSC#MST051:0265:EG>
      wherever he went he wrote down pronunciations he found
      especially interesting

  <WSC#MST051:0270:EG>
      and he made a note of general <&>9:00</&> trends

  <WSC#MST051:0275:EG>
      he visited christchurch in october eighteen eighty seven

  <WSC#MST051:0280:EG>
      and his comments on new zealand speech were reported in the
      lyttelton times <&>9:06</&> <&>thirty nine second insert not
      transcribed</&> <&>9:45</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0285:EG>
      three days later a leader appeared in the press congratulating
      its readers on the purity of their accents <&>9:51</&> <&>one
      minute one second insert not transcribed</&> <&>10:52</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0290:EG>
      but by the turn of the century the tone of the comments about
      new zealand speech had certainly <&>11:00</&> changed

  <WSC#MST051:0295:EG>
      a useful source of information comes from the school inspectors'
      reports where they commented on the pronunciation of the
      children whose reading and reciting they were examining

  <WSC#MST051:0300:EG>
      from them we find references to impure vowels

  <WSC#MST051:0305:EG>
      to faulty diphthongs

  <WSC#MST051:0310:EG>
      and to this objectionable colonial dialect

  <WSC#MST051:0315:EG>
      in nineteen hundred and twelve mister augustus heine

  <WSC#MST051:0320:EG>
      the acting headmaster of wellington college

  <WSC#MST051:0325:EG>
      was asked about the speech of his pupils

  <WSC#MST051:0330:EG>
      he replied that it was getting worse and that he had noticed it
      especially in the last ten years

  <WSC#MST051:0335:EG>
      and when he was asked to support his assertion he answered
      <&>11:38</&> <&>twenty three second insert not transcribed</&>
      <&>12:01</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0340:EG>
      comments such as mister heine's continued to be heard

  <WSC#MST051:0345:EG>
      in nineteen twenty four we find f martin renner addressing the
      new zealand educational association <&>12:11</&> <&>fifteen
      second insert not transcribed</&> <&>12:26</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0350:EG>
      perhaps these critics will never go away

  <WSC#MST051:0355:EG>
      this statement was made in nineteen eighty three in a letter to
      the listener <&>12:32</&> <&>nine second insert not transcribed</&>
      <&>12:41</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0360:EG>
      so to answer that frequently asked question about where did the
      new zealand accent come from <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0365:EG>
      the explanation given most frequently in the past is that it's a
      version of the cockney dialect spoken in parts of london <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0370:EG>
      professor arnold wall

  <WSC#MST051:0375:EG>
      a former professor of english at <&>13:00</&> canterbury
      university college

  <WSC#MST051:0380:EG>
      was generally recognised as new zealand's english language
      expert

  <WSC#MST051:0385:EG>
      i can remember as a school girl in the nineteen fifties being
      advised to listen to the radio to professor wall's weekly talks
      on language

  <WSC#MST051:0390:EG>
      arnold wall was absolutely convinced about the cockney origins
      of new zealand speech

  <WSC#MST051:0395:EG>
      or enzedic as he liked to call it

  <WSC#MST051:0400:EG>
      and he talks about this in a radio broadcast he made in nineteen
      fifty three called <title>the way i have come</title>
      <&>13:29</&> <&>fifty two second insert not transcribed</&>
      <&>14:21</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0405:EG>
      this explanation has been put forward by others as well

  <WSC#MST051:0410:EG>
      however if we listen to cockney speech

  <WSC#MST051:0415:EG>
      and we can hear it on television programmes such as the <title>eastenders</title>
      or <title>the bill</title>

  <WSC#MST051:0420:EG>
      it's clear that it doesn't really sound like new zealand speech
      at all

  <WSC#MST051:0425:EG>
      there are a GREAT many differences between the two varieties

  <WSC#MST051:0430:EG>
      also if new zealand english were to have been a form of cockney
      english this would suggest that there must have been a large
      number of cockney speaking people emigrating to new zealand

  <WSC#MST051:0435:EG>
      and the facts just don't support this at all

  <WSC#MST051:0440:EG>
      professor wall had a notion that most of the early school
      teachers spoke with a <&>15:00</&> cockney accent

  <WSC#MST051:0445:EG>
      but this also isn't supported by demography <,,>

  <WSC#MST051:0450:EG>
      a different theory about the origins of new zealand speech is
      sometimes called the mixing bowl theory

  <WSC#MST051:0455:EG>
      this suggests that when people move from the country into a
      large city such as london

  <WSC#MST051:0460:EG>
      a kind of mixture of their accents takes place resulting in a
      new variety

  <WSC#MST051:0465:EG>
      we know for example that the whole of southeastern english has h
      dropping

  <WSC#MST051:0470:EG>
      it is h less <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0475:EG>
      but australian and new zealand english is h pronouncing

  <WSC#MST051:0480:EG>
      we don't say at

  <WSC#MST051:0485:EG>
      we say hat

  <WSC#MST051:0490:EG>
      we do know however that in the early days the dropping of h
      among new zealand children was a constant complaint of the
      school inspectors

  <WSC#MST051:0495:EG>
      time after time they grumble about the loss of the aspirate or
      the fact that the initial h is cruelly neglected <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0500:EG>
      did the school teachers <&>16:00</&> manage to change the
      speaking habits of these new zealand children to such an extent
      that now everyone pronounces those hs

  <WSC#MST051:0505:EG>
      or is it perhaps the influence of the large number of irish and
      scottish immigrants

  <WSC#MST051:0510:EG>
      who DO pronounce their hs

  <WSC#MST051:0515:EG>
      that brought about

  <WSC#MST051:0520:EG>
      this change this is still speculation but it could suggest
      evidence of dialect mixing in new zealand

  <WSC#MST051:0525:EG>
      we do know for certain that in the early settlements in new
      zealand it was possible to hear a wide variety of different
      accents and dialects

  <WSC#MST051:0530:EG>
      arnold wall makes this point himself <&>16:35</&> <&>one minute
      seven second insert not transcribed</&> <&>17:42</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0535:EG>
      our evidence of early reports of the new zealand accent come
      from written material

  <WSC#MST051:0540:EG>
      just as they still do today people THEN wrote letters to the
      paper and articles for magazines and journals about the speech
      of new zealanders <&>18:00</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0545:EG>
      and they usually wrote to express their outrage in varying
      degrees <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0550:EG>
      never realising i'm sure that their examples of what they liked
      to call degenerate speech would provide later researchers with
      valuable evidence for the study of the origins and development
      of the new zealand accent

  <WSC#MST051:0555:EG>
      but there are problems with using the written records alone

  <WSC#MST051:0560:EG>
      the same examples appear over and over again

  <WSC#MST051:0565:EG>
      in particular the new zealand pronunciation of the four closing
      diphthongs <&>says PRICE diphthong</&> <&>says FACE diphthong</&>
      <&>says GOAT diphthong</&> and <&>says MOUTH diphthong</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0570:EG>
      i say go now

  <WSC#MST051:0575:EG>
      did they mention these sounds because they were the most
      prominent

  <WSC#MST051:0580:EG>
      or was it because they could express the pronunciations they
      heard in a spelling version

  <WSC#MST051:0585:EG>
      so there's the complaint about <&>says PRICE diphthong</&> being
      pronounced as <&>says PRICE diphthong</&> pronounced as <&>in
      broad New Zealand English accent</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0590:EG>
      so they'll say that a word like fine is pronounced fine <&>in
      broad New Zealand English accent</&> which they will spell f o i
      n e

  <WSC#MST051:0595:EG>
      and they will write the new <&>19:00</&> zealand pronunciation
      of house as house <&>in broad New Zealand English accent</&> h e
      o u s e <,,>

  <WSC#MST051:0600:EG>
      but what about other features of new zealand speech which are
      much harder to convey in spelling

  <WSC#MST051:0605:EG>
      i think <&>says NURSE vowel</&> is a good example

  <WSC#MST051:0610:EG>
      in new zealand this is pronounced with the lips much more
      tightly rounded than in received british pronunciation

  <WSC#MST051:0615:EG>
      compare the early bird catches the worm r p with

  <WSC#MST051:0620:EG>
      the early bird catches the worm new zealand <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0625:EG>
      but it's difficult to describe this in spelling

  <WSC#MST051:0630:EG>
      so because the writers didn't comment on this particular sound
      does this mean that it wasn't there

  <WSC#MST051:0635:EG>
      or that it was there but they just didn't notice it

  <WSC#MST051:0640:EG>
      or does it mean that it was there but it was too difficult to
      convey in ordinary spelling

  <WSC#MST051:0645:EG>
      what is needed are some recordings of the speech of those early
      new zealanders in the last century

  <WSC#MST051:0650:EG>
      and for obvious reasons <laughs><&>20:00</&> we don't</laughs>
      have these

  <WSC#MST051:0655:EG>
      however we do have samples of the speech of people who were born
      in new zealand in the nineteenth century

  <WSC#MST051:0660:EG>
      in the nineteen forties the national broadcasting service of new
      zealand set up a special unit called the mobile disc recording
      unit

  <WSC#MST051:0665:EG>
      which took to the road in nineteen forty six

  <WSC#MST051:0670:EG>
      the equipment consisted of a large van

  <WSC#MST051:0675:EG>
      formerly one of the mobile control towers belonging to the
      airforce and no longer needed after the war

  <WSC#MST051:0680:EG>
      inside this van were two large and cumbersome disc recorders
      which cut sixteen inch vulcanite discs

  <WSC#MST051:0685:EG>
      the van travelled through the west coast of the north island

  <WSC#MST051:0690:EG>
      through the waikato the thames valley and the base of the
      coromandel

  <WSC#MST051:0695:EG>
      it also did a tour of otago to coincide with the provincial
      centennial there

  <WSC#MST051:0700:EG>
      the purpose of this mobile unit was to record pioneer
      reminiscences

  <WSC#MST051:0705:EG>
      some were from first settlers but more from the children of the
      first settlers

  <WSC#MST051:0710:EG>
      the archive <&>21:00</&> includes a considerable amount of maori
      material and also musical items from local bands and choirs
      soloists and orchestras

  <WSC#MST051:0715:EG>
      but the recording of the music was never as good as that of the
      spoken word <,>

  <WSC#MST051:0720:EG>
      here we have a wonderful resource for the study of the early new
      zealand accent

  <WSC#MST051:0725:EG>
      some of the speakers were born in new zealand in the eighteen
      sixties and in the eighteen seventies

  <WSC#MST051:0730:EG>
      the study of the speech of those recorded in this archive has
      now begun at the university of canterbury and that will be going
      on for some time

  <WSC#MST051:0735:EG>
      but a strong initial impression <.>is</.> is of the amount of
      variation among those new zealand born speakers

  <WSC#MST051:0740:EG>
      listen to a couple of the speakers <&>21:43</&> <&>one minute
      thirty two second insert not transcribed</&> <&>23:15</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0745:EG>
      it seems to me most unlikely that anyone overseas listening to
      this recording would ever guess that this speaker was a new
      zealander

  <WSC#MST051:0750:EG>
      yet she WAS born in new zealand in the eighteen sixties <,,>

  <WSC#MST051:0755:EG>
      this speaker sounds quite different <&>23:29</&> <&>fifty five
      second insert not transcribed</&> <&>24:24</&>

  <WSC#MST051:0760:EG>
      of course the status of these recordings can be questioned as
      evidence for the origins and development of the new zealand
      accent

  <WSC#MST051:0765:EG>
      can we really take elderly speakers in the nineteen forties as
      being representative of the speech in new zealand of the
      eighteen seventies

  <WSC#MST051:0770:EG>
      maybe these people's speech has changed over the years

  <WSC#MST051:0775:EG>
      that's always a possibility

  <WSC#MST051:0780:EG>
      my response to this is to say that we have this material
      available and we must make of it what we can

  <WSC#MST051:0785:EG>
      when i asked the british sociolinguist peter trudgill about this
      problem

  <WSC#MST051:0790:EG>
      he said that he thought it would be unlikely that a person's
      <&>25:00</&> core pronunciation would change to any great extent
      over the years

  <WSC#MST051:0795:EG>
      and he thought we could take these recordings as being
      representative of the speech in new zealand in the last century

  <WSC#MST051:0800:EG>
      so perhaps when those elderly speakers in the nineteen forties
      were talking into what must have been for them a very new and
      strange recording device

  <WSC#MST051:0805:EG>
      they were unwittingly also giving us some valuable clues about
      the origins and development of new zealand speech <&>25:28</&>
</I>
