Difference between Kiwi and Australian Accent

Key Difference: The first English-speaking settlers of New Zealand were Australian seal-hunters from the penal colony of Port Jackson (Sydney). Australian English is a mixture of British and American English. This accent is mainly heard in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.

Accent is a term that is commonly heard in linguistics. The accent refers to a certain way of speaking a language. They are sometimes interrelated with each other. However, the main difference between both the accents is the pronunciation of vowels. Kiwi is another name or is an informal term used to refer to New Zealanders. The first English-speaking settlers of New Zealand were Australian seal-hunters from the penal colony of Port Jackson (Sydney). Later settlers were mainly British. The New Zealand accent grew from an Australian foundation spiced with inputs from the different regional accents of the British Isles – English, Scots, Welsh and Irish.

Australian English is a mixture of British and American English. This accent is mainly heard in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia. The main varieties of spoken Australian English are Broad Australian, General Australian and Cultivated Australian. They basically reflect variations in accents. The everyday accent provides a less remarkable emphasis when pronouncing words. Noted below is the way that the various varieties of spoken Australian English focus on words, vowels, and letters that become the Australian accent.

  1. They chew the words as the accent itself requires using the tongue, cheeks and lips to be together.
  2. The main focus is on the vowels – these are the most important part of having an Australian accent. For example: A sounds like ‘or’ or ‘ayee’, AUtomatic, E sounds like ‘er-ee’ without pronouncing the ‘r’ – knEEling, I sounds like ‘ear’ or ‘eye’ – pIErce or mIght, O sounds like ‘ew’ or ‘aw’ – shOO or Ought and U sounds like ‘uh’ – rOUgh.
  3. They stress the vowels more rather than the other letters. For example: The 'Australian language is pretty weird' becomes “Th-a-oz-zie- l-aye-nguage is pr-i-tty we-ee-rd.”
  4.  
  5. The rhythm of speaking is different from the American accent in that sentences are said in one fluid motion.

Comparison between Kiwi Accent and Australian Accent:

 

Kiwi Accent

Australian Accent

Accent

The first English-speaking settlers of New Zealand were Australian seal-hunters from the penal colony of Port Jackson (Sydney).

Australian English is a mixture of British and American English. This accent is mainly heard in South Australia, Victoria and Western Australia.

Example

New Zealand pronounces "yes" as "yiss".

In words like “chance”, “plant”, “branch”, “sample” and “demand”, the vast majority of Australians use the short /æ/ vowel from the word “cat”.

Fish and chips

Fush and chups

Feesh and cheeps

Image Courtesy: iphonewzealand.co.nz, themetapicture.com

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