LL-L "Language varieties" 2002.10.20 (02) [|E]

[Lowlands-L]

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 L O W L A N D S - L * 20.OCT.2002 (02) * ISSN 189-5582 * LCSN 96-4226
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 A=Afrikaans Ap=Appalachian B=Brabantish D=Dutch E=English F=Frisian
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From: Gary Taylor <gary_taylor_98 at yahoo.com>
Subject: Language Varieties

Hi Ron and all

You wrote:

"Much of this seems to apply to New Zealand varieties
as well.  The only
feature of NZ "accents" that to my ear sounds special
(from my
pseudo-Australian viewpoint) is that the short /e/, as
in "bed," is
pronounced even more frontal and higher than its
Australian
counterpart,
something like [e], approaching [I].  I hear a similar
sound in some
South
African English dialects."

This closing of 'e' has also had the unique effect in
NZ of pushing the 'i' to a more centralised position,
which can be written as an allophone of schwa, as it's
in complementary distribution. Lots of Australians
thus laugh at NZ pronunciation of 'six' as to them it
sounds like 'sex'. My NZ cousins all have this feature
in their speech, and it's (for me) the best marker of
distinguishing NZ from Australian accents.

In a similar way I'll always listen to Canadians
pronunciation of 'light' to distinguish them from
Americans.

Gary

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From: Criostoir O Ciardha <paada_please at yahoo.co.uk>
Subject:

Dear all,

I've come into this one a little late, as usual. Apologies.

Ron wrote: "Yeah, I've heard that too, but I've also heard other people
claim that they
can *always* tell a "Sydneysider," a "Darwinian," etc. I think that, like
everywhere in the world, regional differences are fading away and there are
going to be more sociolects than regional dialects."

I would concur to a certain degree. My wife was born in Sydney to a West
Australian mother and an Irish father and was subsequently raised in
Tasmania and Perth. My mother-in-law has (what I consider) a very strong
West Australian bush accent indeed, whereas Ruth has a delocalised "General
Australian accent" (although she would say it was a New South Wales accent),
something that appears to be making great strides at the expense of local
accents and dialects, probably because of the media.

I definitely noticed different regional accents when I was in Australia (I
returned to Ireland a month ago), but the dichotomy is in my opinion
urban/rural to each state or territory, rather than class- or
education-defined as Ron suggests. (Indeed, many rural Australians are
amongst the richest and most well educated of all Australians.)

As an outsider in Australia who came into contact with nearly as many New
Zealanders and South Africans as Aussies, I felt that the New Zealand and
South African accents were closer to each other than either was to the
Australian accent, due in part I suppose to their clipped vowels (cluppt
voewuls). Underneath, though, Australian, NZ and South African voices all
seem to share a similar sound to British or Irish ears... a fossilised
Southern English accent from the early 1800s, when all three countries were
first settled by English speakers, perhaps?

In any case I tend to disagree with Ron about sociolects. Within a
globalised world I feel that regional accents within a country are losing
ground to a single "national" accent (i.e., General Australian, General New
Zealand, General English, General Scottish) that can hold its own. Class
doesn't come into it and I say that as a working class man only too aware of
what class can do.

Go raibh maith agaibh,

Criostoir.

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