I have now asked two lots of people if they were from australia because of there accents only to find they were New Zealanders, i thought i had put my foot in it. How can you tell the difference between the two?
2006-09-22 02:44:32 · 12 answers · asked by Jabba_da_hut_07 4 in Society & Culture ➔ Languages
It's hard to tell by the accent, but in my experience, Australian people will tell you they're Australian within the first 2 sentences of talking to you. So if you've gone a whole minute and they haven't brought it up, they're from New Zealand.
2006-09-22 03:22:41 · answer #1 · answered by Goddess of Grammar 7 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Hi, it is hard if you hear them separately, but if you heard them together you would tell a big difference! New Zealanders have a flatter accent, especially on their vowels, they pronounce 'Chris' as 'Cross' and it is slightly further away from an English accent than Australians. If you watch the film 'Once were Warriors' (A New Zealand film) you will definitely be able to tell the difference, especially if you watch Neighbours straight after! X
2006-09-22 09:55:12 · answer #2 · answered by Ruth B 2 · 3⤊ 0⤋
Australians elongate their vowels in a rounded, casual way, while New Zealanders flatten their vowels in a short, sharp sounding staccato-style rythm.
Australians are easier to understand, speak more clearly and are more articulate than New Zealanders. The New Zealander accent sounds similar to the South African accent. Australians sound more regional English.
The New Zealand accent evolved from the high number of Scottish free settlers, while Aussies accent came from convict English and Irish migrants.
2006-09-22 09:50:51 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 3⤊ 0⤋
It takes LOTS of time :^) I think the New Zealand accent is slightly broader (to me it sounds a little more American than Australian does). I'm an American living in South Africa and it took me 6 months to be able to distinguish between the South African and British accents I do hear Australian and New Zealand accents occasionally, but I can't always tell the difference. Its just something that you pick up by listening to the accents constantly.
2006-09-22 09:48:02 · answer #4 · answered by theology_chick 2 · 0⤊ 2⤋
The web page below does it justice.
Moving on again, the next two sounds that come to mind are found in both New Zealand and Australian English. The sounds are best illustrated by a joke. The scene is North Africa, at the height of fierce battles in World War 2. An Australian junior officer meets a British senior officer on the front line. "Good morning young man," says the British officer, "Did you come here to die?"
"No Sir," replies the young Australian, "I came yesterday".
2006-09-22 09:51:09 · answer #5 · answered by oklatom 7 · 1⤊ 1⤋
The way I clue in between the accents (as taught to me by an Australian) is listen to how they pronounce the short i in "six" or "fix". The Kiwi's tend to say "seex" or "feex". I tested this new knowledge sometime later when I heard someone pronounced Tesco's as "Teesco's". I asked her if she was from New Zealand, and she was impressed that I could tell.
2006-09-22 10:10:30 · answer #6 · answered by borscht 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Most of the vowel sounds are different and the intonation is generally more colourful for Australians..... once you learn how New Zealanders pronounce their vowels, you're unlikely to repeat the mistake?
2006-09-22 09:53:56 · answer #7 · answered by tattooed.dragon 3 · 0⤊ 2⤋
New Zealanders say "sweet as" all the f***ing time.
If you get annoyed when talking to someone, they are more than likely a Kiwi!
Cheers!
2006-09-22 09:53:08 · answer #8 · answered by Not_a_toothless_pirate 4 · 3⤊ 2⤋
about 500 mile
2006-09-22 11:30:49 · answer #9 · answered by neil d 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Ask them to say fish and chips...if they say 'fesh and chops' their Kiwi's (NZ) and if they say it fish and chips their Aussie.
2006-09-22 09:53:37 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 5⤊ 1⤋