The way in which "r" is pronounced in Kiwi English is different to the way it is pronounced in General American English when it comes before consonants (e.g., cart) and at the end of a word (e.g., car) (Kennedy, 2003).  Click on the words in the table below to hear the differences:

Kiwi English	General American English
cart "r" is dropped before a consonant and in syllable final positions.  We describe this as a “non-rhotic r”. /kat/ Do you need a shopping cart?	kart "r" is pronounced in all environments.  We describe this as a “rhotic r”.   /kart/ Do you need a shopping cart?

Listen to and try pronouncing the following words:

Without a rhotic accent (Kiwi English): beard, car, sister, car door

With a rhotic accent (American English): beard, car, sister, car door

Note that the pronunciation of "r" in Māori loan words (e.g., rua and aroha) is different again.  To learn more about this difference, click here.

The way in which "t" is pronounced in Kiwi English when it comes between two vowels is different to General American English and some varieties of British English (Kennedy, 2003). Look at the table below and click on the words to hear the differences:

Kiwi English	American English	Some varieties of British English
butter  "t" is usually pronounced as /t/: /bʌtə/ Please pass the butter.	butter  "t" is pronounced as a voiced flap so it sounds like /d/: /bʌdər/  Please pass the butter.	butter  "t" becomes a glottal stop /ʔ/:/bʌʔə/ Please pass the butter.

Listen to and try pronouncing the following words with a Kiwi English accent:

hottie (hot water bottle)

letter

dotty (slightly silly or crazy)

The way in which "h" is pronounced in Kiwi English is different to General American English (Kennedy, 2003). Look at the table below and click on the words to hear the differences:

Kiwi English	General American English
herb  "h" is pronounced as /h/  /h3:b/   My favourite herb is rosemary.	herb Initial "h" is dropped  /3:b/ My favourite herb is rosemary.

The way in which Kiwis pronounce "l" has been identified as another distinctive feature of Kiwi English.  Rather than pronouncing the final consonant "l" in words such as "ball" and "meddle", many Kiwis are inclined to replace the final consonant with a vowel (Hay, Maclagan and Gordon, 2008).  For example, instead of the final "l" in ball sounding like this 'bɔl', it if often realised as a vowel 'bɔʊ' (Hay, Maclagan and Gordon, 2008).  To view a video from New Zild - The story of New Zealand English which illustrates this difficulty, click here.  Near the end of the clip you'll see a Kiwi exaggerate the way in which some Kiwis pronounce the final "l" sound (referred to as the "dark l" in the word "hospitable". 

Kiwi: Count Lorenzo: Kiwi:

Hospitable. I'm sorry? Hospitable.  Hospitable.  Well you are!

Listen to the way in which the vowels of Kiwi English are pronounced by clicking on the phonemic symbols and words below, all of which are used in everyday Kiwi English speech. You’ll find a definition of each word in brackets.

Single vowel phonemes of Kiwi English
/i:/	heaps (lots of)	/u:/	boot (car trunk)
/ɪ/	kip (a short sleep, nap)	/ʊ/	sook (a very timid person)
/i/	cardie (cardigan – jersey with buttons up the front)	/ɔː/	gawk (to stare, to look at)
/e/	rellies (relatives)	/3:/	jerk (stupid person)
/æ/	bach (small holiday house)	/ʌ/	cuz, cuzzy (cousin or other family relation)
/α:/	barbie (barbeque)	/ə/	cuppa (cup of tea)
/ɒ/	wop wops (rural areas)

 For more practice listening to these vowels, click on the link to ELE Phonology.

In Kiwi English the pronunication of /e/ tends to be closer to /ɪ/ (Kennedy, 2003).  This difference in pronunciation may make it difficult for you to distinguish between the way that Kiwis say words such as "pegs" and "pigs".  Kiwis themselves have difficulties making themselves understood when they travel to Britain.  For example, if they ask for “pens” they might be given “pins" (Hay, MacLagan, & Gordon, 2008)!

pegs (Kiwi English) pegs (British English)

pigs (Kiwi English) pigs (British English)

 Click on the words below to listen to the difference between Kiwi and British pronunciation:

Kiwi English	British English
egg /ɪg/	egg /eg/
peg /pɪg/	peg /peg/
pen /pɪn/	pen /pen/

For further practice listen to a Kiwi speaker saying the words in the sentence below:
I'd like to have a dozen eggs, a packet of pegs, and a blue pen please.

In Kiwi English there is not always a distinction between /æ/ and /e/, particulary before before /l/ (Kennedy, 2003).  This lack of distinction has been identified as something that makes Kiwi English particularly difficult for foreigners to understand. 

For example, when the name of the New Zealand rugby team "All Blacks" is pronounced by a Kiwi, people from other places think that the Kiwi speaker is saying "All Blecks".  Click here to view an extract from New Zild - The Story of New Zealand English in which Elton John has extreme difficulty understand the conversation about the "All Blacks" for this reason.

Kiwi: You know when the All Blacks played Wales? Elton John: Yeah. Kiwi: Yeah they were gonna stick this Amnesty Concert on. Elton John: Who played Wales, sorry? Kiwi: The All Blacks. Elton John: Oh the All Blacks!

The lack of distinction between /æ/ and /e/, particulary before before /l/ means that you may find it difficult to tell the difference between words such as salary and celery and accept and except when they are said by Kiwis.  As a consequence you'll have to listen very carefully to the context in which these words are spoken in order to work out what is being said. 

Click on the words below to hear the difference between the way in which they are pronounced by Kiwi and British speakers:

Kiwi English	British English
salary   celery	salary   celery
accept  except	accept   except
batter   better	batter   better

For further practice listen to a Kiwi speaker saying the words in the sentence below:

I like eating celery on the day I receive my salary.

I accept that you are more intelligent than me except in mathematics.

You can make batter better than me!

The Kiwi pronunciation of /ɪ/ in words such as pin, six and fridge is distinctly different to Australian English.  Whereas in New Zealand English, this vowel is a mid central vowel close to /ə/, for many Australian speakers it is much higher and is closer to /i:/(Hay, MacLagan, and Gordon, 2008; Kennedy, 2003).  The difference in the way that this sound is pronounced has been the cause of much amusement between Kiwis and Australians. In particular, the expression fish and chips has been the source of much discussion.  Kiwis are accused of pronouncing this expression as fush and chups and Australians as feesh and cheeps (Hay, MacLagan, and Gordon, 2008).  This feature of Kiwi English is illustrated very well in the following video clip from New Zild - The Story of New Zealand English, of which some of the text is transcribed below.  Click here to view.

fish and chips Kiwi English fish and chips Australian English

	Beach conversation Kiwi speaker: Australian speaker: Kiwi speaker: Australian speaker: Kiwi speaker: Australian speaker: Kiwi speaker:	I'm Lyn.                                                                                         Lyn. Lyn. Not Lyn but Lyn. Lyn Lyn I come from New Zealand.
	Poem illustrating exaggerated use of this vowel sound by Kiwi speaker in every second stanza: Phylis and Philip went for a swim. Phylis and Philip went for a swim. Philip liked Phylis and Phylis liked him. Philip liked Phylis and Phylis liked him.

For more practice listening to the distinct difference in Kiwi and Australian pronunication of these sounds, click on the words in the table below:

Kiwi English	Australian English
fish and chips	fish and chips
Sydney	Sydney
six	six
bridge	bridge

 Listen to the difference in the way in which Kiwi and Australian speakers say this sentence:

 Kiwi speaker:           When I was in Sydney, I ate fish and chips under the harbour bridge.

 Australian speaker:  When I was in Sydney, I ate fish and chips under the harbour bridge.

Australian utterances recorded by Grant Taylor

In Kiwi English the pronunciation of /α:/ is particularly noticeable to speakers of General American or Australian English in words such as dance and chance, and half and grass.  Whereas like many British speakers, Kiwi speakers tend to pronounce this sound further back and longer as /α:/, many American and Australian speakers pronounce it as /æ/ (Kennedy, 2003). Click on the words in the table below to hear the difference in pronunciation:

dance     Kiwi English dance Australian English

Kiwi English	Australian English	American English
answer	answer	answer
chance	chance	chance
can't	can't	can't
dance	dance	dance

 Listen to the difference in the way in which Kiwi and Australian speakers say this sentence:

Kiwi speaker:           I haven't had the chance to answer any questions yet.
Australian speaker:   I haven't had the chance to answer any questions yet.
American speaker:    I haven't had the chance to answer any questions yet.

Listen to the way in which the diphthongs of Kiwi English are pronounced by clicking on the phonemic symbols and words below.  You'll see that some of the words are unique to Kiwi English.

The Diphthongs of Kiwi English
/iə/	dear (expensive)	/ ʊə/	tour
/eə/	square	Click /ɔɪ/	choice (good, excellent)
/aʊ/	lounge (living room)	/ai/	price
/ei/	mate (friend or  stranger)	/oʊ/	goat

For more practice listening to these diphthongs, click on the link to ELE Phonology.

You may notice differences in the way that the diphthong in tour and poor is pronounced in Kiwi English.  Many speakers of Kiwi English no longer pronounce the diphthong /ʊə/ in poor and tour as it is pronounced in British English.  Rather they use the vowel /ɔː/ in poor, and pronounce tour, with two syllables /tuə/ (Hay, MacLagan, & Gordon, 2008).

Click on the words in the table below which are pronounced either by Kiwi and British or English speakers.  Listen to hear the distinction between the ways in which they are pronounced in each dialect:

 

Kiwi English	British English
tour /tuə/	tour /tʊə/
poor /pɔ:/	poor /pʊə/
I'm too poor to go on a tour this year.	I'm too poor to go on a tour this year.

You may have difficulty understanding the difference between words such as chair and cheer and rarely and really in Kiwi English because many Kiwi speakers no longer distinguish between the diphthongs /iə/ and /eə/.  Rather, these two diphthongs tend to be merged together by many Kiwi speakers (Kennedy, 2003).

If you want to see an example of the way in which Kiwi speakers no longer make a distinction between these two diphthongs, view the following extract from New Zild - The story of New Zealand English.  The first speaker differentiates between the diphthongs in the words she says, and the second speaker does not. Click here to view.  The words you will hear are near, square, chair, beer, bear, hair, and here. 

For further practice, click on the words in the table below to see if you can identify the differences between the pronunciation of these words:

Kiwi English	British English
bare, beer, bear	bare, beer, bear
chair, cheer	chair, cheer
hair, hear, hare	hair, hear, hare
rarely, really	rarely, really

The lack of distinction in the way in which these diphthongs are pronounced can cause considerable confusion in understanding what someone is trying to say.  The following mock conversation between a bar-tender and patron from New Zild - The story of New Zealand English illustrates the difficulty caused by lack of distinction between "beer" and "bear". Click here to view. 

Bar patron: Give us three beers would you mate. Bar tender: Not this story again!  Once upon a time there was a mama bear, a daddy bear and a baby bear.  Would you like a beer while I'm reading you this mate?

Since speakers of Kiwi English tend not to distinguish between the diphthongs /iə/ and /eə/ it is very important that you listen to the context in which the words are used.  For practise listening to the words with the diphthong /iə/ or /eə/ spoken within a meaningful context click on the sentences below:
1. The hair-dresser found it difficult to hear me. She wanted to hare-off to another appointment.
2. If you don't cheer up soon, you can stay sitting on that chair.
3. I really want to do the triathlon, but I don’t think I can because I rarely exercise.
4. I can't bear to see you drinking beer to that extent sitting completely bare on top in the sun.