International Dialects of English Archive
Founded 1997

  • Home
  • | What's New
  • | Dialects & Accents
  • | Special Collections
  • | Copyright & Credit Information
  • | Associate Editors
  • | Contact Us

New Zealand Eight - Text

Subject is a 36 year-old “Kiwi” male, born in Darfield, N.Z.  The subject, a salesman,  has a M.B.A. and has lived for substantial amounts of time in Christchurch, London, Sydney, and Toronto.  He currently resides in Queenstown.

TRANSCRIPTION OF UNSCRIPTED SPEECH

Christchurch is an English settlement, uh, settled in about 1850’s.  It’s based on the, uh, grid system.  So, all the, uh, the streets are in rectangular format.  Apart from the ones near the Avon river.  It’s, um, got some good solid British history.  Tudor gothic-style architecture, and, um, an interesting feature here of Christchurch is the Lyttelton Tunnel, which was built in, uh, 1957.  They started tunneling at both ends, and they met in the middle, and they were 10cm apart.  Fascinating (laughs).  Um, hang on, got a little joke for you.  There’s, uh, an Aussie and a Kiwi walking along, and uh, they came across a sheep with its head stuck in the fence.  And the, uh, the um, Kiwi drops his pants and he shags the sheep.  And, uh, he looks at the Aussie and he says, “Okay, mate, it’s your turn.”  So, the Aussie sticks his head in the fence.

Recorded by David Nevell, 2007.  Running time: 00:03:28

Australia-Oceania

  • Australia
  • Fiji
  • New Zealand

  • Home
  • Become An Editor
  • Selected Bibliography
  • The Rainbow Passage
  • Comma Gets A Cure
  • FAQ
  • Submit A Sample
  • Links
  • Paul Meier's Résumé
  • Shawn Muller's Résumé
  • Other Dialect Services