Did Neanderthals speak like New Zealanders?
Posted 18 April 2008 // Helen Rickerby
Lynn of Tawa - an extreme Kiwi accent
Like many New Zealanders, I was a bit offended to be told recently that I might speak like a Neanderthal.
Anthropologists at Florida Atlantic University in Boca Raton believe they have simulated the way Neanderthal voices sounded, using reconstructions of their vocal tracts. They’ve concluded that Neanderthals’ speech would have lacked the ‘quantal hallmark’, which helps a listener distinguish the word ‘beat’ from ‘bit,’ for instance.
Some people have suggested that this means they might have sounded a bit like New Zealanders, presumably because we are sometimes accused of making all vowels sound the same. There is, of course, no truth to this whatsoever (apart from New Zealanders’ tendency to pronounce woman and women exactly the same.)
The development of the New Zealand accent is an interesting thing. According to a major study of the New Zealand accent, based on sound recording from the 1940s, our accent is most likely a variation of southern English rural accents. This is not surprising, since many immigrants came from southern English counties.
Apparently, we have only one dialect, which is unusual for such a recently settled country. From my own experience, I’ve noticed some regional differences. The Southland accent is well-known, a hang-over from the settling Scots. And the words used in one regions are sometimes different to another. For example, what’s known as a bach up north is a crib down south, and I’ve heard what we in Wellington might call a ’stoner’ being referred by Aucklanders as a ‘waster’.
The best explanation of the New Zealand accent I’ve ever seen is a hilarious and educational short video ‘New Zealand accent explained‘, by Miss Verstaendnis, a New Zealander living in Germany. Especially good viewing for anyone who accuses us of sounding like Australians.
Good example is how the Aussies say we pronounce six as sex.
In the following link the PM manages to avoid saying ’six’ in Australia despite intensive efforts by the guy from Chaser’s War on Everything. Amusing.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FB2nM8UlyVk
As an ex-Southlander I think we almost have a dialect and definitely an accent (which I worked hard in my LATE teens too lose). There are LOTS of words that I haven’t heard elsewhere eg a peter of beer.
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‘Watch your language’ column investigates Neanderthal speech and New Zealander’s vowels: http://www.stuff.co.nz/4555469a1861.html
Artandmylife - OWN your southern accent mate. Be proud of your heritage. You really wanna sound like an Auckland douche?