3 ms·
My wife is from New Zealand. They pronounce 'pen' as 'pin' and 'pin' as (something like) 'pun'. So their pronunciations have shifted, rather than merged. See al
by hermitcrab 6y ago
My wife is from New Zealand. They pronounce 'pen' as 'pin' and 'pin' as (something like) 'pun'. So their pronunciations have shifted, rather than merged. See also:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Vowel_Shift
- smcl 6y agoAh no vowel conversation is complete without mentioning how they work in NZ accent :D I loved Flight of the Conchords (strongly recommend it for anyone who likes deadpan comedy) there's a funny bit similar to the pin/pen example: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRdg1MOYxHo https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NRdg1MOYxHo
- rgoulter 6y agoAs an NZer, I learned to appreciate that joke more when I moved overseas. There's also the line "our accents are completely different" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2gii2nenUg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f2gii2nenUg
- peterburkimsher 6y agoI knew about the "pen", "pin" before moving to New Zealand, but the one that still gets me is "cache" sounding like "quiche".
- em-bee 6y agoi was thoroughly confused when my friends in NZ asked me to return something to them by throwing it into the litter-box. fortunately no one ever needed six of anything from me, so i was spared any awkward confusion there.