Christmas road trip

[mr. cat]

Well, what with having had a wizard and all I suppose the people here don't find a dragon out of place. Although, I'd imagine there might be the occasional passer-by who'll stop and ask questions. Maybe you two will get some free drinks! If you do, call us on the telephone: I've always wanted to enter a public house and say "I'm with the dragon."

=^..^=

 

[kiwideus]

I am sure that people will stop and offer Jim a drink. Probably also the person who is with Jim will get a drink.
Ask for Steinlager or DB Draught if you are beer drinkers.

 

[kiwideus]

Heres a steinlager for Jim:

 

[dragonlady]

Maybe we will meet some people and let them know about The Cat Site as I haven't seen many folks from New Zealand!
Wow the weather is great! It's cold and foggy in my part of California right now! Glad I'm here instead!

 

[thirtysilver]

Lisa and I don't drink, but Jim's no stranger to pounding a few back.
Of course, he never drinks without his helmet.

I'm more of a Coke head . . . as in Coca-Cola.

Tell me, how similar is the New Zealand accent to the Aussie or the British accent?
-Ryan

 

[lisa_catfancier]

I'm not sure where Thirtysilver is, but Jim seems to be out of control!

I'm afraid if he keeps putting it away like this, he won't be able to fly for awhile...He really likes to party and the locals really seem to like him! They keep buying him all the food and drinks that he can put away! Can anyone see if they can try & talk to Jim? He isn't listening to me right now...

Lisa

 

[mr. cat]

Oh, my! *goes to look for Thirtysilver*

=^..^=

 

[kiwideus]

Thirtysilver, here is some information about our kiwi accents:
(From www.emigratenz.org)

Accent on New Zealand and Australia

New Zealanders don't like it when foreigners tell them their accents are just the same as Australians'. And once you've been here for a while, you'll realise they aren't. Pick up some tips about the accents of New Zealand English.

New Zealanders like to think of their country as classless - a country where everyone has the same accent. They will admit that the Southland accent is a bit different, owing to the large numbers of Scots who settled there. Southlanders tend to roll the "r" sound in their speech. Of course, many Maori also speak English with a distinct accent - and the difference between their more staccato way of speaking and other New Zealanders is quickly heard. There are other differences, but before we look at these, I'd like to answer the question: 'Why do New Zealanders and Australians sound so similar when they are separated by a sea that takes three hours to fly over?'

The answer, although not widely advertised in New Zealand, is straightforward. The first English-speaking settlers of New Zealand were Australian seal-hunters from the penal colony of Port Jackson (Sydney). Later settlers were mainly British. The New Zealand accent grew from an Australian foundation spiced with inputs from the different regional accents of the British Isles - English, Scots, Welsh and Irish.
Did you come here to die?
British Army Officer

So, what are the sounds in their speech that make New Zealanders sound like New Zealanders?

The first sound that comes to my mind is one I noticed a few days after arriving in New Zealand. I was standing in a queue at the bank listening to the young woman behind me. I wasn't eavesdropping you understand - I just couldn't avoid hearing what she was saying. She was talking to her friend about the "cheek" she was getting. I soon realised that she was neither talking about a part of her anatomy nor about someone's sarcasm towards her. She was talking about the cheque (U.S. check) she was there to collect. There is a tendency in New Zealand English to shorten the long 'e' sound found in beg, said and leg, into a short 'ee' sound of the type found in seek, leak or peak. So when a New Zealander tells you to do something 'ageen', you know they want you do it 'again'.

It's worthwhile pointing out that this tendency to shorten the 'e' sound varies widely between speakers - and, to my ears, is heard more often in the South Island than the North Island - but this might just be my impression.

To illustrate the second difference, I'd like you to cast your mind back to an old favourite from children's 'learn to write' books, the infamous "The cat sat on the mat." The pronunciation of this sentence might seem straightforward enough to you - lots of "ah" sounds of the type a doctor might ask you to make during an examination. To a New Zealander, however, the doctor is entirely absent from consideration. In fact, a New Zealander will say, "The cet set on the met." If you haven't noticed this before, listen out the next time you hear a New Zealander speaking and you'll hear it.

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."

To British ears, our heroic young Australian would sound like he said "Oi kime yester-die." The butt of the joke here is how, to British ears, Australians (and New Zealanders) pronounce "day" as "die" and "lay" as "lie," etc so that "today" becomes "to die." Of course, British people with a Cockney accent also come close to pronouncing "day" as "die" and the Cockney influence is certainly the source of the sound in Australian and hence New Zealand English. The way in which 'i' becomes 'oi' is very much more an Australian pronunciation than a New Zealand one. Some New Zealanders can sound very Australian in this regard - for example Helen Clark, the current Prime Minister of New Zealand. I'm not quite sure why New Zealanders vary so much in this - it doesn't seem to be a regional variation.

Finally, the true clincher to decide whether you are listening to an Australian or New Zealander lies in the pronunciation of the letter "i" in the famous fish and chips test.

If your companion likes eating "feesh and cheeps," he or she is Australian.

If, on the other hand, they prefer "fush and chups," you are undoubtedly dealing with a New Zealander.

Have fun.


When my dad came here to visit, a lot of people thought he had an english accent.

 

[thirtysilver]

Kiwi -That is really very interesting. I don't know much about New Zealand, but it's good to be able to count myself a little bit wiser thanks to your expertise.

I have always been facinated by accent variation within the English language. I once had a friend who lived in Australia. When she came to visit, I was facinated by her accent. Where I would say "nineteen-ninety-nine" she would say "nointain-nointy-noin." I loved it.

And, about Jim . . . dragons are resilient creatures. What may seem to be excess to us is nothing to a dragon. For awhile, when we'd first met, Jim would go out and kill me whole herds of cows to eat for fear that'd I was undernourished. Dragons can eat and drink tremendous amounts. Once Jim has had his fill, he'll stop. Trust me!

 

[lorie d.]

DragonLady, I really like the countryside here too, and the NICE WARM weather. Back home in Minnesota it was 50 degrees above zero on Tuesday and Wednesday. Today the weather is a lot different. An artic cold front

has moved into the area causing the temperatures to suddenly drop 30 degrees, there are also strong gusty NW winds which make it seem much colder

than it actually is, and it's going to get even worse

. (Unfortunately, this is what the weather in Minnesota has really been like for the past few days).

"Artic cold front"....YUCK!!!!!!

I'm SO GLAD I'm in New Zealand!!!!!!!!!

 

[mr. cat]

Kiwideus, that article about accents is very interesting. I love the "to die" part, even if it isn't about New Zealanders. I've several British cyber friends, some of whom I frequently speak with on the telephone; and the epitome of straining to understand English through accents came about two week ago, when in the same telephone conversation I was speaking with a Scotsman and an Englishwoman at the same time. Och, aye! Cor blimey!

Thirtysilver, I'm greatly relieved to learn Jim is just "doing his thing." The people here in New Zealand are quite resilient as well, I must say: It's as if seeing a dragon is an everyday scenario with them!

DragonLady and Lorie D., I'm so glad you're enjoying this New Zealand climate! I love it, too. Oh yes, DragonLady, I've brought some brochures about The Cat Site for us to distribute appropriately. *hands them around*

:tounge2:

=^..^=

 

[dragonlady]

my grandparents took the looooonnnng ship ride to visit this country so many years ago! I loved the pictures of my grandfather with the Kiwi bird! (Grandmother was a scardy cat and wouldn't hold it!!)

 

[kiwideus]

Which kiwi bird are you referring to?

The actual kiwi?

Or the now-extinct Moa?

 

[jeanie g.]

Misterr Cat! Whit's the ma-err wi ye, that ye dinna underston the Scottish when they speak. Ye'd think that they had a wee bit of an accent like the Irrrrish bairrns, orr the English lads 'n lassies! My motherrr was frae Glasgow, and didna soond any differrrrent frae me!

Oh, Lorie, I'm glad you're still here. PA is cold and snowing too. Give me the sunshine any time. I might just stay here all winter! Where are Cindy and Brenda? Isn't the scenery beautiful? Ahhhh, sunshine; it nourishes the soul!

Look at that Moa! Where in the world did you find it, Mr. Cat? What a find. Your name will go down in National Geographic. They'll probably call it Moa felinus now, in your honor. Seriously, it's a shame the way man disturbs the natural balance of nature. I assume we hunted it to extinction or drove it out of its natural feeding grounds?

 

[katl8e]

I've been sequestered, with those hunky crewmen, instructing them, on their duties: cooking, cleaning, massages, etc.

I must say, though, a drunken dragon is mightily amusing!

 

[dragonlady]

I don't think my grandfather could have lifted the other bird! LOL

 

[kiwideus]

Oh duh me, I didnt see the 'holding' part.
I am surprised that he was allowed to hold it. Kiwis are now endangered. If you are ever in NZ (in person), make sure you see the kiwis, they are beautiful birds.

 

[jeanie g.]

Whoops! Kellye, I'm sorry; I was giving Mr. Cat the picture credits by mistake!

 

[thirtysilver]

The moa, sadly, were victims of overhunting by the indigenous Maori tribesmen. They were hunted for their meat, and have been extinct for 100+ years.

 

[thirtysilver]

The moa, sadly, were victims of overhunting by the indigenous Maori tribesmen. They were hunted for their meat, and have been extinct for 100+ years.
Although many moa were huge -as big as Big Bird (no joke)- most were turkey-sized.