Story: Linguistics

Changing vowels

The New Zealand Institute of Language, Brain and Behaviour at the University of Canterbury has developed new approaches to studying language, using sociophonetics and psycholinguistics. Its director in 2014 was Jen Hay. In a 2009 interview with radio journalist Kim Hill she describes a recent DRESS vowel change in New Zealand English, which means that 'best' sounds like 'beast' and 'bed' like 'bead'.

All images & media in this story

How to cite this page:

Janet Holmes, 'Linguistics - Social dialects and sociolinguistics', Te Ara - the Encyclopedia of New Zealand, http://www.TeAra.govt.nz/en/speech/43846/changing-vowels (accessed 20 April 2024)

Story by Janet Holmes, published 22 Oct 2014