Rhotic Accent of Southland

Southland is located in the southermost part of South Island, New Zealand. It has the only regional accent of New Zealand English. The distinctive feature of the English from this part of New Zealand is the post-vocalic /r/.

Most New Zealanders do not pronounce the /r/ post-vocalically. However, in Southland the post-vocalic /r/ is pronounced, particularly among older speakers. Among younger speakers, the trend is too speak a less rhotic variety. The result is that many younger speakers only produce post-vocalic /r/ in words such as nurse, work and term.

The rhotic accent of Southland is believed to be of Scottish origin. Many of the inhabitants of Southland are of Scottish descent. Though this region is the only one in New Zealand with a rhotic accent, rhoticity is variable among younger speakers. This probably reflects the influence of the standard language.