Seminar paper from the year 2004 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2,5 (B), Bielefeld University (Anglistics Institute), language: English, abstract: I chose to write a term paper on the New Zealand accent because Iplan to travel around the country in the near future. Therefore it is veryinteresting for me to know a little bit more about the variety which is spokenthere. While I was reading different books, I learned that New ZealandEnglish is, on the one hand, a variety which is spoken all over the countrywithout any regional dialects, but on the same time, there might be avernacular that is spoken by the Maoris, the original inhabitants of NewZealand. As I would like to get to know the country and its people as well, Ithink it would be best to look at both varieties. In this way, I hope to get ageneral overview of the situation, for the Maoris are a minority in NewZealand and their language is in danger of dying out. But as is nearly alwaysthe case when one language is replaced by a second, as was Maori byEnglish, they will be influenced by each other. Therefore it is my concern towork out some differences between New Zealand English (NZE) and theEnglish used by the Maoris (Maori Vernacular English (MVE)). To have a basis on which I can present these possible findings, Iwant to compare the New Zealand accent to RP, which I know best. The structure of the term paper will be divided into three parts. The first partwill give a general overview of the origin of the New Zealand accent. Thesecond part will concentrate on the New Zealand accent in comparison toRP.The focus here will be on the three short front vowels and twodiphthongs which make the New Zealand accent distinctive from othervarieties. The third part will give a short overview of the situation of theMaori language and will show similarities to and differences from thegeneral New Zealand accent. In addition, a case study will be looked at tounderline distinctive features.