Gillian Lewis

Determinism in new-dialect formation and the genesis of New Zealand English

In this paper we use an extensive archive of early New Zealand speakers, together with comparisons with the other Southern Hemisphere varieties of English, to argue that dialect mixture and new-dialect formation are not haphazard processes. We demonstrate that, given sufficient linguistic information about the dialects which contribute to a mixture, and sufficient demographic information about the proportions of speakers of the different dialects, it is possible to make predictions about what the outcome of the mixture will be. We also argue that we have arrived at a probabilistic solution to the problem of randomness in the transmission of dialect features from one generation to another in such situations.

Telling donor insemination offspring about their conception: The nature of couples' decision-making

The issue of openness and secrecy in the use of donor gametes is the subject of considerable disagreement and debate, not only for social scientists and health professionals, but also for the recipients of donor gametes. This paper has its origins in a study of 58 couples who had a child/children as a result of donor insemination (DI) at the Dunedin Infertility Clinic. Respondents completed questionnaires and took part in an interview during which they were asked whether they intended to tell their offspring about their DI conception. The nature of agreement/disagreement between partners on this issue, the dynamics operating between couples that may affect decision-making, and the views of couples in a time-frame perspective are the focus of this paper. Transcripts from some of the interviews are presented to illustrate the points made and commentary and discussion is provided.

New‐dialect formation and Southern Hemisphere English: The New Zealand short front vowels

There are two conflicting hypotheses concerning the nature of the New Zealand English short vowel system. One is that this system is conservative and that it is distinguished from the system of English English by changes which have taken place in the latter. The other hypothesis is that New Zealand English is, on the contrary, innovative, and that it is English English which has remained conservative. Drawing on hitherto unavailable data and on recent empirical studies in New Zealand, this paper concludes that both of these hypotheses are to a certain extent wrong and to a certain extent correct.

Women and Sound Change: Conservative and Innovative Behavior by the Same Speakers.

In this article we address Labovs claim that sound changes that are not stigmatized are led especially by young women who are the “movers and shakers” in the community, people with energy and enterprise. Such young women, at the same time, are conservative with respect to sound changes or stable linguistic variables that are stigmatized. We investigated this claim by comparing the pronunciation of the non-stigmatized front vowels / I /, /e/, and /ae/ with that of the stigmatized diphthongs /ai/ and /a[inverted omega]/ in New Zealand English. When we considered the pronunciation of each variable, the young women did not unequivocally support Labovs claim. However, when we examined the behavior of individual speakers across the two sets of variables, Labovs claim was supported. This result leads us to emphasize the importance of considering the behavior of individual speakers in a more holistic way rather than focusing only on the averaged data for single variables.

Openness of information in the use of donor gametes: Developments in New Zealand

Abstract A committee appointed by the New Zealand Government to inquire into developments in assisted human reproduction recommended in their 1994 report that all offspring born following the donation of embryos or gametes should have access to identifying donor information. This paper presents the Committees conclusions, along with a description of current attitudes and practices in New Zealand. Sweden and New Zealand have, until recently, been the only two countries in the world that have adopted the ‘openness’ approach. Some brief comparisons are made between the approaches followed in these two countries.

Linguistic Archaeology The Scottish Input to New Zealand English Phonology

Approximately 20 percent of the original settlers to New Zealand came from Scotland, and Scottish influence is still visible around New Zealand and in New Zealand English (NZE) vocabulary. But the phonological systems of NZE and Scottish English are so different that it is difficult to see any residual influence of the early Scottish settlers in New Zealand pronunciation today. In this study, the authors use a database of historical recordings held in the Origins of New Zealand English project to track the possible influence of the early Scottish settlers on modern NZE phonology. They show that although the centralized vowel in the lexical set of KIT is not a legacy from the early Scottish settlers, Scottish English nevertheless had a discernible influence as NZE developed out of the initial dialect-contact situation in which the first European settlers found themselves.