Intonation

The most widely noted intonational feature of New Zealand English is the High Rising Terminal, a rising nucleus high in the speaker’s pitch range that is found on declaratives. This feature is not unique to New Zealand English. Sociolinguistic studies have shown that this feature is a positive politeness marker, and functions to include the hearer in the discourse. Other aspects of New Zealand English intonation that have been commented on include a relatively ‘flat’ but high intonation pattern through most of the tone unit, with extreme and quite sudden nuclear pitch movements.