Abstract

This paper examines data from a national survey of children’s playground vocabulary,
which has revealed evidence of significant dialect divisions in New Zealand. In
particular, the Northern part of the North Island is distinct, and sometimes the North
Island differs from the South. There is also evidence of considerable variation
depending on socio-economic factors. This paper examines the hypothesis that the
location of the Maori population in New Zealand is an important contributory factor in
the patterns of regionalisation which have emerged.

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