The Rural New Zealand English Lexicon 1842-2002

Abstract

Rural New Zealand English is a sub-variety of New Zealand English, one of the many varieties of English used throughout the world, consisting principally of terms that are either not used in Britain, or not used in the same sense in Britain. In a nation with an early and significant agricultural and pastoral tradition, the rural environment and rural production have had a strong and enduring influence on the national lexicon. The principal part of this study consists of a lexicon of more than 5,000 entries compiled from a systematic data search of sources from the years 1842 to 2002, and supported by more than 20,000 citations. Introductory chapters provide historical background and context and consider related work in establishing the lexis as distinctive. An examination of the influences upon the lexicon and its development and an evaluation of the lexicon as a storehouse of cultural data are also made. The administration and results of a questionnaire survey of 100 lexical items amongst more than 200 farming practitioners are described and discussed, in order to check the current use and distribution of a representative sample of items collected in the study. The lexis of rural New Zealand is a diverse and distinctive variety of rural English, contributing significantly to the nation's storehouse of cultural data. Farming practitioners have been inventive, but have also freely adopted and adapted terms from te reo Maori and terms in pre-existence in the English language, with synonymy being a notable feature. Compounds such as aerial topdressing, herd-testing, silvo-pastoralism and Taranaki gate have traditionally represented the initiative and innovation of a dependent economy. In the twenty-first century, terms like dog tucker, No. 8, backbone of the economy and RDI find ubiquitous application in parliamentary debates, national newspaper business columns, in restaurants and in wine periodicals. New Zealand beefies and bobbies do not stand to attention or parade in processions and blade gangs are not frequenters of inner city or dark back-street locations. Backblock can be used in the singular or plural in both micro and macro senses, and buttonhole, kea and tutu are used as nouns or verbs. Eating out in the rural world has nothing to do with the café crowd, but is part of a pasture management programme involving hoof and tooth treatment. The lexicon in Appendix I represents the collective lexis of many rural participants in a myriad activities and occupations in the multi-faceted use of land in this nation. The rural vocabulary in New Zealand is strongly influenced by the sheep industry and by high-country pastoralism and in acquiring and using lexemes in a variety of ways, it demonstrates aspects of innovation, adaptation and survival that have characterised the New Zealand farming industry. This lexicon of agricultural and pastoral terms and their illustrative citations constitutes a cultural and historical record, representing the distinctive identity of rural New Zealand.