Languages of New Zealand
See language map.[See also SIL publications on the languages of New Zealand.]
New Zealand. 4,097,000. National or official languages: English, Maori [mri], New Zealand Sign Language [nzs]. 2 main islands, several smaller ones. Literacy rate: 99%. Immigrant languages: Afrikaans, Assyrian Neo-Aramaic, Fijian (3,090), Hakka Chinese, Hindi (11,200), Japanese (3,000), Korean, Latvian, Niue (5,690), Pukapuka (1,050), Rakahanga-Manihiki (2,500), Rarotongan (25,000), Samoan (50,000), Tahitian (260), Tokelauan (1,740), Tongan (3,970), Tuvaluan (600), Yue Chinese (20,000). Also includes Arabic (4,000), Chinese (600), and languages of India (15,000). Information mainly from N. Besnier 1992; D. Tryon 1995; S. Wurm and S. Hattori 1981. Blind population: 3,687. Deaf institutions: 29. The number of individual languages listed for New Zealand is 4. Of those, all are living languages.
| English | [eng]
3,210,000 in New Zealand (1987).
Classification: Indo-European, Germanic, West, English
|
| Maori | [mri]
60,000 in New Zealand (Fishman 1991). 100,000 understand it but do not speak it (1995 Maori Language Commission). Population total all countries: 60,260. Ethnic population: 530,000 (2002 Honolulu Advertiser). Far north, North Island, east coast. Also in United States.
Alternate names: New Zealand Maori.
Dialects: North Auckland, South Island, Taranaki, Wanganui, Bay of Plenty, Rotorua-Taupo, Moriori. Formerly fragmented into regional dialects, some of which diverged quite radically from what became the standard dialect. Lexical similarity: 71% with Hawaiian [haw], 57% with Samoan [smo].
Classification: Austronesian, Malayo-Polynesian, Central-Eastern, Eastern Malayo-Polynesian, Oceanic, Central-Eastern Oceanic, Remote Oceanic, Central Pacific, East Fijian-Polynesian, Polynesian, Nuclear, East, Central, Tahitic
|
| New Zealand Sign Language | [nzs]
Alternate names: NZSL.
Classification: Deaf sign language
|
| Pitcairn-Norfolk | [pih]
Alternate names: Pitcairn English.
Classification: Creole, English based, Pacific
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Ethnologue: Web |
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