Dialects - a musing

Just had a shower and was musing how differing countries have differing languages and dialects.  The main muse is English Speaking countries but will muse on other languages later.

USA - origins of language was European, UK and Ireland.  The american English language is very different from others.  And there are many dialects (Californian, Texan, and South Eastern states, etc)

Australia - as above for USA, European, UK and Irish.  Unlike USA there are very few dialects but as for USA, a distinctive twang.

New Zealand  - also like USA and Australia, the origins are European, UK and Irish (with Maori to provide a richness of language).  As with Australia there are very few dialects (except lower South Island or seperate iwi)

The UK is blessed with a long time having their language to bloom but amazingly there are many local dialects (Jordy, Scouser, Cockney et al)  Oddly enough none of those dialects are evident in the colonies.

Now the others.  There are five European countries with languages in colonies around the world. From memory and dealing with people from those countries.  They are French, German, Portuguese, Dutch and Spanish.  All four sound very much like their parent country.

You have to remember most of the above countries have had between 400 to 200 to harness their dialects.

But there is also a burning question raised by this??  How did the above countries  (USA, Australia, and New Zealand) get to have very distinctive dialects from each other?  All had the same birth from mother countries, with same people?  The only real answer is Mother Nature and local environment.  That's my thought!!

New Zealand no longer a Multicultural Society

Once upon a time we  Kiwi's of European extract (and to a small extent some Maori) used to trumpet New Zealand as a balanced Multicultural society.  The truth is it wasn't and has never been thus.  Past colonial practices still tarnish this country and it's people and memories live long, especially in Maori.

But that's eroding and wrongs are being made right.  But I digress.  What is New Zealand in the 21st century?  To answer that we need to go back in history.  Since the dawn of time, before Man, New Zealand has always been a home to The Immigrant.  Just about all life here evolved from immigrants so we do have a special place in history.  Then the Mori Ori arrived, followed shortly after by the Maori, a little while later the Pakeha (early white settlers).  There were some disagreements, many agreements and until after WWII Maori (somewhat subdued) and Pakeha got along fine.  The country prospered under British rule and everything was The Land of Milk and Honey.  But immigration started to gather pace, with the likes of more English, Irish and Scottish settlers, Chinese (gold rush) and the Dutch in the 50's

Then New Zealand hit a cross roads in the 70's.  Polynesian immigration was fostered as cheap labour to
work in jobs New Zealanders weren't happy to do.  The flood gates opened and a new cultural identity hit our shores.  Previously European settlers settled here and fitted in immediately (touching on the delicate matter of racism here) but the Polynesians were seen in an another light and thus gave birth the new cultural bias, by Maori and Pakeha alike.  New Zealand had become, overnight, not a multicultural society but a Tri Cultural Society.  Us, them and them.  But it doesn't stop there.

In the 80's and 90's New Zealand embraced hordes of immigrants from the Asia Region and still does.  So

overnight again, the balance shifted to a Quad-cultural society, where none of each party wants very much to do with the other, YET we still claim ourselves as Multicultural, which is a lie.  To me multicultural means that we have a lot of cultures that work, play and enjoy each others company and cultures, and by and large that may very well be the case, but do we?  We tolerate different cultures at work, after all work is work, do it, go home.  We tolerate it at Play, in fact we do try to embrace it, but once home, we revert to type.  I know many who can't stomach other ethnicity, from varying ethnicity at that.  So that leaves cultural isolation.

Largely if you go to a cultural festival, be it Maori, Polynesian, Asian or European, all you will see attending are members of that ethnic background.  Sure 10% may be "others" but generally we don't cross boundaries.  Probably the only area where this does happen regularly, and participants are heroes, is Sport (I was going to say Politics too but that would be shooting oneself in the foot.).  Yes sport provides for fair play and fair representation and as it it a major ethos of this country it is the sole area where a multicultural society is a legitimate label.

Where do I stand on this debate?  Sticking my neck out (someone has to), Maori deserve the rewards they are getting now.  Still a long way to go, but it's fair to say many Europeans got fat on Maori Land (either confiscated or duped sales) and there needs to be redress.  The immigration argument isn't (to me) an argument.  The world is no longer a world made up of races and countries.  There are societies and there are multi racial identities that live under the umbrella of a name for a country.  New Zealand is no different.  As stated earlier, New Zealand has always been a country of immigrants.  No one group owns it and as Maori state quite clearly, we should all be caretakers of the Land, the Sea, and the Air we breathe (kaitiaki).  We should never look at another person and judge on colour, speech, or attitudes.  I see all humans as brothers and sisters.  They may have been to different fathers and mothers but they are all family and should be treated as such.