Since then, Victoria University and Oxford University Press have worked in partnership to run the New Zealand Dictionary Centre, which Dianne Bardsley directed until recently. Her new book provides a lively and readable account - part discussion and part alphabetical ''dictionary'' - reflecting her experience as a lexicographer and teacher.
The 1500-plus examples of New Zealand usage chosen ''characterise New Zealand life and identity, past and present - what I'd call our New Zealandness''.
The introduction surveys the ways New Zealand English has acquired and developed its own features that distinguish it from other varieties of English. These range from loan-words to shifts in meanings and the use of hypocorisms (''corro'' for corrugated iron, for example).
She provides a good blend of cultural, political and linguistic history and examples of Kiwi linguistic responses. She highlights the increased uptake of Maori words in our speech. Writing in 1970, linguist G.W. Turner observed that ''the Maori language vocabulary no longer contributes greatly to the general English vocabulary in New Zealand''.
Yet Turner did not anticipate the renaissance of Maoritanga and changed social attitudes that have led to a new wave of borrowings from Maori and Pacific languages in recent years. Bardsley's entry for ''cootie'' is: head lice, an altered form of the Maori word kutu, which means lice or vermin.
The full word history is rather more complex - and interesting. In 1771, Joseph Banks noted the correspondence between Malay ''Coutou'' and ''South Sea Outou'', and later use of the word ''cooties'' by British soldiers in World War 1 seems based on more widespread contact with the Austronesian languages by 19th-century soldiers and sailors (perhaps borrowing from Malay ''kutu''). NZE usage probably derived directly from Maori ''kutu'', but has been reinforced by general English.
A further complication comes with the North American ''cooties'', referring to imaginary contagious germs - a usage now found in New Zealand as well. This new development and its origins are being puzzled over at present and an ''OED appeal'' for recorded uses has gone out (see http://public.oed.com/appeals/cootie/).
Moving on through the c-words, a few gaps and inconsistencies emerge. The entry for ''copper Maori'' explains how this is what some Europeans called a hangi or earth oven, but she gives no further explanation of its origin. It derives from kopa maori, ''maori oven'', and reflects Maori grammatical usage in placing the adjective after the noun.
Bardsley observes that ''corker'' is also used in Australian English ''but purportedly recorded here first''. Did it travel from New Zealand to Australia? Probably not, as the British expression ''a corker'' comes earlier.
''Corro'' is recorded as a New Zealand term but it would be fair to say that it is Australian English also. Similarly, ''crib'' meaning a miner's packed lunch, is not just a New Zealand term. It is used in mining circles in Australia, and came with Cornish miners.
We learn that ''couch-burning'' is mainly associated with the University of Otago, as is ''scarfie''.
Sometimes, the dated citations can mislead: ''cowspanker'', ''a person who milks cows'', is cited from a book dated 1990 (albeit a retrospective look at early New Zealand). It might be better to provide a citation dating from the heyday of the word late last century.
This new offering on ''NZE'' is a welcome addition, both as an introduction and reference.
- Greg Waite lectures in English at the University of Otago.
