Zealandish, adj.

zealandish
http://www.oed.com/dictionary/zealandish_adj%3Ftab%3Dmeaning_and_use
First published 2018

# Zealandishadjective (& noun)

## Factsheet

### What does the adjective Zealandish mean?

There is one meaning in OED's entry for the adjective Zealandish. See ‘Meaning & use’ for definition, usage, and quotation evidence.

### How common is the adjective Zealandish?

Fewer than 0.01occurrences per million words in modern written English

1850 | 0.0002
1860 | 0.0003
1870 | 0.0003
1880 | 0.0003
1890 | 0.0003
1900 | 0.0003
1910 | 0.0003
1920 | 0.0003
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

### How is the adjective Zealandish pronounced?

#### British English

/ˈziːləndɪʃ/
ZEE-luhn-dish
/ziːˈlandɪʃ/
zee-LAN-dish

#### U.S. English

/ˈziləndɪʃ/
ZEE-luhn-dish
/ˌziˈlændɪʃ/
zee-LAN-dish

### Where does the adjective Zealandish come from?

Earliest known use

late 1600s

The earliest known use of the adjective Zealandish is in the late 1600s.

OED's earliest evidence for Zealandish is from 1684, in Philosophical Transactions.

From a proper name, combined with an English element; modelled on a Danish lexical item.

Etymons: Zealand, ‑ish suffix1.

### Nearby entries

1. Z-day, n. 1925–
2. Z-DNA, n. 1979–
3. ze, pron. 1864–
4. zea, n. 1562–
5. zeagonite, n. 1823–
6. zeal, n. a1382–
7. zeal, v. 1542–1687
8. Zealander, n.¹ 1663–
9. Zealander, n.² 1773–
10. Zealandic, adj. 1807–
11. Zealandish, adj.1684–
12. zealator, n. a1464–
13. zeal-blind, adj. 1615–1898
14. zeal-consuming, adj. 1629–1882
15. zealed, adj. 1679–1903
16. zealer, n.?a1450–1673
17. zealful, adj. 1602–
18. zeal-inflamed, adj. 1648–
19. zealing, adj. 1459–1602
20. zealist, n. 1614–
21. zealless, adj. a1594–

## Etymology

### Summary

From a proper name, combined with an English element; modelled on a Danish lexical item.
Etymons: Zealand, ‑ish suffix1.
< Zealand (also Sealand, (now rare) Zeeland: see Zealander n.1) + ‑ish suffix1, after Danish sjællandsk (Old Danish siælandsk, siællandsk, etc.).

Compare later Zealandic adj.…
< Zealand (also Sealand, (now rare) Zeeland: see Zealander n.1) + ‑ish suffix1, after Danish sjællandsk (Old Danish siælandsk, siællandsk, etc.).

Compare later Zealandic adj.

### Notes

With use as noun compare Danish sjællandsk, in the same sense (18th cent.).

## Meaning & use

1. 1684–
   Of, relating to, or characteristic of the Danish island of Zealand, its people, or its dialect. Also as n.: the dialect of Danish spoken in Zealand.
   Cf. Zealandic adj. (& n.), Zealander n.1
   1. 1684

      > The Tail..was a quarter of a Sealandish Ell long.

      Philosophical Transactions (Royal Society) vol. 14 600
   2. 1866

      > These system-makers partially admitted at least the great divisions of North-English and South-English, of Jutlandish and Sealandish, of East-Norse and West-Norse.

      G. Stephens, Old-Northern Runic Monuments vol. I. Introduction 32
   3. 1885

      > He had been in that [Jutlandish] regiment and Prince Vilhelm himself said he preferred it to the Sealandish.

      Scandinavia August 209/1
   4. 1948

      > The Zealandish names in -lev have arisen in connexion with a conquest after which the land of the island was divided between the invaders.

      Acta Philologica Scandinavica vol. 18 363
   5. 1997

      > It is very different for people from Copenhagen..to understand people who speak Norwegian or Jutish dialects. Fortunately most speak Zealandish.

      Re: Scand. Visit in soc.culture.nordic 20 November (Usenet newsgroup, accessed 11 Jan. 2018)
   6. 2005

      > Speakers who have been raised outside Copenhagen and the surrounding area of Zealand (including some Zealandish towns).

      H. Basbøll, Phonol. Danish i. 16

## Pronunciation

### British English

/ˈziːləndɪʃ/
ZEE-luhn-dish
/ziːˈlandɪʃ/
zee-LAN-dish

### U.S. English

/ˈziləndɪʃ/
ZEE-luhn-dish
/ˌziˈlændɪʃ/
zee-LAN-dish

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- ɬrhingyll
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛtl/ but /ˈpɛtl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- iːfleece
- ihappy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- atrap, bath
- ɑːstart, palm, bath
- ɒlot
- ɔːthought, force
- ʌstrut
- ʊfoot
- uːgoose
- əletter
- əːnurse
- ɪənear
- ɛːsquare
- ʊəcure
- eɪface
- ʌɪpride
- aʊmouth
- əʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ãgratin
- ɒ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

##### Consonants

- ppea
- ttea
- kkey
- bbuy
- ddye*
- ɡguy
- tʃchore
- dʒjay
- ffore
- θthaw
- ssore
- ʃshore
- vvee
- ðthee
- zzee
- ʒbeige
- xloch
- hhay
- llay
- rray
- wway
- jyore
- mmay
- nnay
- ŋsing

* /d/ also represents a 'tapped' /t/ as in

Some consonants can take the function of the vowel in unstressed syllables. Where necessary, a syllabic marker diacritic is used, hence /ˈpɛd(ə)l/ but /ˈpɛdl̩i/.

##### Vowels

- ifleece, happy
- ɪkit
- ɛdress
- ætrap, bath
- ɑlot, palm, cloth, thought
- ɑrstart
- ɔcloth, thought
- ɔrnorth, force
- ʊfoot
- ugoose
- əstrut, comma
- ərnurse, letter
- ɪ(ə)rnear
- ɛ(ə)rsquare
- ʊ(ə)rcure
- eɪface
- aɪpride
- aʊmouth
- oʊgoat
- ɔɪvoice
- ɑ̃gratin
- æ̃salon
- ᵻ(/ɪ/-/ə/)
- ᵿ(/ʊ/-/ə/)

##### Other symbols

- The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress.
- The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress.
- Round brackets ( ) in a transcription indicate that the symbol within the brackets is optional.

View the pronunciation model here.

####

Simple text respell breaks words into syllables, separated by a hyphen. The syllable which carries the primary stress is written in capital letters. This key covers both British and U.S. English Simple Text Respell.

##### Consonants

b, d, f, h, k, l, m, n, p, r, s, t, v, w and z have their standard English values

- gguy
- jjay
- yyore
- chchore
- khloch
- shshore
- ththaw
- dhthee
- zhbeige

##### Vowels

- atrap
- ahpalm
- airsquare
- arstart
- arrcarry (British only)
- awthought
- ayface
- a(ng)gratin
- edress
- eefleece
- eerdeer
- errmerry
- ikit
- ighpride
- irrmirror
- olot (British only)
- ohgoat
- oogoose
- oorcure
- orforce
- orrsorry (British only)
- owmouth
- oyvoice
- o(ng)salon
- ustrut
- uhletter
- urnurse
- urrhurry
- uufoot

## Forms

### Variant forms

1. 1600s; 1800s–
   Sealandish
2. 1800s
   Seelandish
3. 1800s–
   Zealandish
4. 1900s–
   Zeelandish

## Frequency

Zealandish typically occurs fewer than 0.01 times per million words in modern written English.

Zealandish is in frequency band 1, which contains words occurring fewer than 0.001 times per million words in modern written English. More about OED's frequency bands

Frequency data is computed programmatically, and should be regarded as an estimate.

### Frequency of Zealandish, adj., 1850–2010

* Occurrences per million words in written English

Historical frequency series are derived from Google Books Ngrams (version 2), a data set based on the Google Books corpus of several million books printed in English between 1500 and 2010.

The overall frequency for a given word is calculated by summing frequencies for the main form of the word, any plural or inflected forms, and any major spelling variations.

For sets of homographs (distinct entries that share the same word-form, e.g. mole, n.¹, mole, n.², mole, n.³, etc.), we have estimated the frequency of each homograph entry as a fraction of the total Ngrams frequency for the word-form. This may result in inaccuracies.

Smoothing has been applied to series for lower-frequency words, using a moving-average algorithm. This reduces short-term fluctuations, which may be produced by variability in the content of the Google Books corpus.

Decade | Frequency per million words
--- | ---
1850 | 0.0002
1860 | 0.0003
1870 | 0.0003
1880 | 0.0003
1890 | 0.0003
1900 | 0.0003
1910 | 0.0003
1920 | 0.0003
1930 | 0.0002
1940 | 0.0002
1950 | 0.0002
1960 | 0.0002
1970 | 0.0002
1980 | 0.0003
1990 | 0.0003
2000 | 0.0003
2010 | 0.0003

Zealandish, adj. was first published in June 2018.

Zealandish, adj. was last modified in December 2023.