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Research by Miriam Meyerhoff, Elaine Ballard, Helen Charters, Alexandra Birchfield and Catherine I. Watson examines the impact of migration on the phonology of Auckland English, focusing on the variable realisation of the definite article in New Zealand’s largest and most multicultural city. Their research is based on conversational data from 70 people, male and female, younger and older, from three ethnographically distinct areas of the city. Their pronunciation of the was tested before a following vowel, in stressed or non-stressed NPs, to see if the standard [ði] was used rather than [ðɘ]. Multivariate analysis showed that [ɘ] is becoming more typical before vowel-initial NPs in all three areas of Auckland, even more so in South Auckland, which has been most ethnically diverse for the longest. Evidence also suggests [ɘ] is spreading rapidly among younger speakers in the other two communities. These pronunciation changes are thus associated with migration and higher levels of multilingualism in the community and support the claim that high levels of diversity in communities favour the emergence of new and distinct regional features.