Australian English

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Australian English is the kind of English language used in Australia.

1 History
2 Accent
3 Words
4 Spelling
5 Kinds of Australian English
6 External links

[edit] History

People from Britain and Ireland first came to live in Australia in 1788. Many of them came from large cities such as London. They brought many different kinds of English with them. These different kinds of English began to mix and change. The new comers soon began to speak with their own distinctive accent and vocabulary.

More and more people came to Australia in the 19th and 20th centuries. Many people came looking for gold. Some came from Britain and Ireland. Others came from non-English speaking countries. Australian English continued to grow and change.

Australian English has also been influenced by American English. During the Second World War there were many American soldiers staying in Australia. American television shows and music have been popular in Australia since the 1950s.

[edit] Accent

The Australian and New Zealand accents are very similar. The Australian accent is also similar to accents from the South-East of Britain.

In Australian English the /r/ sound can only occur before a vowel. Many words which sound different in other accents sound the same in Australian English. Some examples are:

caught and court
raw and roar
aunt and aren't
formally and formerly

Some Australian English vowels sound different to vowels of other kinds of English. For example, the vowel in day starts with a very open mouth. This makes the Australian day sound close to the die of most British or American people.

Australian English has some vowels not used in some other kinds of English. For example, the words bad and lad do not rhyme because bad has a long vowel and lad has a short one. Also, cot doesn't sound like caught and bother doesn't rhyme with father.

As with American English the /t/ sound can sometimes sound like a /d/ sound. This usually happens between vowels. So, for example,

waiter can sound like wader
betting can sound like bedding
got it can sound like god it.

Also in the Australian accent a /t/ sound plus the sound of you comes out sounding like chew and a /d/ sound plus the sound of you comes out sounding like jew. Here are some examples of things which sound the same.

Tuesday and choose day
lightyear and lie cheer
due and jew
dune and June

Australians pronounce wh and w the same. Some examples are:

which and witch
whether and weather
whales and Wales

[edit] Words

Australians use many words that other English speakers don't use. The famous Australian greeting, for example, is G'day!. A native forest is called the bush and central Australia is called the outback.

Many words were brought to Australia from Britain and Ireland. For example, mate meaning "friend" which is still used in Britain. Some of these words have changed in meaning.

A few words have come from Australian Aboriginal languages. These are mainly names for animals, plants and places. Some examples are dingo and kangaroo.

Sometimes we don't even know where a word came from. For example, dinkum or fair dinkum means "true", "is that true?", "this is the truth", etc. but nobody know where it's from. Some say it's from Chinese. Others say it's from England.

[edit] Spelling

Australian spelling is generally very similar to British spelling. In words like organise, realise, etc. both -ise and -ize are accepted, as in British English, but -ise is the preferred. In words like colour, favourite, etc. -our is usual but sometimes you can see -or. Program and jail, on the other hand, are more common than programme and gaol.

[edit] Kinds of Australian English

Most linguists (scientists who study language) split Australian English up into three main kinds. These are Broad, General and Cultivated Australian English.

Broad Australian English sounds very strongly Australian when compared to other kinds of English. Steve Irwin and Dame Edna Everage speak Broad Australian English.

General Australian English is the middle ground. It is used by the majority of Australians and can be heard in Australian-made films and television programs. Russell Crowe and Nicole Kidman speak General Australian English.

Cultivated Australian English is close to British English. Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush speak Cultivated Australian English.

The Australian accent doesn't change much as you go across the country. However, one small difference is how people say words like: castle, dance, chance, advance, etc. Some use the vowel in calm others use the vowel in mat or mad.

However, there are differences in the words Australians use in different parts of the country. For example, footy means "rugby" in Sydney but "Australian rules football" in Victoria. In NSW a swimming costume is called a cossie but it's called bathers in most other states.