Australian English: main characteristics
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ehaviour, etc. Many of these words occur in other English dialects, especially New Zealand English, whilst others are unique to Australian English.
Its also interesting to consider system of kin names in Australian Aboriginal English. words referring to ones relatives are used in different senses to Standard English, reflecting traditional Australian kinship systems:
aunty and uncle are used as terms of address for older people, to whom the speaker may not be related;
brother and sister include close relatives of the same generation, not just siblings;
cousin includes any relative of ones own generation;
the combinations cousin-brother and cousin-sister are used to refer to biological cousins;
in south-east Queensland, daughter is used to refer to any woman of ones great-grandparents generation; this is due to the cyclical nature of traditional kinship systems;
father and mother include any relative of ones parents generation, such as uncles, aunts, and in-laws;
grandfather and grandmother can refer to anyone of ones grandparents generation (grandfather can also refer to any respected elderly man, to whom the speaker may not be related);
poison refers to a relation one is obligated to avoid;
the term second, or little bit in northern Australia, is used with a distant relative who is described using a close kinship term. For example, ones second fathers or little bit fathers are men of ones fathers generation not closely related to the speaker. It is contrasted with close, near or true.
A skin or skin group are sections which are determined by the skin of a persons parents, and determine who a person is eligible to marry.
Son can refer to any male of the next generation, such as nephews.
1.3 Australian Spelling
Australian spelling is usually the same as British spelling, with only a few exceptions. The Macquarie Dictionary is generally used by publishers, schools, universities and governments as the standard spelling reference. Well-known differences to British spelling include:
program is more common than programme
jail is prevalent, gaol is generally still used in official contexts
There is a widely-held belief in Australia that controversies over spelling result from the Americanisation of Australian English; the influence of American English in the late 20th century, but the debate over spelling is much older. For example, a pamphlet entitled The So-Called American Spelling, published in Sydney some time before 1901, argued that there is no valid etymological reason for the preservation of the u in such words as honor, labor, etc. , alluding to older British spellings which also used the - or ending. The pamphlet also claimed that the tendency of people in Australasia is to excise the u, and one of the Sydney morning papers habitually does this, while the other generally follows the older form. The Australian Labor Party retains the - or ending it officially adopted in 1912. However, while many Australian newspapers did formerly excise the u, in words like colour, this is no longer the case. The town of Victor Harbor has the Victor Harbour Railway Station and the municipalitys official website speculates that excising the u from the towns name was originally a spelling error. This continues to cause confusion in how the town is named in official and unofficial documents.
1.4 Australian Language Peculiarities
As a result of social conflict in Australia, the Australian version of English has some peculiarities that differentiate it from other versions of English around the world.of the peculiarities is that there are three, rather than one, accents. About ten per cent of Australian men speak like Paul Hogan with what is known as a broad accent. Although only a small minority of Australians actually use broad accents, it has a great deal of cultural credibility. For example, it is used by a disproportionately large number of newsreaders. It is also used in a disproportionately large number of television commercials. Around 80 per cent of Australians speak like Nicole Kidman with what is known as a British received accent or general Australian English. A final ten per cent speak with a cultivated accent, which sounds like someone educated at Oxford University in England. Although it is not very popular today, in past eras, the cultivated accent had the kind of cultural credibility that the broad accent has today. For example, newsreaders on the government funded ABC had to speak with the cultivated accent. Since there was a shortage of Australian men able to speak in the accent, male newsreaders were imported from England.second cultural peculiarity of Australia is that there is a significant difference between how men speak, and how women speak. It is quite rare to find a woman speaking with a broad Australian accent, and quite rare to find a man speaking with the cultivated accent. A woman speaking with a broad accent would be like a woman wearing a blue bonds singlet and talking about pig shooting. Likewise, a man with a cultivated accent would be like a man wearing a skirt and talking about make-up. No other English speaking country has the same gender difference in pronunciation.third peculiarity is that there is no regional variance in the accent. Despite the vast distances between Australian cities, and the very different migrant histories in the cities, all Australians speak with one of the three accents, with roughly the same proportion of speakers in each region. The lack of regional variance suggests that regional identities have not as strong in Australia as they have been in different parts of Britain and America. Instead, most of the Australian identities have related revolved around a pro-Australia anti-Australia social dynamic that has existed Australia wide. Alternatively, Australians may have had different conceptions about gender identities. Men have been expected to be more of the roguish side while women more on the refined side. If compared to New Zealanders, Australian men are definitely more masculine while Australian women are more feminine.
1.5 Australian to English languages comparison
As well as being distinguished in pronunciation, the Australian version of English is also differentiated in regards to function and usage. One difference is in regards to informality. In America and England, the use of informal English is often interpreted as a sign of rudeness. Consequently, titles and family names are used to maintain a degree of social distance between people. In Australia, however, formality is more typically used by professional that dont like each other. The difference is most clearly seen in greetings used in business letters. Whereas Americans usually greet with Dear Ms/Mrs/Mr (family name), Australians are more like Dear (first name.) Likewise, boss and workers get on first name basis far more quickly than they do in other English speaking countries.American strain of the English language is simple and easily understood by most English speakers the world over. Its simplicity can be traced to the countrys puritan foundations. As religious fanatics wanting to expand their flock, puritans desired a language of persuasion. To ensure clarity, they used generic words that were understood by the majority of the population. To increase the persuasive power of their words, they used a lot of analogies.to America, the foundations of Australian English were in the prison system. Unlike puritans, convicts did not want a simple language to persuade others to unite behind them. To the contrary, convicts wanted to disguise their language so that no one would know what they were talking about.a legacy, the contemporary Australian dialect, or Strine, is littered with idioms, similes and invented words that make it one of the worlds most advanced English dialects. Although speakers of American English struggle to understand English speakers from outside of America, speakers of Strine can understand everyone, or confuse everyone if they so desire.words have always had a very prominent use in Australian English. For example, Australias unofficial national anthem, Waltzing Matilda, uses Aboriginal words like coolibah, jumbuck and billabong. Likewise, most of rural Australia has been given Aboriginal names like Wagga Wagga, Joondalup, Bondi, Yakadanda.the lazy way that Australians are perceived to speak is a result of using the Aboriginal words. The Aboriginal words generally end with a vowel sound, which is quite smooth and pleasant on the ear. It is possible that the use of the diminuitive, such as shortening words like journalist to journo, was a way of smoothing over the rough edges of British English in order to gain more consistency with the smoother Aboriginal English.
II. Australian slang
Table of Australian slang words and expressions is represented below. The table 1 includes only some part of numerous slang words used in Australian English nowadays.
Table 1. Australian slang expressions.
Ace! excellent! Ankle bitersmall childAvosavocadosBack of Bourkea very long way awayBikkiebiscuitBillyteapot; container for boiling water. Boomera large male kangarooBrekkiebreakfastBrumbya wild horseCactusdead, not functioningCook (noun) one's wifeCut lunchsandwich