Australian English

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

History

People from Britain and Ireland first came to live in Australia in 1788. 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.

Accent

The Australian and New Zealand accents are similar.
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. Days of the week, however, are often different and the day sounds like dee (usually short and sharp like the letter D).

• Sunday becomes Sun-dee
• Monday - Mun-dee
• Tuesday - Choose-dee (see further explanation below)
• Wednesday - Wens-dee (1st D and 2nd E are rarely pronounced and if so, it sounds more like Weddinsday but never Weddinsdee)
• Thursday - Thurs-dee
• Friday - Fri-dee
• Saturday - Satta-dee/Sadda-dee or even shorter Sat-dee/Sad-dee (both D's pronounced separately with the syllable break between them)

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 does not sound like caught and bother does not 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
• thirteen can sound like thirdeen

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

 

Words

Australians use many words that other English speakers do not 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 do not know where a word came from. For example, dinkum or fair dinkum means "true", "is that true?", "this is the truth". But nobody know where the word is from: some say the word comes from Chinese, others say the word comes from England.

 

Spelling

Australian spelling is generally very similar to British spelling. In words like organise, realise, both -ise and -ize are accepted, as in British English, but, -ise is preferred. In words like colour, favourite, -our is the norm, but some proper names such as the Labor party and Victor Harbor are spelled with -or. Program and jail, on the other hand, are more common than programme and gaol.

 

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.
General Australian English is the middle ground. It is used by most Australians, and can be heard in Australian-made films and television programs. Eric Bana 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 does not change much across the country. However, some small differences include how the letter 'a' sounds like in the words castle, dance, chance, advance, etc. Some use the vowel in calm others use the vowel in mat or mad. Another regional difference is the pronunciation of 'e' sounds especially followed by 'l', such as Melbourne, helped, cellist, with Victorians pronouncing this 'e' like the 'a' sound in alchemy or chalice.
However, there are differences in the words Australians use in different parts of the country. For example, football (or footy for short) means "rugby" in NSW and Queensland, but "Australian rules football" in Victoria. In NSW, a swimming costume is called a cossie or swimmers, in Queensland it is called togs, but it's called bathers in most other states.

Australian Idioms

An idiom is defined as "a form of expression, phrase, peculiar to a language or dialect" (with "peculiar" being the operative word!)
Idioms vary in their degree of "peculiarity" - I especially enjoy our Australian idioms, so for those who will be visiting us for the Olympics (in the flesh or "televisionally"), here are a few classic Aussie idioms (some of these may be shared with other cultures):
As popular as a blowie at a butcher's picnic ("blowies" are large, slow flies - sort of the 747s of the insect world) - this is used to describe someone whose presence is not universally welcomed!
As flash as a rat with a gold tooth - to describe someone who's feeling ver-r-r-ry pleased with him/herself
She'll be right - self-explanatory
Glad rags - dressed up in party clothes
Done up like a dish of fish - dressed in best clothes
Silly galah - galahs are medium sized pink and grey parrots that really appreciate the trouble farmers go to, to provide them with seed and grain
Stone the crows - exclamation to denote surprise or amazement
Fair dinkum - anything that is genuine or real; or exclamation to denote exasperation / amazement / admiration ... just about anything really
Dinky-di - (pronounced dinky-dye) same as fair dinkum
Ridgy-didge - same as fair dinkum
Struth - exclamation of amazement / exasperation ...
Sheilas are women
Chooks lay eggs
Old chook - can be a term of endearment men use for women