In our recent poll of the sexiest accents in the world, the Australian accent came in at No. 5. We wanted to delve a little deeper into exactly what it is that people love so much about it, and why it makes people go weak at the knees when hearing it.
The English accent is the one that is victorious, with the latest survey showing that 17 per cent of people have it at the top of their list. French came in next at 13 per cent, which is unsurprising considering that this is the language spoken in the city of love.
The Australian accent is famous for its vowel sounds, absence of a strong “r” pronunciation and the use of an inflection – or intonation – at the end of sentences, which can make statements sound like questions. According to Felicity, the way vowels are pronounced is the most peculiar feature of Australian English.
I would suggest that the “attractiveness"of the Australian accent to American ears relates to: Its relative rarity (in the US), making the accent somewhat “exotic". The perception of Australians as a interesting, friendly, generally harmless and, once again, exotic species.
Australian English often contains higher levels of nasal resonance to oral resonance. Resonance refers to voice acoustics and is determined by where the bulk of sound vibration from the voice is reinforced in the your face.
Of foreign accents, the British accent is the #1 most liked, chosen by 69% of respondents. In addition to being the general favorite, it also ranked among the sexiest and most intelligent.
A few historians believe that the slight 'drool' or 'slurring' which with Australians speak can be traced back to the fact that so many of the first Englishmen, colonizers, sailors and prisoners were drunk often, and that the children, upon hearing this garbled, mushy type of speaking, picked it up and passed it along.
The New Zealand and Australian accent are close, but mistaking one for the other is a big faux pas. Here's how to keep them straight.
The poll also gathered that Americans find British accents the most attractive of international inflections. Just ask Meghan Markle, now known as the Duchess of Sussex.
Broad Australian accents are typically strong and more difficult to understand. This is the one most commonly known by people outside of Australia or joked about by comedians. However it is not the most commonly spoken. Cultivated Australian accents tend to sound more proper and resemble formal British English.
In its name, Cultivated Australian English does sound like it's posher, educated and the “best” way to speak, but that's not necessarily the case. The cultivated Australian English accent is not a superior way to speak English in Australia. No accent is better than another.
The voice assistant now has the ability to speak in an Australian or English accent (though Google calls it British).
Stunner. Meaning: (Noun) This is a common term used to describe a person that looks stunningly beautiful.
Strine, also spelled Stryne /ˈstraɪn/, describes a broad accent of Australian English.
Unlike some of the strong accents and dialects used back in England, the Australian accent was clear and easy to understand, because it was developed by people trying to understand each other!
Perhaps the two most iconic English varieties in the world are British and American accents. Both of them have a form of “general” accent which is perceived as more educated or correct than the other varieties, as if having an accent-free speech was a sign of social status.
In most countries around the world, it's common to hear spoken English on television or in the cinema. For this reason, students may aspire to speak a sort of 'Hollywood English'. Others may consider the formality of British English, the 'Queen's English', the best English accent to learn.
Three main varieties of Australian English are spoken according to linguists: broad, general and cultivated. They are part of a continuum, reflecting variations in accent. They can, but do not always, reflect the social class, education and urban or rural background of the speaker.
Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia.
"Australian English is a bit different from normal English. Here they speak so fast and at the same time, the words get jumbled up. So sometimes, it's a bit hard for me to understand. 'G'day mate'... is a common term they use here.
The term "ocker" is used both as a noun and adjective for an Australian who speaks and acts in a rough and uncultivated manner, using Strine, a broad Australian accent.
While some Australian speakers would pronounce “no” as a diphthong, starting on “oh” as in dog and ending on “oo” as in put, others begin with an unstressed “a” (the sound at the end of the word “sofa”), then move to the “oh” and then “oo”.