What are the origins of Australian English? As with all other English-speaking countries, the origin of English is connected to colonialism. England took control of countries and people and imposed language, laws, education and culture. Settlers from the UK arrived in 1788.
Australian English can be described as a new dialect that developed as a result of contact between people who spoke different, mutually intelligible, varieties of English. The very early form of Australian English would have been first spoken by the children of the colonists born into the early colony in Sydney.
Aboriginal languages
It is believed that there were almost 400 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait languages at the time of first European contact. Most of these are now either extinct or moribund, with only about fifteen languages still being spoken among all age groups of the relevant tribes.
Early European settlers to Australia — many of whom were convicts — were from all over Great Britain and Ireland, and their speech patterns blended to form the new Australian accent.
Australian English had its beginnings in the late eighteenth century in a convict settlement where people of diverse speech were brought together. Some levelling of dialects had probably already taken place in England or even at sea.
Australian English arose from a dialectal melting pot created by the intermingling of early settlers who were from a variety of dialectal regions of Great Britain and Ireland, though its most significant influences were the dialects of Southeast England.
Australian English is most similar to British English in spelling and sentence construction, although its accent and vocabulary are very distinct from the UK.
What does it mean? Another word for friend. Common in Britain as well, but used even more enthusiastically by Aussies, who pepper the ends of their sentences with a longer, stretched out “maaaaate” that conveys friendliness and establishes a relaxed bond between the speakers.
The distinctive Australian accent is the result of a “drunken slur” caused by the heavy drinking of the early settlers, according to a communication expert from the country. "It's not just about pronunciation; vocal quality or timbre matters, as does intonation – the way the pitch of the voice rises and falls."
Australian English resembles British English more closely than it does American English, particularly in terms of spelling. One of the biggest differences between Australian English and British English is the yod dropping, which is not happening as much in British English.
The most common verbal greeting is a simple “Hey”, “Hello”, or “Hi”. Some people may use Australian slang and say “G'day” or “G'day mate”. However, this is less common in cities. Many Australians greet by saying “Hey, how are you?”.
There is no one Aboriginal word that all Aborigines use for Australia; however, today they call Australia, ""Australia"" because that is what it is called today. There are more than 250 aboriginal tribes in Australia. Most of them didn't have a word for ""Australia""; they just named places around them.
According to Richards, the beginning of our Australian accent emerged following the arrival of European settlers in 1788. "It emerged from a process called levelling down because you had all these people who came here on 11 ships from different dialect areas, regional dialect areas across England," he said.
Besides working as herding animals, Aussies serve as police dogs, narcotics detectors and competitors in obedience trials. They also make great family pets. They are a recent addition to the AKC herding group; some Aussie breeders fear AKC recognition may create undue emphasis on appearance over ability.
In Australia, this dialect is sometimes called Strine /ˈstɹɑɪn/ (or "Strayan" /ˈstɹæɪən/, a shortening of the word Australian), and a speaker of the dialect may be referred to as an Ocker.
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.
Strine, also spelled Stryne /ˈstraɪn/, describes a broad accent of Australian English.
In Australia there is not a lot of regionally-based accent variation compared with most other world Englishes, however, there are lots of vocabulary differences. See Macquarie Dictionary's Australian Word Map for some details.
"Aussie Aussie Aussie, Oi Oi Oi" is a cheer or chant often performed at Australian sport events. It is a variation of the Oggy Oggy Oggy chant used by both soccer and rugby union fans in Great Britain from the 1960s onwards. It is usually performed by a crowd uniting to support a sports team or athlete.
It surely sounds strange to those who are familiar with American or British English, but it is a very common expression in Australia. G'day is a shortened form of 'Good Day' and it is the equivalent of 'Hello.
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.
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.
If you say “no” with an extra syllable or two, chances are you are actually saying naur, an Australian-ism defined by its listeners, not its speakers, which continues to be one of the internet's favourite jokes.