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Australian English

Australian English (AusE, AusEng, AuE, AuEng, en-AU) is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia. It is the country's common language and de facto national language; while Australia has no official language, English is the first language of the majority of the population, and has been entrenched as the de facto national language since British settlement, being the only language spoken in the home for 72% of Australians.[5] It is also the main language used in compulsory education, as well as federal, state and territorial legislatures and courts.

Australian English
RegionAustralia
Native speakers
18.5 million in Australia (2021)[1]
5 million L2 speakers of English in Australia (approx. 2021)
Early forms
Latin (English alphabet)
Unified English Braille[2]
Language codes
ISO 639-3
Glottologaust1314
IETFen-AU[3][4]
This article contains IPA phonetic symbols. Without proper rendering support, you may see question marks, boxes, or other symbols instead of Unicode characters. For an introductory guide on IPA symbols, see Help:IPA.
The percentage of people who speak only the English language at home, 2021

Australian English began to diverge from British and Irish English after the First Fleet established the Colony of New South Wales in 1788. 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,[6] though its most significant influences were the dialects of Southeast England.[7] By the 1820s, the native-born colonists' speech was recognisably distinct from speakers in Britain and Ireland.[8]

Australian English differs from other varieties in its phonology, pronunciation, lexicon, idiom, grammar and spelling.[9] Australian English is relatively consistent across the continent, although it encompasses numerous regional and sociocultural varieties. "General Australian" describes the de facto standard dialect, which is perceived to be free of pronounced regional or sociocultural markers and is often used in the media.

History edit

The earliest Australian English was spoken by the first generation of native-born colonists in the Colony of New South Wales from the end of the 18th century. These native-born children were exposed to a wide range of dialects from across the British Isles.[7] Similar to early American English, the process of dialect levelling and koineisation which ensued produced a relatively homogeneous new variety of English which was easily understood by all.[6] Peter Miller Cunningham's 1827 book Two Years in New South Wales described the distinctive accent and vocabulary that had developed among the native-born colonists.[7]

The dialects of South East England, including most notably the traditional Cockney dialect of London, were particularly influential on the development of the new variety and constituted "the major input of the various sounds that went into constructing" Australian English.[7] All the other regions of England were represented among the early colonists. A large proportion of early convicts and colonists were from Ireland, and spoke Irish as a sole or first language. They were joined by other non-native speakers of English from Scotland and Wales.

The first of the Australian gold rushes in the 1850s began a large wave of immigration, during which about two percent of the population of the United Kingdom emigrated to the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria.[10] The Gold Rushes brought immigrants and linguistic influences from many parts of the world. An example was the introduction of vocabulary from American English, including some terms later considered to be typically Australian, such as bushwhacker and squatter.[11] This American influence was continued with the popularity of American films from the early 20th century and the influx of American military personnel during World War II; seen in the enduring persistence of such universally-accepted terms as okay and guys.[12]

The publication of Edward Ellis Morris's Austral English: A Dictionary Of Australasian Words, Phrases And Usages in 1898, which extensively catalogued Australian English vocabulary, started a wave of academic interest and codification during the 20th century which resulted in Australian English becoming established as an endonormative variety with its own internal norms and standards. This culminated in publications such as the 1981 first edition of the Macquarie Dictionary, a major English language dictionary based on Australian usage, and the 1988 first edition of The Australian National Dictionary, a historical dictionary documenting the history of Australian English vocabulary and idiom.

Phonology and pronunciation edit

The most obvious way in which Australian English is distinctive from other varieties of English is through its unique pronunciation. It shares most similarity with New Zealand English.[13] Like most dialects of English, it is distinguished primarily by the phonetic quality of its vowels.[14]

Vowels edit

 
Australian English monophthongs[15]
 
Part 1 of Australian English diphthongs[15]
 
Part 2 of Australian English diphthongs[15]

The vowels of Australian English can be divided according to length. The long vowels, which include monophthongs and diphthongs, mostly correspond to the tense vowels used in analyses of Received Pronunciation (RP) as well as its centring diphthongs. The short vowels, consisting only of monophthongs, correspond to the RP lax vowels.

There exist pairs of long and short vowels with overlapping vowel quality giving Australian English phonemic length distinction, which is also present in some regional south-eastern dialects of the UK and eastern seaboard dialects in the US.[16] An example of this feature is the distinction between ferry /ˈfeɹiː/ and fairy /ˈfeːɹiː/.

As with New Zealand English and General American English, the weak-vowel merger is complete in Australian English: unstressed /ɪ/ is merged into /ə/ (schwa), unless it is followed by a velar consonant. Examples of this feature are the following pairings, which are pronounced identically in Australian English: Rosa's and roses, as well as Lennon and Lenin. Other examples are the following pairs, which rhyme in Australian English: abbott with rabbit, and dig it with bigot.

Most varieties of Australian English exhibit only a partial trap-bath split. The words bath, grass and can't are always pronounced with the "long" /aː/ of father. Throughout the majority of the country, the "flat" /æ/ of man is the dominant pronunciation for the a vowel in the following words: dance, advance, plant, example and answer. The exception is the state of South Australia, where a more advanced trap-bath split has taken place, and where the dominant pronunciation of all the preceding words incorporates the "long" /aː/ of father.

monophthongs diphthongs
short vowels long vowels
IPA examples IPA examples IPA examples
ʊ foot, hood, chook ʉː[nb 1] goose, boo, who'd ɪə near, beard, hear[nb 2]
ɪ kit, bid, hid, [nb 3] fleece, bead, heat æɔ mouth, bowed, how'd
e dress, led, head square, bared, haired əʉ goat, bode, hoed
ə comma, about, winter ɜː nurse, bird, heard æɪ face, bait, made
æ trap, lad, had æː bad, sad, mad ɑɪ price, bite, hide
a strut, bud, hud start, palm, bath choice, boy, oil
ɔ lot, cloth, hot thought, north, force
  1. ^ The vowel /ʉː/ is diphthongised in all the major Australian accents; in General Australian, the most widespread Australian accent, the vowel is pronounced as [ïɯ]. See Australian English phonology for a more detailed analysis.
  2. ^ The boundary between monophthongs and diphthongs is somewhat fluid: /ɪə/, for example, is commonly realised as [ɪː], particularly in closed syllables, though also found in open syllables such as we're, here, and so on. In open syllables particularly, the pronunciation varies from the bisyllabic [ɪːa], through the diphthong [ɪə], to the long vowel [ɪː].
  3. ^ The vowel /iː/ has an onset [ɪi̯], except before laterals. The onset is often lowered to [əi], so that "beat" is [bəit] for some speakers.

Consonants edit

There is little variation in the sets of consonants used in different English dialects but there are variations in how these consonants are used. Australian English is no exception.

Australian English is uniformly non-rhotic; that is, the /ɹ/ sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant. As with many non-rhotic dialects, linking /ɹ/ can occur when a word that has a final ⟨r⟩ in the spelling comes before another word that starts with a vowel. An intrusive /ɹ/ may similarly be inserted before a vowel in words that do not have ⟨r⟩ in the spelling in certain environments, namely after the long vowel /oː/ and after word final /ə/. This can be heard in "law-r-and order", where an intrusive R is voiced between the AW and the A.

As with North American English, Intervocalic alveolar flapping is a feature of Australian English: prevocalic /t/ and /d/ surface as the alveolar tap [ɾ] after sonorants other than /m, ŋ/ as well as at the end of a word or morpheme before any vowel in the same breath group. Examples of this feature are that the following pairs are pronounced similarly or identically: latter and ladder, as well as rated and raided.

Yod-dropping generally occurs after /s/, /l/, /z/, /θ/ but not after /t/, /d/ and /n/. Accordingly, suit is pronounced as /sʉːt/, lute as /lʉːt/, Zeus as /zʉːs/ and enthusiasm as /enˈθʉːziːæzəm/. Other cases of /sj/ and /zj/, as well as /tj/ and /dj/, have coalesced to /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ respectively for many speakers. /j/ is generally retained in other consonant clusters.[citation needed]

In common with most varieties of Scottish English and American English, the phoneme /l/ is pronounced by older Australians as a "dark" (velarised) l ([ɫ]) in almost all positions, unlike other dialects such as Received Pronunciation, Hiberno (Irish) English and most Australians from the Millennial generation onwards, where a light l (i.e. a non-velarised l) is used in many positions.

The wine–whine merger is complete in Australian English.[dubious ]

Pronunciation edit

Differences in stress, weak forms and standard pronunciation of isolated words occur between Australian English and other forms of English, which while noticeable do not impair intelligibility.

The affixes -ary, -ery, -ory, -bury, -berry and -mony (seen in words such as necessary, mulberry and matrimony) can be pronounced either with a full vowel (/ˈnesəseɹiː, ˈmalbeɹiː, ˈmætɹəməʉniː/) or a schwa (/ˈnesəsəɹiː, ˈmalbəɹiː, ˈmætɹəməniː/). Although some words like necessary are almost universally pronounced with the full vowel, older generations of Australians are relatively likely to pronounce these affixes with a schwa as is typical in British English. Meanwhile, younger generations are relatively likely to use a full vowel.

Words ending in unstressed -ile derived from Latin adjectives ending in -ilis are pronounced with a full vowel, so that fertile /ˈfɜːtɑɪl/ sounds like fur tile rather than rhyming with turtle /ˈtɜːtəl/.

In addition, miscellaneous pronunciation differences exist when compared with other varieties of English in relation to various isolated words, with some of those pronunciations being unique to Australian English. For example:

  • As with American English, the vowel in yoghurt /ˈjəʉɡət/ and the prefix homo- /ˈhəʉməʉ/ (as in homosexual or homophobic) are pronounced with GOAT rather than LOT;
  • Vitamin, migraine and privacy are all pronounced with /ɑɪ/ in the stressed syllable (/ˈvɑɪtəmən, ˈmɑɪɡɹæɪn, ˈpɹɑɪvəsiː/) rather than /ˈvɪtəmən, ˈmiːɡɹæɪn, ˈpɹɪvəsiː/;
  • Dynasty and patronise, by contrast, are usually subject to trisyllabic laxing (/ˈdɪnəstiː, ˈpætrɔnɑɪz/) like in Britain, alongside US-derived /ˈdɑɪnəstiː, ˈpæɪtrɔnɑɪz/;
  • The prefix paedo- (as in paedophile) is pronounced /ˈpedəʉ/ rather than /ˈpiːdəʉ/;
  • In loanwords, the vowel spelled with ⟨a⟩ is often nativized as the PALM vowel (/aː/), as in American English, rather than the TRAP vowel (/æ/), as in British English. For example, pasta is pronounced /ˈpaːstə/, analogous to American English /ˈpɑstə/, rather than /ˈpæstə/, as in British English.
  • Urinal is stressed on the first syllable and with the schwa for I: /ˈjʉːɹənəl/;
  • Harass and harassment are pronounced with the stress on the second, rather than the first syllable;
  • The suffix -sia (as in Malaysia, Indonesia and Polynesia, but not Tunisia) is pronounced /-⁠ʒə/ rather than /-ziːə/;
  • The word foyer is pronounced /ˈfoɪə/, rather than /ˈfoɪæɪ/;
  • Tomato, vase and data are pronounced with /aː/ instead of /æɪ/: /təˈmaːtəʉ, vaːz, ˈdaːtə/, with /ˈdæɪtə/ being uncommon but acceptable;
  • Zebra and leisure are pronounced /ˈzebɹə/ and /ˈleʒə/ rather than /ˈziːbɹə/ and /ˈliːʒə/, both having disyllabic laxing;
  • Status varies between British-derived /ˈstæɪtəs/ with the FACE vowel and American-derived /ˈstætəs/ with the TRAP vowel;
  • Conversely, precedence, precedent and derivatives are mainly pronounced with the FLEECE vowel in the stressed syllable, rather than DRESS: /ˈpɹiːsədəns ~ pɹiːˈsiːdəns, ˈpɹiːsədənt/;
  • Basil is pronounced /ˈbæzəl/, rather than /ˈbæɪzəl/;
  • Conversely, cache is usually pronounced /kæɪʃ/, rather than the more conventional /kæʃ/;
  • Buoy is pronounced as /boɪ/ (as in boy) rather than /ˈbʉːiː/;
  • The E in congress and progress is not reduced: /ˈkɔnɡɹes, ˈpɹəʉɡɹes/;
  • Conversely, the unstressed O in silicon, phenomenon and python stands for a schwa: /ˈsɪlɪkən, fəˈnɔmənən, ˈpɑɪθən/;
  • In Amazon, Lebanon and marathon, however, the unstressed O stands for the LOT vowel, somewhat as with American English: /ˈæməzɔn, ˈlebənɔn, ˈmæɹəθɔn/;
  • The colour name maroon is pronounced with the GOAT vowel: /məˈɹəʉn/.

Variation edit

Variation in Australian closing diphthongs[18]
Phoneme Lexical set Phonetic realization
Cultivated General Broad
/iː/ FLEECE [ɪi] [ɪ̈i] [əːɪ]
/ʉː/ GOOSE [ʊu] [ɪ̈ɯ, ʊʉ] [əːʉ]
/æɪ/ FACE [ɛɪ] [æ̠ɪ] [æ̠ːɪ, a̠ːɪ]
/əʉ/ GOAT [ö̞ʊ] [æ̠ʉ] [æ̠ːʉ, a̠ːʉ]
/ɑɪ/ PRICE [a̠e] [ɒe] [ɒːe]
/æɔ/ MOUTH [a̠ʊ] [æo] [ɛːo, ɛ̃ːɤ]

Relative to many other national dialect groupings, Australian English is relatively homogeneous across the country. Some relatively minor regional differences in pronunciation exist. A limited range of word choices is strongly regional in nature. Consequently, the geographical background of individuals may be inferred if they use words that are peculiar to particular Australian states or territories and, in some cases, even smaller regions. In addition, some Australians speak creole languages derived from Australian English, such as Australian Kriol, Torres Strait Creole and Norfuk.

Academic research has also identified notable sociocultural variation within Australian English, which is mostly evident in phonology.[19]

Regional variation edit

Although Australian English is relatively homogeneous, there are some regional variations. The dialects of English spoken in the various states and territories of Australia differ slightly in vocabulary and phonology.

Most regional differences are in word usage. Swimming clothes are known as cossies /ˈkɔziːz/ or swimmers in New South Wales, togs in Queensland, and bathers in Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia.[20] What Queensland calls a stroller is usually called a pram in Victoria, Western Australia, South Australia, New South Wales, and Tasmania.[21]

Preference for some synonymous words also differ between states. Garbage (i.e., garbage bin, garbage truck) dominates over rubbish in New South Wales and Queensland, while rubbish is more popular in Victoria, Tasmania, Western Australia and South Australia.[21]

Additionally, the word footy generally refers to the most popular football code in an area; that is, rugby league or rugby union depending on the local area, in most of New South Wales and Queensland, and Australian rules football elsewhere. In some pockets of Melbourne & Western Sydney 'football' and more rarely 'footy' will refer to Association football. Beer glasses are also named differently in different states. Distinctive grammatical patterns exist such as the use of the interrogative eh (also spelled ay or aye), which is particularly associated with Queensland. Secret Santa ([citation needed]) and Kris Kringle are used in all states, with the former being more common in Queensland.

South Australia

The most pronounced variation in phonology is between South Australia and the other states and territories. The trap–bath split is more complete in South Australia, in contrast to the other states. Accordingly, words such as dance, advance, plant, example and answer are pronounced with /aː/ (as in father) far more frequently in South Australia while the older /æ/ (as in mad) is dominant elsewhere in Australia.[21] L-vocalisation is also more common in South Australia than other states.

Centring diphthongs

In Western Australian and Queensland English, the vowels in near and square are typically realised as centring diphthongs ([nɪə, skweə]), whereas in the other states they may also be realised as monophthongs: [nɪː, skweː].[22]

Salary–celery merger

A feature common in Victorian English is salary–celery merger, whereby a Victorian pronunciation of Ellen may sound like Alan and Victoria's capital city Melbourne may sound like Malbourne to speakers from other states. There is also regional variation in /ʉː/ before /l/ (as in school and pool).

Full-fool allophones

In some parts of Australia, notably Victoria, a fully backed allophone of /ʉː/, transcribed [ʊː], is common before /l/. As a result, the pairs full/fool and pull/pool differ phonetically only in vowel length for those speakers. The usual allophone for /ʉː/ is further forward in Queensland and New South Wales than Victoria.

Sociocultural variation edit

The General Australian accent serves as the standard variety of English across the country. According to linguists, it emerged during the 19th century.[23] General Australian is the dominant variety across the continent, and is particularly so in urban areas.[24] The increasing dominance of General Australian reflects its prominence on radio and television since the latter half of the 20th century.

Recent generations have seen a comparatively smaller proportion of the population speaking with the Broad sociocultural variant, which differs from General Australian in its phonology. The Broad variant is found across the continent and is relatively more prominent in rural and outer-suburban areas.[25][26]

A largely historical Cultivated sociocultural variant, which adopted features of British Received Pronunciation and which was commonplace in official media during the early 20th century, had become largely extinct by the onset of the 21st century.[27]

Australian Aboriginal English is made up of a range of forms which developed differently in different parts of Australia, and are said to vary along a continuum, from forms close to Standard Australian English to more non-standard forms. There are distinctive features of accent, grammar, words and meanings, as well as language use.

Academics have noted the emergence of numerous ethnocultural dialects of Australian English that are spoken by people from some minority non-English speaking backgrounds.[28] These ethnocultural varieties contain features of General Australian English as adopted by the children of immigrants blended with some non-English language features, such as Afro-Asiatic languages and languages of Asia. Samoan English is also influencing Australian English.[29] Other ethnolects include those of Lebanese and Vietnamese Australians.[30]

A high rising terminal in Australian English was noted and studied earlier than in other varieties of English.[citation needed] The feature is sometimes called Australian questioning intonation. Research published in 1986, regarding vernacular speech in Sydney, suggested that high rising terminal was initially spread by young people in the 1960s. It found that the high rising terminal was used more than twice as often by young people than older people, and is more common among women than men.[31] In the United Kingdom, it has occasionally been considered one of the variety's stereotypical features, and its spread there is attributed to the popularity of Australian soap operas.[32]

Vocabulary edit

Intrinsic traits edit

 
Bush poets such as Banjo Paterson captured the Australian vocabulary of the 19th century in their bush ballads.

Australian English has many words and idioms which are unique to the dialect and have been written on extensively.

Internationally well-known examples of Australian terminology include outback, meaning a remote, sparsely populated area, the bush, meaning either a native forest or a country area in general, and g'day, a greeting. Dinkum, or fair dinkum means "true" or "is that true?", among other things, depending on context and inflection.[33] The derivative dinky-di means "true" or devoted: a "dinky-di Aussie" is a "true Australian".

Australian poetry, such as "The Man from Snowy River", as well as folk songs such as "Waltzing Matilda", contain many historical Australian words and phrases that are understood by Australians even though some are not in common usage today.

Australian English, in common with British English, uses the word mate to mean friend, as well as the word bloody as a mild expletive or intensifier. Bloody is taken to be milder in Australia than it is in the UK, where the word is considered profanity.

Several words used by Australians were at one time used in the United Kingdom but have since fallen out of usage or changed in meaning there. For example, creek in Australia, as in North America, means a stream or small river, whereas in the UK it is typically a watercourse in a marshy area; paddock in Australia means field, whereas in the UK it means a small enclosure for livestock; bush or scrub in Australia, as in North America, means a wooded area, whereas in England they are commonly used only in proper names (such as Shepherd's Bush and Wormwood Scrubs).

Some elements of Aboriginal languages have been adopted by Australian English—mainly as names for places, flora and fauna (for example dingo) and local culture. Many such are localised, and do not form part of general Australian use, while others, such as kangaroo, boomerang, budgerigar, wallaby and so on have become international. Other examples are cooee and hard yakka. The former is used as a high-pitched call, for attracting attention, (pronounced /ˈkʉːiː/) which travels long distances. Cooee is also a notional distance: "if he's within cooee, we'll spot him". Hard yakka means "hard work" and is derived from yakka, from the Jagera/Yagara language once spoken in the Brisbane region. Also of Aboriginal origin is the word bung, from the Sydney pidgin English (and ultimately from the Sydney Aboriginal language), meaning "dead", with some extension to "broken" or "useless". Many towns or suburbs of Australia have also been influenced or named after Aboriginal words. The best-known example is the capital, Canberra, named after a local Ngunnawal language word thought to mean "women's breasts" or "meeting place".[34][35]

Litotes, such as "not bad", "not much" and "you're not wrong", are also used. Diminutives and hypocorisms are common and are often used to indicate familiarity.[36] Some common examples are arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue), smoko (cigarette break), Aussie (Australian) and Straya (Australia). This may also be done with people's names to create nicknames (other English speaking countries create similar diminutives). For example, "Gazza" from Gary, or "Smitty" from John Smith. The use of the suffix -o originates in Irish: ó,[citation needed] which is both a postclitic and a suffix with much the same meaning as in Australian English.

In informal speech, incomplete comparisons are sometimes used, such as "sweet as" (as in "That car is sweet as."). "Full", "fully" or "heaps" may precede a word to act as an intensifier (as in "The waves at the beach were heaps good."). This was more common in regional Australia and South Australia[when?] but has been in common usage in urban Australia for decades. The suffix "-ly" is sometimes omitted in broader Australian English. For instance, "really good" can become "real good".

Australia's switch to the metric system in the 1970s changed most of the country's vocabulary of measurement from imperial to metric measures.[37] Since the switch to metric, heights of individuals are listed in centimetres on official documents and distances by road on signs are listed in terms of kilometres and metres.[38]

Comparison with other varieties edit

Where British and American English vocabulary differs, sometimes Australian English shares a usage with one of those varieties, as with petrol (AmE: gasoline) and mobile phone (AmE: cellular phone) which are shared with British English, or truck (BrE: lorry) and eggplant (BrE: aubergine) which are shared with American English.

In other circumstances, Australian English sometimes favours a usage which is different from both British and American English as with:[39]

  • (the) bush (AmE and BrE: (the) woods)
  • bushfire (Ame and BrE: wildfire)
  • capsicum (AmE: bell pepper; BrE (green/red) pepper)
  • Esky (AmE and BrE: cooler or ice box)
  • doona (AmE: comforter; BrE duvet)
  • footpath (AmE: sidewalk; BrE: pavement)
  • ice block or icy pole (AmE: popsicle BrE: ice lolly)
  • lollies (AmE: candy; BrE: sweets)
  • overseas (AmE and BrE: abroad)
  • peak hour (Ame and BrE: rush hour)
  • powerpoint (AmE: electrical outlet; BrE: electrical socket)
  • thongs (AmE and BrE: flip-flops)
  • ute /jʉːt/ (AmE and BrE: pickup truck)

Differences exist between Australian English and other varieties of English, where different terms can be used for the same subject or the same term can be ascribed different meanings. Non-exhaustive examples of terminology associated with food, transport and clothing is used below to demonstrate the variations which exist between Australian English and other varieties:

Foodcapsicum (BrE: (red/green) pepper; AmE: bell pepper); (potato) chips (refers both to BrE crisps and AmE French fries); chook (sanga) (BrE and AmE: chicken (sandwich)); coriander (shared with BrE. AmE: cilantro); entree (refers to AmE appetizer whereas AmE entree is referred to in AusE as main course); eggplant (shared with AmE. BrE: aubergine); fairy floss (BrE: candy floss; AmE: cotton candy); ice block or icy pole (BrE: ice lolly; AmE: popsicle); jelly (refers to AmE Jell-o whereas AmE jelly refers to AusE jam); lollies (BrE: sweets; AmE: candy); marinara (sauce) (refers to a tomato-based sauce in AmE and BrE but a seafood sauce in AusE); mince or minced meat (shared with BrE. AmE: ground meat); prawn (which in BrE refers to large crustaceans only, with small crustaceans referred to as shrimp. AmE universally: shrimp); snow pea (shared with AmE. BrE mangetout); pumpkin (AmE: squash, except for the large orange variety - AusE squash refers only to a small number of uncommon species; BrE: marrow); tomato sauce (also used in BrE. AmE: ketchup); zucchini (shared with AmE. BrE: courgette)

Transportaeroplane (shared with BrE. AmE: airplane); bonnet (shared with BrE. AmE: hood); bumper (shared with BrE. AmE: fender); car park (shared with BrE. AmE: parking lot); convertible (shared with AmE. BrE: cabriolet); footpath (BrE: pavement; AmE: sidewalk); horse float (BrE: horsebox; AmE: horse trailer); indicator (shared with BrE. AmE: turn signal); peak hour (BrE and AmE: rush hour); petrol (shared with BrE. AmE: gasoline); railway (shared with BrE. AmE: railroad); sedan (car) (shared with AmE. BrE: saloon (car)); semitrailer (shared with AmE. BrE: artic or articulated lorry); station wagon (shared with AmE. BrE: estate car); truck (shared with AmE. BrE: lorry); ute (BrE and AmE: pickup truck); windscreen (shared with BrE. AmE: windshield)

Clothinggumboots (BrE: Wellington boots or Wellies; AmE: rubber boots or galoshes); jumper (shared with BrE. AmE: sweater); nappy (shared with BrE. AmE: diaper); overalls (shared with AmE. BrE: dungarees); raincoat (shared with AmE. BrE: mackintosh or mac); runners or sneakers (footwear) (BrE: trainers. AmE: sneakers); sandshoe (BrE: pump or plimsoll. AmE: tennis shoe); singlet (BrE: vest. AmE: tank top or wifebeater); skivvy (BrE: polo neck; AmE: turtleneck); swimmers or togs or bathers (BrE: swimming costume. AmE: bathing suit or swimsuit); thongs (refers to BrE and AmE flip-flops (footwear). In BrE and AmE refers to g-string (underwear))

Terms with different meanings in Australian English edit

There also exist words which in Australian English are ascribed different meanings from those ascribed in other varieties of English, for instance:[39]

  • Asian in Australian (and American) English commonly refers to people of East Asian ancestry, while in British English it commonly refers to people of South Asian ancestry
  • Biscuit in Australian (and British) English refers to AmE cookie and cracker, while in American English it refers to a leavened bread product
  • (potato) Chips refers both to British English crisps (which is not commonly used in Australian English) and to American English French fries (which is used alongside hot chips)
  • Football in Australian English most commonly refers to Australian rules football, rugby league or rugby union. In British English, football is most commonly used to refer to association football, while in North American English football is used to refer to gridiron
  • Pants in Australian (and American) English most commonly refers to British English trousers, but in British English refers to Australian English underpants
  • Nursery in Australian English generally refers to a plant nursery, whereas in British English and American English it also often refers to a child care or daycare for pre-school age children[citation needed]
  • Paddock in Australian English refers to an open field or meadow whereas in American and British English it refers to a small agricultural enclosure
  • Premier in Australian English refers specifically to the head of government of an Australian state, whereas in British English it is used interchangeably with Prime Minister
  • Public school in Australian (and American) English refers to a state school. Australian and American English use private school to mean a non-government or independent school, in contrast with British English which uses public school to refer to the same thing
  • Pudding in Australian (and American) English refers to a particular sweet dessert dish, while in British English it often refers to dessert (the food course) in general
  • Thongs in Australian English refer to British and American English flip-flop (footwear), whereas in both American and British English it refers to Australian English G-string (underwear) (in Australian English the singular "thong" can refer to one half of a pair of the footwear or to a G-string, so care must be taken as to context)
  • Vest in Australian (and American) English refers to a padded upper garment or British English waistcoat but in British English refers to Australian English singlet

Idioms taking different forms in Australian English edit

In addition to the large number of uniquely Australian idioms in common use, there are instances of idioms taking different forms in Australian English than in other varieties, for instance:

  • A drop in the ocean (shared with BrE usage) as opposed to AmE a drop in the bucket
  • A way to go (shared with BrE usage) as opposed to AmE a ways to go
  • Home away from home (shared with AmE usage) as opposed to BrE home from home
  • Take (something) with a grain of salt (shared with AmE usage) as opposed to UK take with a pinch of salt
  • Touch wood (shared with BrE usage) as opposed to AmE knock on wood
  • Wouldn't touch (something) with a ten-foot pole (shared with AmE usage) as opposed to BrE wouldn't touch with a barge pole

British and American English terms not commonly used in Australian English edit

There are extensive terms used in other varieties of English which are not widely used in Australian English. These terms usually do not result in Australian English speakers failing to comprehend speakers of other varieties of English, as Australian English speakers will often be familiar with such terms through exposure to media or may ascertain the meaning using context.

Non-exhaustive selections of British English and American English terms not commonly used in Australian English together with their definitions or Australian English equivalents are found in the collapsible table below:[40][41]

British English terms not widely used in Australian English[40]

  • Allotment (gardening): A community garden not connected to a dwelling
  • Artic or articulated lorry (vehicle): Australian English semi-trailer)
  • Aubergine (vegetable): Australian English eggplant
  • Bank holiday: Australian English public holiday
  • Barmy: Crazy, mad or insane.
  • Bedsit: Australian English studio (apartment)
  • Belisha beacon: A flashing light atop a pole used to mark a pedestrian crossing
  • Bin lorry: Australian English: garbage truck
  • Bobby: A police officer, particularly one of lower rank
  • Cagoule: A lightweight raincoat or windsheeter
  • Candy floss (confectionery): Australian English fairy floss
  • Cash machine: Australian English automatic teller machine
  • Chav: Lower socio-economic person comparable to Australian English bogan
  • Child-minder: Australian English babysitter
  • Chivvy: To hurry (somebody) along. Australian English nag
  • Chrimbo: Abbreviation for Christmas comparable to Australian English Chrissy
  • Chuffed: To be proud (especially of oneself)
  • Cleg (insect): Australian English horsefly
  • Clingfilm: A plastic wrap used in food preparation. Australian English Glad wrap/cling wrap
  • Community payback: Australian English community service
  • Comprehensive school: Australian English state school or public school
  • Cooker: A kitchen appliance. Australian English stove and/or oven
  • Coppice: An area of cleared woodland
  • Council housing: Australian English public housing
  • Counterpane: A bed covering. Australian English bedspread
  • Courgette: A vegetable. Australian English zucchini
  • Creche: Australian English child care centre
  • (potato) Crisps: Australian English (potato) chips
  • Current account: Australian English transaction account
  • Dell: A small secluded hollow or valley
  • Do: Australian English party or social gathering
  • Doddle: An easy task
  • Doss (verb): To spend time idly
  • Drawing pin: Australian English thumb tack
  • Dungarees: Australian English overalls
  • Dustbin: Australian English garbage bin/rubbish bin
  • Dustcart: Australian English garbage truck/rubbish truck
  • Duvet: Australian English doona
  • Elastoplast or plaster: An adhesive used to cover small wounds. Australian English band-aid
  • Electrical lead: Australian English electrical cord
  • Estate car: Australian English station wagon
  • Fairy cake: Australian English cupcake
  • Father Christmas: Australian English Santa Claus
  • Fen: A low and frequently flooded area of land, similar to Australian English swamp
  • Free phone: Australian English toll-free
  • Gammon: Meat from the hind leg of pork. Australian English makes no distinction between gammon and ham
  • Git: A foolish person. Equivalent to idiot or moron
  • Goose pimples: Australian English goose bumps
  • Hacked off: To be irritated or upset, often with a person
  • Hairgrip: Australian English hairpin or bobbypin
  • Half-term: Australian English school holiday
  • Haulier: Australian English hauler
  • Heath: An area of dry grass or shrubs, similar to Australian English shrubland
  • Hoover(verb): Australian English to vacuum
  • Horsebox: Australian English horse float
  • Ice lolly: Australian English ice block or icy pole
  • Juicy bits: Small pieces of fruit residue found in fruit juice. Australian English pulp
  • Kip: To sleep
  • Kitchen roll: Australian English paper towel
  • Landslip: Australian English landslide
  • Lavatory: Australian English toilet (lavatory is used in Australian English for toilets on aeroplanes)
  • Lido: A public swimming pool
  • Lorry: Australian English truck
  • Loudhailer: Australian English megaphone
  • Mackintosh or mac: Australian English raincoat
  • Mangetout: Australian English snow pea
  • Marrow: Australian English squash
  • Minidish: A satellite dish for domestic (especially television) use
  • Moggie: A domestic short-haired cat
  • Moor: A low area prone to flooding, similar to Australian English swampland
  • Nettled: Irritated (especially with somebody)
  • Nosh: A meal or spread of food
  • Off-licence: Australian English bottle shop/Bottle-o
  • Pak choi: Australian English bok choy
  • Pavement: Australian English footpath
  • Pelican crossing: Australian English pedestrian crossing or zebra crossing
  • Peaky: Unwell or sickly
  • (red or green) Pepper (vegetable): Australian English capsicum
  • People carrier (vehicle): Australian English people mover
  • Pikey: An itinerant person. Similar to Australian English tramp
  • Pillar box: Australian English post box
  • Pillock: A mildly offensive term for a foolish or obnoxious person, similar to idiot or moron. Also refers to male genetalia
  • Plimsoll (footwear): Australian English sandshoe
  • Pneumatic drill: Australian English jackhammer
  • Polo neck (garment): Australian English skivvy
  • Poorly: Unwell or sick
  • Press-up (exercise): Australian English push-up
  • Pushchair: A wheeled cart for pushing a baby. Australian English: stroller or pram
  • Pusher: A wheeled cart for pushing a baby. Australian English: stroller or pram
  • Rodgering: A mildly offensive term for sexual intercourse, similar to Australian English rooting
  • Saloon (car): Australian English sedan
  • Scratchings (food): Solid material left after rendering animal (especially pork) fat. Australian English crackling)
  • Sellotape: Australian English sticky tape
  • Shan't: Australian English will not
  • Skive (verb): To play truant, particularly from an educational institution. Australian English to wag
  • Sleeping policeman: Australian English speed hump or speed bump
  • Snog (verb): To kiss passionately, equivalent to Australian English pash
  • Sod: A mildly offensive term for an unpleasant person
  • Spinney: A small area of trees and bushes
  • Strimmer: Australian English whipper snipper or line trimmer
  • Swan (verb): To move from one plact to another ostentatiously
  • Sweets: Australian English lollies
  • Tailback: A long queue of stationary or slow-moving traffic
  • Tangerine: Australian English mandarin
  • Tipp-Ex: Australian English white out or liquid paper
  • Trainers: Athletic footwear. Australian English runners or ‘’sneakers.’’
  • Turning (noun): Where one road branches from another. Australian English turn
  • Utility room: A room containing washing or other home appliances, similar to Australian English laundry
  • Value-added tax (VAT): Australian English goods and services tax (GST)
  • Wellington boots: Australian English gumboots
  • White spirit: Australian English turpentine

American English terms not widely used in Australian English[41]

  • Acclimate: Australian English acclimatise
  • Airplane: Australian English aeroplane
  • Aluminum: Australian English aluminium
  • Baby carriage: Australian English stroller or pram
  • Bangs: A hair style. Australian English fringe
  • Baseboard (architecture): Australian English skirting board
  • Bayou: Australian English swamp/billabong
  • Bell pepper: Australian English capsicum
  • Bellhop: Australian English hotel porter
  • Beltway: Australian English ring road
  • Boondocks: An isolated, rural area. Australian English the sticks or Woop Woop or Beyond the black stump
  • Broil (cooking technique): Australian English grill
  • Bullhorn: Australian English megaphone
  • Burglarize: Australian English burgle
  • Busboy: A subclass of (restaurant) waiter
  • Candy: Australian English lollies
  • Cellular phone: Australian English mobile phone
  • Cilantro: Australian English coriander
  • Comforter: Australian English doona
  • Condominium: Australian English apartment
  • Counter-clockwise: Australian English anticlockwise
  • Coveralls: Australian English overalls
  • Crapshoot: A risky venture
  • Diaper: Australian English nappy
  • Downtown: Australian English central business district
  • Drapes: Australian English curtains
  • Drugstore: Australian English pharmacy or chemist
  • Drywall: Australian English plasterboard
  • Dumpster: Australian English skip bin
  • Fall (season): Australian English autumn
  • Fanny pack: Australian English bum bag
  • Faucet: Australian English tap
  • Flashlight: Australian English torch
  • Freshman: A first year student at a highschool or university
  • Frosting (cookery): Australian English icing
  • Gasoline: Australian English petrol
  • Gas pedal: Australian English accelerator
  • Gas Station: Australian English service station or petrol station
  • Glove compartment: Australian English glovebox
  • Golden raisin: Australian English sultana
  • Grifter: Australian English con artist
  • Ground beef: Australian English minced beef or mince
  • Hood (vehicle): Australian English bonnet
  • Hot tub: Australian English spa or spa bath
  • Jell-o: Australian English jelly
  • Ladybug: Australian English ladybird
  • Mail-man: Australian English postman or postie
  • Mass transit: Australian English public transport
  • Math: Australian English maths
  • Mineral spirits: Australian English turpentine
  • Nightstand: Australian English bedside table
  • Out-of-state: Australian English interstate
  • Pacifier: Australian English dummy
  • Parking lot: Australian English car park
  • Penitentiary: Australian English prison or jail
  • Period(punctuation): Australian English full stop
  • Play hooky (verb): To play truant from an educational institution. Equivalent to Australian English (to) wag
  • Popsicle: Australian English ice block or icy pole
  • Railroad: Australian English railway
  • Railroad ties: Australian English Railway sleepers
  • Rappel: Australian English abseil
  • Realtor: Australian English real estate agent
  • Root (sport): To enthusiastically support a sporting team. Equivalent to Australian English barrack
  • Row house: Australian English terrace house
  • Sales tax: Australian English goods and services tax (GST)
  • Saran wrap: Australian English plastic wrap or cling wrap
  • Scad: Australian English a large quantity
  • Scallion: Australian English spring onion
  • Sharpie (pen): Australian English permanent marker or texta or felt pen
  • Shopping cart: Australian English shopping trolley
  • Sidewalk: Australian English footpath
  • Silverware or flatware: Australian English cutlery
  • Soda pop: Australian English soft drink
  • Streetcar: Australian English tram
  • Sweater: Garment. Australian English jumper
  • Sweatpants: Australian English tracksuit pants/trackies
  • Tailpipe: Australian English exhaust pipe
  • Takeout: Australian English takeaway
  • Trash can: Australian English garbage bin or rubbish bin
  • Trunk (vehicle): Australian English boot
  • Turn signal: Australian English indicator
  • Turtleneck: Australian English skivvy
  • Upscale and downscale: Australian English upmarket and downmarket
  • Vacation: Australian English holiday
  • Windshield: Australian English windscreen

Grammar edit

The general rules of English Grammar which apply to Australian English are described at English grammar. Grammatical differences between varieties of English are minor relative to differences in phonology and vocabulary and do not generally affect intelligibility. Examples of grammatical differences between Australian English and other varieties include:

  • Collective nouns are generally singular in construction, e.g., the government was unable to decide as opposed to the government were unable to decide or the group was leaving as opposed to the group were leaving.[42] This is in common with American English.
  • Australian English has an extreme distaste for the modal verbs shall (in non-legal contexts), shan't and ought (in place of will, won't and should respectively), which are encountered in British English.[43] However, shall is found in the Australian Constitution, Acts of Parliament, and other formal or legal documents such as contracts.
  • Using should with the same meaning as would, e.g. I should like to see you, encountered in British English, is almost never encountered in Australian English.
  • River follows the name of the river in question, e.g., Brisbane River, rather than the British convention of coming before the name, e.g., River Thames. This is also the case in North American and New Zealand English. In South Australian English however, the reverse applies when referring to the following three rivers: Murray, Darling and Torrens.[44] The Derwent in Tasmania also follows this convention.
  • While prepositions before days may be omitted in American English, i.e., She resigned Thursday, they are retained in Australian English: She resigned on Thursday. This is shared with British English.
  • The institutional nouns hospital and university do not take the definite article: She's in hospital, He's at university.[45] This is in contrast to American English where the is required: In the hospital, At the university.
  • On the weekend is used in favour of the British at the weekend which is not encountered in Australian English.[46]
  • Ranges of dates use to, i.e., Monday to Friday, rather than Monday through Friday. This is shared with British English and is in contrast to American English.
  • When speaking or writing out numbers, and is always inserted before the tens, i.e., one hundred and sixty-two rather than one hundred sixty-two. This is in contrast to American English, where the insertion of and is acceptable but nonetheless either casual or informal.
  • The preposition to in write to (e.g. "I'll write to you") is always retained, as opposed to American usage where it may be dropped.
  • Australian English does not share the British usage of read (v) to mean "study" (v). Therefore, it may be said that "He studies medicine" but not that "He reads medicine".
  • When referring to time, Australians will refer to 10:30 as half past ten and do not use the British half ten. Similarly, a quarter to ten is used for 9:45 rather than (a) quarter of ten, which is sometimes found in American English.
  • Australian English does not share the British English meaning of sat to include sitting or seated. Therefore, uses such as I've been sat here for an hour are not encountered in Australian English.
  • To have a shower or have a bath are the most common usages in Australian English, in contrast to American English which uses take a shower and take a bath.[47]
  • The past participle of saw is sawn (e.g. sawn-off shotgun) in Australian English, in contrast to the American English sawed.
  • The verb visit is transitive in Australian English. Where the object is a person or people, American English also uses visit with, which is not found in Australian English.
  • An outdoor event which is cancelled due to inclement weather is rained out in Australian English. This is in contrast to British English where it is said to be rained off.[48][49]
  • In informal speech, sentence-final but may be used, e.g. "I don't want to go but" in place of "But I don't want to go".[43] This is also found in Scottish English.
  • In informal speech, the discourse markers yeah no (or yeah nah) and no yeah (or nah yeah) may be used to mean "no" and "yes" respectively.[50]

Spelling and style edit

As in all English-speaking countries, there is no central authority that prescribes official usage with respect to matters of spelling, grammar, punctuation or style.

Spelling edit

 
Australian English spelling in comparison with American, British and Canadian English spelling

There are several dictionaries of Australian English which adopt a descriptive approach. The Macquarie Dictionary is most commonly used by universities, governments and courts as the standard for Australian English spelling. The Australian Oxford Dictionary is another commonly-used dictionary of Australian English.

Australian spelling is significantly closer to British than American spelling, as it did not adopt the systematic reforms promulgated in Noah Webster's 1828 Dictionary. Notwithstanding, the Macquarie Dictionary often lists most American spellings as acceptable secondary variants.

The minor systematic differences which occur between Australian and American spelling are summarised below:[51]

  • French-derived words which in American English end with or, such as color, honor, behavior and labor, are spelt with our in Australian English: colour, honour, behaviour and labour. Exceptions are the Australian Labor Party and some (especially South Australian) placenames which use Harbor, notably Victor Harbor.
  • Words which in American English end with ize, such as realize, recognize and apologize are spelt with ise in Australian English: realise, recognise and apologise. The British Oxford spelling, which uses the ize endings, remains a minority variant. The Macquarie Dictionary says that the -ise form as opposed to -ize sits at 3:1. The sole exception to this is capsize, which is used in all varieties.
  • Words which in American English end with yze, such as analyze, paralyze and catalyze are spelt with yse in Australian English: analyse, paralyse and catalyse.
  • French-derived words which in American English end with er, such as fiber, center and meter are spelt with re in Australian English: fibre, centre and metre (the unit of measurement only, not physical devices; so gasometer, voltmeter).
  • Words which end in American English end with log, such as catalog, dialog and monolog are usually spelt with logue in Australian English: catalogue, dialogue and monologue; however, the Macquarie Dictionary lists the log spelling as the preferred variant for analog.
  • A double-consonant l is retained in Australian English when adding suffixes to words ending in l where the consonant is unstressed, contrary to American English. Therefore, Australian English favours cancelled, counsellor, and travelling over American canceled, counselor and traveling.
  • Where American English uses a double-consonant ll in the words skillful, willful, enroll, distill, enthrall, fulfill and installment, Australian English uses a single consonant: skilful, wilful, enrol, distil, enthral, fulfil and instalment. However, the Macquarie Dictionary has noted a growing tendency to use the double consonant.[52]
  • The American English defense and offense are spelt defence and offence in Australian English.
  • In contrast with American English, which uses practice and license for both nouns and verbs, practice and licence are nouns while practise and license are verbs in Australian English.
  • Words with ae and oe are often maintained in words such as oestrogen and paedophilia, in contrast to the American English practice of using e alone (as in estrogen and pedophilia). The Macquarie Dictionary has noted a shift within Australian English towards using e alone, and now lists some words such as encyclopedia, fetus, eon or hematite with the e spelling as the preferred variant and hence Australian English varies by word when it comes to these sets of words.

Minor systematic difference which occur between Australian and British spelling are as follows:[51]

  • Words often ending in eable in British English end in able in Australian English. Therefore, Australian English favours livable over liveable, sizable over sizeable, movable over moveable, etc., although both variants are acceptable.
  • Words often ending in eing in British English end in ing in Australian English. Therefore, Australian English favours aging over ageing, or routing over routeing, etc., although both variants are acceptable.
  • Words often ending in mme in British English end in m in Australian English. Therefore, Australian English favours program over programme (in all contexts) and aerogram over aerogramme, although both variants are acceptable. Similar to Canada, New Zealand and the United States, (kilo)gram is the only spelling.

Other examples of individual words where the preferred spelling is listed by the Macquarie Dictionary as being different from current British spellings include analog as opposed to analogue, guerilla as opposed to guerrilla, verandah as opposed to veranda, burqa as opposed to burka, pastie (noun) as opposed to pasty, neuron as opposed to neurone, hicup as opposed to hicough, annex as opposed to annexe, raccoon as opposed to racoon etc.[51] Unspaced forms such as onto, anytime, alright and anymore are also listed as being equally as acceptable as their spaced counterparts.[51]

There is variation between and within varieties of English in the treatment of -t and -ed endings for past tense verbs. The Macquarie Dictionary does not favour either, but it suggests that leaped, leaned or learned (with -ed endings) are more common but spelt and burnt (with -t endings) are more common.[51]

Different spellings have existed throughout Australia's history. What are today regarded as American spellings were popular in Australia throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with the Victorian Department of Education endorsing them into the 1970s and The Age newspaper until the 1990s. This influence can be seen in the spelling of the Australian Labor Party and also in some place names such as Victor Harbor. The Concise Oxford English Dictionary has been attributed with re-establishing the dominance of the British spellings in the 1920s and 1930s.[53] For a short time during the late 20th century, Harry Lindgren's 1969 spelling reform proposal (Spelling Reform 1 or SR1) gained some support in Australia and was adopted by the Australian Teachers' Federation.[54]

Punctuation and style edit

Prominent general style guides for Australian English include the Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage, the Australian Government Style Manual[55] (formerly the Style Manual: For Authors, Editors and Printers), the Australian Handbook for Writers and Editors and the Complete Guide to English Usage for Australian Students.

Both single and double quotation marks are in use, with single quotation marks preferred for use in the first instance, with double quotation marks reserved for quotes of speech within speech. Logical (as opposed to typesetter's) punctuation is preferred for punctuation marks at the end of quotations. For instance, Sam said he 'wasn't happy when Jane told David to "go away"'. is used in preference to Sam said he "wasn't happy when Jane told David to 'go away.'"

The DD/MM/YYYY date format is followed and the 12-hour clock is generally used in everyday life (as opposed to service, police, and airline applications).

With the exception of screen sizes, metric units are used in everyday life, having supplanted imperial units upon the country's switch to the metric system in the 1970s, although imperial units persist in casual references to a person's height. Tyre and bolt sizes (for example) are defined in imperial units where appropriate for technical reasons.

In betting, decimal odds are used in preference to fractional odds, as used in the United Kingdom, or moneyline odds in the United States.

Keyboard layout edit

There are two major English language keyboard layouts, the United States layout and the United Kingdom layout. Keyboards and keyboard software for the Australian market universally uses the US keyboard layout, which lacks the pound (£), euro and negation symbols and uses a different layout for punctuation symbols from the UK keyboard layout.

See also edit

References edit

Citations edit

  1. ^ English (Australia) at Ethnologue (19th ed., 2016)  
  2. ^ "Unified English Braille". Australian Braille Authority. 18 May 2016. Retrieved 2 January 2017.
  3. ^ "English". IANA language subtag registry. 16 October 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  4. ^ "Australia". IANA language subtag registry. 16 October 2005. Retrieved 11 January 2019.
  5. ^ "2021 Australia, Census All persons QuickStats | Australian Bureau of Statistics".
  6. ^ a b Burridge, Kate (2020). "Chapter 11: History of Australian English". In Willoughby, Louisa (ed.). Australian English Reimagined: Structure, Features and Developments. Routledge. pp. 178¬–181. ISBN 978-0-367-02939-5.
  7. ^ a b c d Moore, Bruce (2008). Speaking our Language: the Story of Australian English. South Melbourne: Oxford University Press. p. 69. ISBN 978-0-19-556577-5.
  8. ^ Burridge, Kate (2020). "Chapter 11: History of Australian English". In Willoughby, Louisa (ed.). Australian English Reimagined: Structure, Features and Developments. Routledge. p. 181. ISBN 978-0-367-02939-5.
  9. ^ Cox, Felicity (2020). "Chapter 2: Phonetics and Phonology of Australian English". In Willoughby, Louisa (ed.). Australian English Reimagined: Structure, Features and Developments. Routledge. p. 15. ISBN 978-0-367-02939-5.
  10. ^ Blainey, Geoffrey (1993). The Rush that Never Ended: a History of Australian Mining (4 ed.). Carlton, Vic.: Melbourne University Press. ISBN 0-522-84557-6.
  11. ^ Baker, Sidney J. (1945). The Australian Language (1st ed.). Sydney: Angus and Robertson.
  12. ^ Bell, Philip; Bell, Roger (1998). Americanization and Australia (1. publ. ed.). Sydney: University of New South Wales Press. ISBN 0-86840-784-4.
  13. ^ Trudgill, Peter and Jean Hannah. (2002). International English: A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English, 4th ed. London: Arnold. ISBN 0-340-80834-9, p. 4.
  14. ^ Harrington, J.; F. Cox & Z. Evans (1997). "An acoustic phonetic study of broad, general, and cultivated Australian English vowels". Australian Journal of Linguistics. 17 (2): 155–84. doi:10.1080/07268609708599550.
  15. ^ a b c Cox, Felicity; Fletcher, Janet (2017) [First published 2012], Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-316-63926-9
  16. ^ Mannell, Robert (14 August 2009). "Australian English – Impressionistic Phonetic Studies". Clas.mq.edu.au. from the original on 6 July 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
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  18. ^ Wells, John C. (1982), Accents of English, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, p. 597
  19. ^ Mannell, Robert (14 August 2009). "Robert Mannell, "Impressionistic Studies of Australian English Phonetics"". Ling.mq.edu.au. from the original on 31 December 2008. Retrieved 26 July 2011.
  20. ^ Scott, Kellie (5 January 2016). "Divide over potato cake and scallop, bathers and togs mapped in 2015 Linguistics Roadshow". ABC News. Australian Broadcasting Corporation. Retrieved 5 January 2016.
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  23. ^ Bruce Moore (Australian Oxford Dictionary) and Felicity Cox (Macquarie University) [interviewed in]: Sounds of Aus (television documentary) 2007; director: David Swann; Writer: Lawrie Zion, Princess Pictures (broadcaster: ABC Television).
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  25. ^ Das, Sushi (29 January 2005). "Struth! Someone's nicked me Strine". The Age.
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  27. ^ Jamieson, Maya (12 September 2017). "Australia's accent only now starting to adopt small changes". SBS News.
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  33. ^ . Archived from the original on 16 March 2011. Retrieved 5 November 2007.. Access date: 5 November 2007.
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  36. ^ Astle, David (12 March 2021). "Why do Aussies shorten everything an itsy-bitsy-teeny-weeny bit?". The Sydney Morning Herald. from the original on 31 March 2022.
  37. ^ "History of Measurement in Australia". web page. Australian Government National Measurement Institute. Retrieved 14 February 2013.
  38. ^ Wilks, Kevin (1992). Metrication in Australia: A review of the effectiveness of policies and procedures in Australia's conversion to the metric system (PDF). Canberra: Australian Government Publishing Service. p. 114. ISBN 0-644-24860-2. Archived (PDF) from the original on 9 October 2022. Retrieved 5 August 2017. Measurements used by people in their private lives, in conversation or in estimation of sizes had not noticeably changed nor was such a change even attempted or thought necessary.
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  40. ^ a b "The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005. Note: Entries with Chiefly British usage note in the Macquarie Dictionary and reference to corresponding Australian entry.
  41. ^ a b The Macquarie Dictionary, Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005. Note: Entries with Chiefly US usage note in the Macquarie Dictionary and reference to corresponding Australian entry.
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  45. ^ Siegel, Jeff (2010). Second Dialect Acquisition. ISBN 978-0-521-51687-7.
  46. ^ Hewings, Matthew (1999). Advanced Grammar in Use. p. 214.
  47. ^ Cetnarowska, Bozena (1993). The Syntax, Semantics and Derivation of Bare Normalisations in English. p. 48. ISBN 83-226-0535-8.
  48. ^ "The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005
  49. ^ "Collins English Dictionary", 13th Edition. HarperCollins, 2018
  50. ^ Moore, Erin (2007). Yeah-no: A Discourse Marker in Australian English (Honours). University of Melbourne.
  51. ^ a b c d e "The Macquarie Dictionary", 8th Edition. Macquarie Dictionary Publishers, 2020.
  52. ^ "Macquarie Dictionary". www.macquariedictionary.com.au. Retrieved 23 November 2021.
  53. ^ "Endangered Languages and Cultures » Blog Archive » Webster in Australia". Paradisec.org.au. 30 January 2008. Retrieved 20 September 2017.
  54. ^ "Spelling Reform 1 – And Nothing Else!". Archived from the original on 30 July 2012.
  55. ^ Digital Transformation Agency (n.d.). "Australian Government Style Manual". Retrieved 25 October 2021.

Works cited edit

  • Cox, Felicity; Palethorpe, Sallyanne (2007), "Australian English" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (3): 341–350, doi:10.1017/S0025100307003192, S2CID 232349884

Further reading edit

  • Korhonen, Minna (2017). Perspectives on the Americanisation of Australian English: A Sociolinguistic Study of Variation (PhD thesis). University of Helsinki. ISBN 978-951-51-3559-9.
  • Mitchell, Alexander G. (1995). The Story of Australian English. Sydney: Dictionary Research Centre.

External links edit

  • Aussie English, The Illustrated Dictionary of Australian English
  • Australian National Dictionary Centre
  • free newsletter from the Australian National Dictionary Centre, which includes articles on Australian English
  • Australian Word Map at the ABC—documents regionalisms
  • R. Mannell, F. Cox and J. Harrington (2009), An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Macquarie University
  • Aussie English for beginners—the origins, meanings and a quiz to test your knowledge at the National Museum of Australia.

australian, english, australians, english, descent, english, australians, ause, auseng, aueng, varieties, english, language, native, australia, country, common, language, facto, national, language, while, australia, official, language, english, first, language. For Australians of English descent see English Australians Australian English AusE AusEng AuE AuEng en AU is the set of varieties of the English language native to Australia It is the country s common language and de facto national language while Australia has no official language English is the first language of the majority of the population and has been entrenched as the de facto national language since British settlement being the only language spoken in the home for 72 of Australians 5 It is also the main language used in compulsory education as well as federal state and territorial legislatures and courts Australian EnglishRegionAustraliaNative speakers18 5 million in Australia 2021 1 5 million L2 speakers of English in Australia approx 2021 Language familyIndo European GermanicWest GermanicNorth Sea GermanicAnglo FrisianAnglicEnglishBritish EnglishAustralian EnglishEarly formsProto Indo European Proto Germanic Old English Middle English 18th century Modern English 19th century British EnglishWriting systemLatin English alphabet Unified English Braille 2 Language codesISO 639 3 Glottologaust1314IETFen AU sup id cite ref wikidata db6aa4cd71e98871be7bb80f20a410240db4b647 v9 3 0 class reference a href cite note wikidata db6aa4cd71e98871be7bb80f20a410240db4b647 v9 3 3 a sup sup id cite ref wikidata 7ba21c8641bd9b29854e0ea4774ba0e94ef440a4 v9 4 0 class reference a href cite note wikidata 7ba21c8641bd9b29854e0ea4774ba0e94ef440a4 v9 4 4 a sup This article contains IPA phonetic symbols Without proper rendering support you may see question marks boxes or other symbols instead of Unicode characters For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA The percentage of people who speak only the English language at home 2021Australian English began to diverge from British and Irish English after the First Fleet established the Colony of New South Wales in 1788 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 6 though its most significant influences were the dialects of Southeast England 7 By the 1820s the native born colonists speech was recognisably distinct from speakers in Britain and Ireland 8 Australian English differs from other varieties in its phonology pronunciation lexicon idiom grammar and spelling 9 Australian English is relatively consistent across the continent although it encompasses numerous regional and sociocultural varieties General Australian describes the de facto standard dialect which is perceived to be free of pronounced regional or sociocultural markers and is often used in the media Contents 1 History 2 Phonology and pronunciation 2 1 Vowels 2 2 Consonants 2 3 Pronunciation 3 Variation 3 1 Regional variation 3 2 Sociocultural variation 4 Vocabulary 4 1 Intrinsic traits 4 2 Comparison with other varieties 4 2 1 Terms with different meanings in Australian English 4 2 2 Idioms taking different forms in Australian English 4 2 3 British and American English terms not commonly used in Australian English 5 Grammar 6 Spelling and style 6 1 Spelling 6 2 Punctuation and style 6 3 Keyboard layout 7 See also 8 References 8 1 Citations 8 2 Works cited 9 Further reading 10 External linksHistory editThe earliest Australian English was spoken by the first generation of native born colonists in the Colony of New South Wales from the end of the 18th century These native born children were exposed to a wide range of dialects from across the British Isles 7 Similar to early American English the process of dialect levelling and koineisation which ensued produced a relatively homogeneous new variety of English which was easily understood by all 6 Peter Miller Cunningham s 1827 book Two Years in New South Wales described the distinctive accent and vocabulary that had developed among the native born colonists 7 The dialects of South East England including most notably the traditional Cockney dialect of London were particularly influential on the development of the new variety and constituted the major input of the various sounds that went into constructing Australian English 7 All the other regions of England were represented among the early colonists A large proportion of early convicts and colonists were from Ireland and spoke Irish as a sole or first language They were joined by other non native speakers of English from Scotland and Wales The first of the Australian gold rushes in the 1850s began a large wave of immigration during which about two percent of the population of the United Kingdom emigrated to the colonies of New South Wales and Victoria 10 The Gold Rushes brought immigrants and linguistic influences from many parts of the world An example was the introduction of vocabulary from American English including some terms later considered to be typically Australian such as bushwhacker and squatter 11 This American influence was continued with the popularity of American films from the early 20th century and the influx of American military personnel during World War II seen in the enduring persistence of such universally accepted terms as okay and guys 12 The publication of Edward Ellis Morris s Austral English A Dictionary Of Australasian Words Phrases And Usages in 1898 which extensively catalogued Australian English vocabulary started a wave of academic interest and codification during the 20th century which resulted in Australian English becoming established as an endonormative variety with its own internal norms and standards This culminated in publications such as the 1981 first edition of the Macquarie Dictionary a major English language dictionary based on Australian usage and the 1988 first edition of The Australian National Dictionary a historical dictionary documenting the history of Australian English vocabulary and idiom nbsp The First Fleet which brought the English language to Australia nbsp The Australian gold rushes saw many external influences on the languagePhonology and pronunciation editMain article Australian English phonology The most obvious way in which Australian English is distinctive from other varieties of English is through its unique pronunciation It shares most similarity with New Zealand English 13 Like most dialects of English it is distinguished primarily by the phonetic quality of its vowels 14 Vowels edit nbsp Australian English monophthongs 15 nbsp Part 1 of Australian English diphthongs 15 nbsp Part 2 of Australian English diphthongs 15 The vowels of Australian English can be divided according to length The long vowels which include monophthongs and diphthongs mostly correspond to the tense vowels used in analyses of Received Pronunciation RP as well as its centring diphthongs The short vowels consisting only of monophthongs correspond to the RP lax vowels There exist pairs of long and short vowels with overlapping vowel quality giving Australian English phonemic length distinction which is also present in some regional south eastern dialects of the UK and eastern seaboard dialects in the US 16 An example of this feature is the distinction between ferry ˈfeɹiː and fairy ˈfeːɹiː As with New Zealand English and General American English the weak vowel merger is complete in Australian English unstressed ɪ is merged into e schwa unless it is followed by a velar consonant Examples of this feature are the following pairings which are pronounced identically in Australian English Rosa s and roses as well as Lennon and Lenin Other examples are the following pairs which rhyme in Australian English abbott with rabbit and dig it with bigot Most varieties of Australian English exhibit only a partial trap bath split The words bath grass and can t are always pronounced with the long aː of father Throughout the majority of the country the flat ae of man is the dominant pronunciation for the a vowel in the following words dance advance plant example and answer The exception is the state of South Australia where a more advanced trap bath split has taken place and where the dominant pronunciation of all the preceding words incorporates the long aː of father monophthongs diphthongsshort vowels long vowelsIPA examples IPA examples IPA examplesʊ foot hood chook ʉː nb 1 goose boo who d ɪe near beard hear nb 2 ɪ kit bid hid iː nb 3 fleece bead heat aeɔ mouth bowed how de dress led head eː square bared haired eʉ goat bode hoede comma about winter ɜː nurse bird heard aeɪ face bait madeae trap lad had aeː bad sad mad ɑɪ price bite hidea strut bud hud aː start palm bath oɪ choice boy oilɔ lot cloth hot oː thought north force The vowel ʉː is diphthongised in all the major Australian accents in General Australian the most widespread Australian accent the vowel is pronounced as iɯ See Australian English phonology for a more detailed analysis The boundary between monophthongs and diphthongs is somewhat fluid ɪe for example is commonly realised as ɪː particularly in closed syllables though also found in open syllables such as we re here and so on In open syllables particularly the pronunciation varies from the bisyllabic ɪːa through the diphthong ɪe to the long vowel ɪː The vowel iː has an onset ɪi except before laterals The onset is often lowered to ei so that beat is beit for some speakers Consonants edit There is little variation in the sets of consonants used in different English dialects but there are variations in how these consonants are used Australian English is no exception Australian English consonant phonemes 17 Labial Dental Alveolar Post alveolar Palatal Velar GlottalNasal m n ŋPlosive fortis p t klenis b d ɡAffricate fortis tʃlenis dʒFricative fortis f 8 s ʃ hlenis v d z ʒApproximant central ɹ j wlateral lThis section does not cite any sources Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed May 2023 Learn how and when to remove this template message Australian English is uniformly non rhotic that is the ɹ sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant As with many non rhotic dialects linking ɹ can occur when a word that has a final r in the spelling comes before another word that starts with a vowel An intrusive ɹ may similarly be inserted before a vowel in words that do not have r in the spelling in certain environments namely after the long vowel oː and after word final e This can be heard in law r and order where an intrusive R is voiced between the AW and the A As with North American English Intervocalic alveolar flapping is a feature of Australian English prevocalic t and d surface as the alveolar tap ɾ after sonorants other than m ŋ as well as at the end of a word or morpheme before any vowel in the same breath group Examples of this feature are that the following pairs are pronounced similarly or identically latter and ladder as well as rated and raided Yod dropping generally occurs after s l z 8 but not after t d and n Accordingly suit is pronounced as sʉːt lute as lʉːt Zeus as zʉːs and enthusiasm as enˈ8ʉːziːaezem Other cases of sj and zj as well as tj and dj have coalesced to ʃ ʒ tʃ and dʒ respectively for many speakers j is generally retained in other consonant clusters citation needed In common with most varieties of Scottish English and American English the phoneme l is pronounced by older Australians as a dark velarised l ɫ in almost all positions unlike other dialects such as Received Pronunciation Hiberno Irish English and most Australians from the Millennial generation onwards where a light l i e a non velarised l is used in many positions The wine whine merger is complete in Australian English dubious discuss Pronunciation edit Differences in stress weak forms and standard pronunciation of isolated words occur between Australian English and other forms of English which while noticeable do not impair intelligibility The affixes ary ery ory bury berry and mony seen in words such as necessary mulberry and matrimony can be pronounced either with a full vowel ˈneseseɹiː ˈmalbeɹiː ˈmaetɹemeʉniː or a schwa ˈneseseɹiː ˈmalbeɹiː ˈmaetɹemeniː Although some words like necessary are almost universally pronounced with the full vowel older generations of Australians are relatively likely to pronounce these affixes with a schwa as is typical in British English Meanwhile younger generations are relatively likely to use a full vowel Words ending in unstressed ile derived from Latin adjectives ending in ilis are pronounced with a full vowel so that fertile ˈfɜːtɑɪl sounds like fur tile rather than rhyming with turtle ˈtɜːtel In addition miscellaneous pronunciation differences exist when compared with other varieties of English in relation to various isolated words with some of those pronunciations being unique to Australian English For example As with American English the vowel in yoghurt ˈjeʉɡet and the prefix homo ˈheʉmeʉ as in homosexual or homophobic are pronounced with GOAT rather than LOT Vitamin migraine and privacy are all pronounced with ɑɪ in the stressed syllable ˈvɑɪtemen ˈmɑɪɡɹaeɪn ˈpɹɑɪvesiː rather than ˈvɪtemen ˈmiːɡɹaeɪn ˈpɹɪvesiː Dynasty and patronise by contrast are usually subject to trisyllabic laxing ˈdɪnestiː ˈpaetrɔnɑɪz like in Britain alongside US derived ˈdɑɪnestiː ˈpaeɪtrɔnɑɪz The prefix paedo as in paedophile is pronounced ˈpedeʉ rather than ˈpiːdeʉ In loanwords the vowel spelled with a is often nativized as the PALM vowel aː as in American English rather than the TRAP vowel ae as in British English For example pasta is pronounced ˈpaːste analogous to American English ˈpɑste rather than ˈpaeste as in British English Urinal is stressed on the first syllable and with the schwa for I ˈjʉːɹenel Harass and harassment are pronounced with the stress on the second rather than the first syllable The suffix sia as in Malaysia Indonesia and Polynesia but not Tunisia is pronounced ʒe rather than ziːe The word foyer is pronounced ˈfoɪe rather than ˈfoɪaeɪ Tomato vase and data are pronounced with aː instead of aeɪ teˈmaːteʉ vaːz ˈdaːte with ˈdaeɪte being uncommon but acceptable Zebra and leisure are pronounced ˈzebɹe and ˈleʒe rather than ˈziːbɹe and ˈliːʒe both having disyllabic laxing Status varies between British derived ˈstaeɪtes with the FACE vowel and American derived ˈstaetes with the TRAP vowel Conversely precedence precedent and derivatives are mainly pronounced with the FLEECE vowel in the stressed syllable rather than DRESS ˈpɹiːsedens pɹiːˈsiːdens ˈpɹiːsedent Basil is pronounced ˈbaezel rather than ˈbaeɪzel Conversely cache is usually pronounced kaeɪʃ rather than the more conventional kaeʃ Buoy is pronounced as boɪ as in boy rather than ˈbʉːiː The E in congress and progress is not reduced ˈkɔnɡɹes ˈpɹeʉɡɹes Conversely the unstressed O in silicon phenomenon and python stands for a schwa ˈsɪlɪken feˈnɔmenen ˈpɑɪ8en In Amazon Lebanon and marathon however the unstressed O stands for the LOT vowel somewhat as with American English ˈaemezɔn ˈlebenɔn ˈmaeɹe8ɔn The colour name maroon is pronounced with the GOAT vowel meˈɹeʉn Variation editVariation in Australian closing diphthongs 18 Phoneme Lexical set Phonetic realizationCultivated General Broad iː FLEECE ɪi ɪ i eːɪ ʉː GOOSE ʊu ɪ ɯ ʊʉ eːʉ aeɪ FACE ɛɪ ae ɪ ae ːɪ a ːɪ eʉ GOAT o ʊ ae ʉ ae ːʉ a ːʉ ɑɪ PRICE a e ɒe ɒːe aeɔ MOUTH a ʊ aeo ɛːo ɛ ːɤ Main article Variation in Australian English Relative to many other national dialect groupings Australian English is relatively homogeneous across the country Some relatively minor regional differences in pronunciation exist A limited range of word choices is strongly regional in nature Consequently the geographical background of individuals may be inferred if they use words that are peculiar to particular Australian states or territories and in some cases even smaller regions In addition some Australians speak creole languages derived from Australian English such as Australian Kriol Torres Strait Creole and Norfuk Academic research has also identified notable sociocultural variation within Australian English which is mostly evident in phonology 19 Regional variation edit Although Australian English is relatively homogeneous there are some regional variations The dialects of English spoken in the various states and territories of Australia differ slightly in vocabulary and phonology Most regional differences are in word usage Swimming clothes are known as cossies ˈkɔziːz or swimmers in New South Wales togs in Queensland and bathers in Victoria Tasmania Western Australia and South Australia 20 What Queensland calls a stroller is usually called a pram in Victoria Western Australia South Australia New South Wales and Tasmania 21 Preference for some synonymous words also differ between states Garbage i e garbage bin garbage truck dominates over rubbish in New South Wales and Queensland while rubbish is more popular in Victoria Tasmania Western Australia and South Australia 21 Additionally the word footy generally refers to the most popular football code in an area that is rugby league or rugby union depending on the local area in most of New South Wales and Queensland and Australian rules football elsewhere In some pockets of Melbourne amp Western Sydney football and more rarely footy will refer to Association football Beer glasses are also named differently in different states Distinctive grammatical patterns exist such as the use of the interrogative eh also spelled ay or aye which is particularly associated with Queensland Secret Santa citation needed and Kris Kringle are used in all states with the former being more common in Queensland South AustraliaThe most pronounced variation in phonology is between South Australia and the other states and territories The trap bath split is more complete in South Australia in contrast to the other states Accordingly words such as dance advance plant example and answer are pronounced with aː as in father far more frequently in South Australia while the older ae as in mad is dominant elsewhere in Australia 21 L vocalisation is also more common in South Australia than other states Centring diphthongsIn Western Australian and Queensland English the vowels in near and square are typically realised as centring diphthongs nɪe skwee whereas in the other states they may also be realised as monophthongs nɪː skweː 22 Salary celery mergerA feature common in Victorian English is salary celery merger whereby a Victorian pronunciation of Ellen may sound like Alan and Victoria s capital city Melbourne may sound like Malbourne to speakers from other states There is also regional variation in ʉː before l as in school and pool Full fool allophonesIn some parts of Australia notably Victoria a fully backed allophone of ʉː transcribed ʊː is common before l As a result the pairs full fool and pull pool differ phonetically only in vowel length for those speakers The usual allophone for ʉː is further forward in Queensland and New South Wales than Victoria Sociocultural variation edit The General Australian accent serves as the standard variety of English across the country According to linguists it emerged during the 19th century 23 General Australian is the dominant variety across the continent and is particularly so in urban areas 24 The increasing dominance of General Australian reflects its prominence on radio and television since the latter half of the 20th century Recent generations have seen a comparatively smaller proportion of the population speaking with the Broad sociocultural variant which differs from General Australian in its phonology The Broad variant is found across the continent and is relatively more prominent in rural and outer suburban areas 25 26 A largely historical Cultivated sociocultural variant which adopted features of British Received Pronunciation and which was commonplace in official media during the early 20th century had become largely extinct by the onset of the 21st century 27 Australian Aboriginal English is made up of a range of forms which developed differently in different parts of Australia and are said to vary along a continuum from forms close to Standard Australian English to more non standard forms There are distinctive features of accent grammar words and meanings as well as language use Academics have noted the emergence of numerous ethnocultural dialects of Australian English that are spoken by people from some minority non English speaking backgrounds 28 These ethnocultural varieties contain features of General Australian English as adopted by the children of immigrants blended with some non English language features such as Afro Asiatic languages and languages of Asia Samoan English is also influencing Australian English 29 Other ethnolects include those of Lebanese and Vietnamese Australians 30 A high rising terminal in Australian English was noted and studied earlier than in other varieties of English citation needed The feature is sometimes called Australian questioning intonation Research published in 1986 regarding vernacular speech in Sydney suggested that high rising terminal was initially spread by young people in the 1960s It found that the high rising terminal was used more than twice as often by young people than older people and is more common among women than men 31 In the United Kingdom it has occasionally been considered one of the variety s stereotypical features and its spread there is attributed to the popularity of Australian soap operas 32 Vocabulary editIntrinsic traits edit Main article Australian English vocabulary nbsp Bush poets such as Banjo Paterson captured the Australian vocabulary of the 19th century in their bush ballads Australian English has many words and idioms which are unique to the dialect and have been written on extensively Internationally well known examples of Australian terminology include outback meaning a remote sparsely populated area the bush meaning either a native forest or a country area in general and g day a greeting Dinkum or fair dinkum means true or is that true among other things depending on context and inflection 33 The derivative dinky di means true or devoted a dinky di Aussie is a true Australian Australian poetry such as The Man from Snowy River as well as folk songs such as Waltzing Matilda contain many historical Australian words and phrases that are understood by Australians even though some are not in common usage today Australian English in common with British English uses the word mate to mean friend as well as the word bloody as a mild expletive or intensifier Bloody is taken to be milder in Australia than it is in the UK where the word is considered profanity Several words used by Australians were at one time used in the United Kingdom but have since fallen out of usage or changed in meaning there For example creek in Australia as in North America means a stream or small river whereas in the UK it is typically a watercourse in a marshy area paddock in Australia means field whereas in the UK it means a small enclosure for livestock bush or scrub in Australia as in North America means a wooded area whereas in England they are commonly used only in proper names such as Shepherd s Bush and Wormwood Scrubs Some elements of Aboriginal languages have been adopted by Australian English mainly as names for places flora and fauna for example dingo and local culture Many such are localised and do not form part of general Australian use while others such as kangaroo boomerang budgerigar wallaby and so on have become international Other examples are cooee and hard yakka The former is used as a high pitched call for attracting attention pronounced ˈkʉːiː which travels long distances Cooee is also a notional distance if he s within cooee we ll spot him Hard yakka means hard work and is derived from yakka from the Jagera Yagara language once spoken in the Brisbane region Also of Aboriginal origin is the word bung from the Sydney pidgin English and ultimately from the Sydney Aboriginal language meaning dead with some extension to broken or useless Many towns or suburbs of Australia have also been influenced or named after Aboriginal words The best known example is the capital Canberra named after a local Ngunnawal language word thought to mean women s breasts or meeting place 34 35 Litotes such as not bad not much and you re not wrong are also used Diminutives and hypocorisms are common and are often used to indicate familiarity 36 Some common examples are arvo afternoon barbie barbecue smoko cigarette break Aussie Australian and Straya Australia This may also be done with people s names to create nicknames other English speaking countries create similar diminutives For example Gazza from Gary or Smitty from John Smith The use of the suffix o originates in Irish o citation needed which is both a postclitic and a suffix with much the same meaning as in Australian English In informal speech incomplete comparisons are sometimes used such as sweet as as in That car is sweet as Full fully or heaps may precede a word to act as an intensifier as in The waves at the beach were heaps good This was more common in regional Australia and South Australia when but has been in common usage in urban Australia for decades The suffix ly is sometimes omitted in broader Australian English For instance really good can become real good Australia s switch to the metric system in the 1970s changed most of the country s vocabulary of measurement from imperial to metric measures 37 Since the switch to metric heights of individuals are listed in centimetres on official documents and distances by road on signs are listed in terms of kilometres and metres 38 Comparison with other varieties edit Where British and American English vocabulary differs sometimes Australian English shares a usage with one of those varieties as with petrol AmE gasoline and mobile phone AmE cellular phone which are shared with British English or truck BrE lorry and eggplant BrE aubergine which are shared with American English In other circumstances Australian English sometimes favours a usage which is different from both British and American English as with 39 the bush AmE and BrE the woods bushfire Ame and BrE wildfire capsicum AmE bell pepper BrE green red pepper Esky AmE and BrE cooler or ice box doona AmE comforter BrE duvet footpath AmE sidewalk BrE pavement ice block or icy pole AmE popsicle BrE ice lolly lollies AmE candy BrE sweets overseas AmE and BrE abroad peak hour Ame and BrE rush hour powerpoint AmE electrical outlet BrE electrical socket thongs AmE and BrE flip flops ute jʉːt AmE and BrE pickup truck Differences exist between Australian English and other varieties of English where different terms can be used for the same subject or the same term can be ascribed different meanings Non exhaustive examples of terminology associated with food transport and clothing is used below to demonstrate the variations which exist between Australian English and other varieties Food capsicum BrE red green pepper AmE bell pepper potato chips refers both to BrE crisps and AmE French fries chook sanga BrE and AmE chicken sandwich coriander shared with BrE AmE cilantro entree refers to AmE appetizer whereas AmE entree is referred to in AusE as main course eggplant shared with AmE BrE aubergine fairy floss BrE candy floss AmE cotton candy ice block or icy pole BrE ice lolly AmE popsicle jelly refers to AmE Jell o whereas AmE jelly refers to AusE jam lollies BrE sweets AmE candy marinara sauce refers to a tomato based sauce in AmE and BrE but a seafood sauce in AusE mince or minced meat shared with BrE AmE ground meat prawn which in BrE refers to large crustaceans only with small crustaceans referred to as shrimp AmE universally shrimp snow pea shared with AmE BrE mangetout pumpkin AmE squash except for the large orange variety AusE squash refers only to a small number of uncommon species BrE marrow tomato sauce also used in BrE AmE ketchup zucchini shared with AmE BrE courgette Transport aeroplane shared with BrE AmE airplane bonnet shared with BrE AmE hood bumper shared with BrE AmE fender car park shared with BrE AmE parking lot convertible shared with AmE BrE cabriolet footpath BrE pavement AmE sidewalk horse float BrE horsebox AmE horse trailer indicator shared with BrE AmE turn signal peak hour BrE and AmE rush hour petrol shared with BrE AmE gasoline railway shared with BrE AmE railroad sedan car shared with AmE BrE saloon car semitrailer shared with AmE BrE artic or articulated lorry station wagon shared with AmE BrE estate car truck shared with AmE BrE lorry ute BrE and AmE pickup truck windscreen shared with BrE AmE windshield Clothing gumboots BrE Wellington boots or Wellies AmE rubber boots or galoshes jumper shared with BrE AmE sweater nappy shared with BrE AmE diaper overalls shared with AmE BrE dungarees raincoat shared with AmE BrE mackintosh or mac runners or sneakers footwear BrE trainers AmE sneakers sandshoe BrE pump or plimsoll AmE tennis shoe singlet BrE vest AmE tank top or wifebeater skivvy BrE polo neck AmE turtleneck swimmers or togs or bathers BrE swimming costume AmE bathing suit or swimsuit thongs refers to BrE and AmE flip flops footwear In BrE and AmE refers to g string underwear Terms with different meanings in Australian English edit There also exist words which in Australian English are ascribed different meanings from those ascribed in other varieties of English for instance 39 Asian in Australian and American English commonly refers to people of East Asian ancestry while in British English it commonly refers to people of South Asian ancestry Biscuit in Australian and British English refers to AmE cookie and cracker while in American English it refers to a leavened bread product potato Chips refers both to British English crisps which is not commonly used in Australian English and to American English French fries which is used alongside hot chips Football in Australian English most commonly refers to Australian rules football rugby league or rugby union In British English football is most commonly used to refer to association football while in North American English football is used to refer to gridiron Pants in Australian and American English most commonly refers to British English trousers but in British English refers to Australian English underpants Nursery in Australian English generally refers to a plant nursery whereas in British English and American English it also often refers to a child care or daycare for pre school age children citation needed Paddock in Australian English refers to an open field or meadow whereas in American and British English it refers to a small agricultural enclosure Premier in Australian English refers specifically to the head of government of an Australian state whereas in British English it is used interchangeably with Prime Minister Public school in Australian and American English refers to a state school Australian and American English use private school to mean a non government or independent school in contrast with British English which uses public school to refer to the same thing Pudding in Australian and American English refers to a particular sweet dessert dish while in British English it often refers to dessert the food course in general Thongs in Australian English refer to British and American English flip flop footwear whereas in both American and British English it refers to Australian English G string underwear in Australian English the singular thong can refer to one half of a pair of the footwear or to a G string so care must be taken as to context Vest in Australian and American English refers to a padded upper garment or British English waistcoat but in British English refers to Australian English singletIdioms taking different forms in Australian English edit In addition to the large number of uniquely Australian idioms in common use there are instances of idioms taking different forms in Australian English than in other varieties for instance A drop in the ocean shared with BrE usage as opposed to AmE a drop in the bucket A way to go shared with BrE usage as opposed to AmE a ways to go Home away from home shared with AmE usage as opposed to BrE home from home Take something with a grain of salt shared with AmE usage as opposed to UK take with a pinch of salt Touch wood shared with BrE usage as opposed to AmE knock on wood Wouldn t touch something with a ten foot pole shared with AmE usage as opposed to BrE wouldn t touch with a barge poleBritish and American English terms not commonly used in Australian English edit There are extensive terms used in other varieties of English which are not widely used in Australian English These terms usually do not result in Australian English speakers failing to comprehend speakers of other varieties of English as Australian English speakers will often be familiar with such terms through exposure to media or may ascertain the meaning using context Non exhaustive selections of British English and American English terms not commonly used in Australian English together with their definitions or Australian English equivalents are found in the collapsible table below 40 41 British English terms not widely used in Australian English 40 Allotment gardening A community garden not connected to a dwelling Artic or articulated lorry vehicle Australian English semi trailer Aubergine vegetable Australian English eggplant Bank holiday Australian English public holiday Barmy Crazy mad or insane Bedsit Australian English studio apartment Belisha beacon A flashing light atop a pole used to mark a pedestrian crossing Bin lorry Australian English garbage truck Bobby A police officer particularly one of lower rank Cagoule A lightweight raincoat or windsheeter Candy floss confectionery Australian English fairy floss Cash machine Australian English automatic teller machine Chav Lower socio economic person comparable to Australian English bogan Child minder Australian English babysitter Chivvy To hurry somebody along Australian English nag Chrimbo Abbreviation for Christmas comparable to Australian English Chrissy Chuffed To be proud especially of oneself Cleg insect Australian English horsefly Clingfilm A plastic wrap used in food preparation Australian English Glad wrap cling wrap Community payback Australian English community service Comprehensive school Australian English state school or public school Cooker A kitchen appliance Australian English stove and or oven Coppice An area of cleared woodland Council housing Australian English public housing Counterpane A bed covering Australian English bedspread Courgette A vegetable Australian English zucchini Creche Australian English child care centre potato Crisps Australian English potato chips Current account Australian English transaction account Dell A small secluded hollow or valley Do Australian English party or social gathering Doddle An easy task Doss verb To spend time idly Drawing pin Australian English thumb tack Dungarees Australian English overalls Dustbin Australian English garbage bin rubbish bin Dustcart Australian English garbage truck rubbish truck Duvet Australian English doona Elastoplast or plaster An adhesive used to cover small wounds Australian English band aid Electrical lead Australian English electrical cord Estate car Australian English station wagon Fairy cake Australian English cupcake Father Christmas Australian English Santa Claus Fen A low and frequently flooded area of land similar to Australian English swamp Free phone Australian English toll free Gammon Meat from the hind leg of pork Australian English makes no distinction between gammon and ham Git A foolish person Equivalent to idiot or moron Goose pimples Australian English goose bumps Hacked off To be irritated or upset often with a person Hairgrip Australian English hairpin or bobbypin Half term Australian English school holiday Haulier Australian English hauler Heath An area of dry grass or shrubs similar to Australian English shrubland Hoover verb Australian English to vacuum Horsebox Australian English horse float Ice lolly Australian English ice block or icy pole Juicy bits Small pieces of fruit residue found in fruit juice Australian English pulp Kip To sleep Kitchen roll Australian English paper towel Landslip Australian English landslide Lavatory Australian English toilet lavatory is used in Australian English for toilets on aeroplanes Lido A public swimming pool Lorry Australian English truck Loudhailer Australian English megaphone Mackintosh or mac Australian English raincoat Mangetout Australian English snow pea Marrow Australian English squash Minidish A satellite dish for domestic especially television use Moggie A domestic short haired cat Moor A low area prone to flooding similar to Australian English swampland Nettled Irritated especially with somebody Nosh A meal or spread of food Off licence Australian English bottle shop Bottle o Pak choi Australian English bok choy Pavement Australian English footpath Pelican crossing Australian English pedestrian crossing or zebra crossing Peaky Unwell or sickly red or green Pepper vegetable Australian English capsicum People carrier vehicle Australian English people mover Pikey An itinerant person Similar to Australian English tramp Pillar box Australian English post box Pillock A mildly offensive term for a foolish or obnoxious person similar to idiot or moron Also refers to male genetalia Plimsoll footwear Australian English sandshoe Pneumatic drill Australian English jackhammer Polo neck garment Australian English skivvy Poorly Unwell or sick Press up exercise Australian English push up Pushchair A wheeled cart for pushing a baby Australian English stroller or pram Pusher A wheeled cart for pushing a baby Australian English stroller or pram Rodgering A mildly offensive term for sexual intercourse similar to Australian English rooting Saloon car Australian English sedan Scratchings food Solid material left after rendering animal especially pork fat Australian English crackling Sellotape Australian English sticky tape Shan t Australian English will not Skive verb To play truant particularly from an educational institution Australian English to wag Sleeping policeman Australian English speed hump or speed bump Snog verb To kiss passionately equivalent to Australian English pash Sod A mildly offensive term for an unpleasant person Spinney A small area of trees and bushes Strimmer Australian English whipper snipper or line trimmer Swan verb To move from one plact to another ostentatiously Sweets Australian English lollies Tailback A long queue of stationary or slow moving traffic Tangerine Australian English mandarin Tipp Ex Australian English white out or liquid paper Trainers Athletic footwear Australian English runners or sneakers Turning noun Where one road branches from another Australian English turn Utility room A room containing washing or other home appliances similar to Australian English laundry Value added tax VAT Australian English goods and services tax GST Wellington boots Australian English gumboots White spirit Australian English turpentine American English terms not widely used in Australian English 41 Acclimate Australian English acclimatise Airplane Australian English aeroplane Aluminum Australian English aluminium Baby carriage Australian English stroller or pram Bangs A hair style Australian English fringe Baseboard architecture Australian English skirting board Bayou Australian English swamp billabong Bell pepper Australian English capsicum Bellhop Australian English hotel porter Beltway Australian English ring road Boondocks An isolated rural area Australian English the sticks or Woop Woop or Beyond the black stump Broil cooking technique Australian English grill Bullhorn Australian English megaphone Burglarize Australian English burgle Busboy A subclass of restaurant waiter Candy Australian English lollies Cellular phone Australian English mobile phone Cilantro Australian English coriander Comforter Australian English doona Condominium Australian English apartment Counter clockwise Australian English anticlockwise Coveralls Australian English overalls Crapshoot A risky venture Diaper Australian English nappy Downtown Australian English central business district Drapes Australian English curtains Drugstore Australian English pharmacy or chemist Drywall Australian English plasterboard Dumpster Australian English skip bin Fall season Australian English autumn Fanny pack Australian English bum bag Faucet Australian English tap Flashlight Australian English torch Freshman A first year student at a highschool or university Frosting cookery Australian English icing Gasoline Australian English petrol Gas pedal Australian English accelerator Gas Station Australian English service station or petrol station Glove compartment Australian English glovebox Golden raisin Australian English sultana Grifter Australian English con artist Ground beef Australian English minced beef or mince Hood vehicle Australian English bonnet Hot tub Australian English spa or spa bath Jell o Australian English jelly Ladybug Australian English ladybird Mail man Australian English postman or postie Mass transit Australian English public transport Math Australian English maths Mineral spirits Australian English turpentine Nightstand Australian English bedside table Out of state Australian English interstate Pacifier Australian English dummy Parking lot Australian English car park Penitentiary Australian English prison or jail Period punctuation Australian English full stop Play hooky verb To play truant from an educational institution Equivalent to Australian English to wag Popsicle Australian English ice block or icy pole Railroad Australian English railway Railroad ties Australian English Railway sleepers Rappel Australian English abseil Realtor Australian English real estate agent Root sport To enthusiastically support a sporting team Equivalent to Australian English barrack Row house Australian English terrace house Sales tax Australian English goods and services tax GST Saran wrap Australian English plastic wrap or cling wrap Scad Australian English a large quantity Scallion Australian English spring onion Sharpie pen Australian English permanent marker or texta or felt pen Shopping cart Australian English shopping trolley Sidewalk Australian English footpath Silverware or flatware Australian English cutlery Soda pop Australian English soft drink Streetcar Australian English tram Sweater Garment Australian English jumper Sweatpants Australian English tracksuit pants trackies Tailpipe Australian English exhaust pipe Takeout Australian English takeaway Trash can Australian English garbage bin or rubbish bin Trunk vehicle Australian English boot Turn signal Australian English indicator Turtleneck Australian English skivvy Upscale and downscale Australian English upmarket and downmarket Vacation Australian English holiday Windshield Australian English windscreenGrammar editThe general rules of English Grammar which apply to Australian English are described at English grammar Grammatical differences between varieties of English are minor relative to differences in phonology and vocabulary and do not generally affect intelligibility Examples of grammatical differences between Australian English and other varieties include Collective nouns are generally singular in construction e g the government was unable to decide as opposed to the government were unable to decide or the group was leaving as opposed to the group were leaving 42 This is in common with American English Australian English has an extreme distaste for the modal verbs shall in non legal contexts shan t and ought in place of will won t and should respectively which are encountered in British English 43 However shall is found in the Australian Constitution Acts of Parliament and other formal or legal documents such as contracts Using should with the same meaning as would e g I should like to see you encountered in British English is almost never encountered in Australian English River follows the name of the river in question e g Brisbane River rather than the British convention of coming before the name e g River Thames This is also the case in North American and New Zealand English In South Australian English however the reverse applies when referring to the following three rivers Murray Darling and Torrens 44 The Derwent in Tasmania also follows this convention While prepositions before days may be omitted in American English i e She resigned Thursday they are retained in Australian English She resigned on Thursday This is shared with British English The institutional nouns hospital and university do not take the definite article She s in hospital He s at university 45 This is in contrast to American English where the is required In the hospital At the university On the weekend is used in favour of the British at the weekend which is not encountered in Australian English 46 Ranges of dates use to i e Monday to Friday rather than Monday through Friday This is shared with British English and is in contrast to American English When speaking or writing out numbers and is always inserted before the tens i e one hundred and sixty two rather than one hundred sixty two This is in contrast to American English where the insertion of and is acceptable but nonetheless either casual or informal The preposition to in write to e g I ll write to you is always retained as opposed to American usage where it may be dropped Australian English does not share the British usage of read v to mean study v Therefore it may be said that He studies medicine but not that He reads medicine When referring to time Australians will refer to 10 30 as half past ten and do not use the British half ten Similarly a quarter to ten is used for 9 45 rather than a quarter of ten which is sometimes found in American English Australian English does not share the British English meaning of sat to include sitting or seated Therefore uses such as I ve been sat here for an hour are not encountered in Australian English To have a shower or have a bath are the most common usages in Australian English in contrast to American English which uses take a shower and take a bath 47 The past participle of saw is sawn e g sawn off shotgun in Australian English in contrast to the American English sawed The verb visit is transitive in Australian English Where the object is a person or people American English also uses visit with which is not found in Australian English An outdoor event which is cancelled due to inclement weather is rained out in Australian English This is in contrast to British English where it is said to be rained off 48 49 In informal speech sentence final but may be used e g I don t want to go but in place of But I don t want to go 43 This is also found in Scottish English In informal speech the discourse markers yeah no or yeah nah and no yeah or nah yeah may be used to mean no and yes respectively 50 Spelling and style editAs in all English speaking countries there is no central authority that prescribes official usage with respect to matters of spelling grammar punctuation or style Spelling edit nbsp Australian English spelling in comparison with American British and Canadian English spellingThere are several dictionaries of Australian English which adopt a descriptive approach The Macquarie Dictionary is most commonly used by universities governments and courts as the standard for Australian English spelling The Australian Oxford Dictionary is another commonly used dictionary of Australian English Australian spelling is significantly closer to British than American spelling as it did not adopt the systematic reforms promulgated in Noah Webster s 1828 Dictionary Notwithstanding the Macquarie Dictionary often lists most American spellings as acceptable secondary variants The minor systematic differences which occur between Australian and American spelling are summarised below 51 French derived words which in American English end with or such as color honor behavior and labor are spelt with our in Australian English colour honour behaviour and labour Exceptions are the Australian Labor Party and some especially South Australian placenames which use Harbor notably Victor Harbor Words which in American English end with ize such as realize recognize and apologize are spelt with ise in Australian English realise recognise and apologise The British Oxford spelling which uses the ize endings remains a minority variant The Macquarie Dictionary says that the ise form as opposed to ize sits at 3 1 The sole exception to this is capsize which is used in all varieties Words which in American English end with yze such as analyze paralyze and catalyze are spelt with yse in Australian English analyse paralyse and catalyse French derived words which in American English end with er such as fiber center and meter are spelt with re in Australian English fibre centre and metre the unit of measurement only not physical devices so gasometer voltmeter Words which end in American English end with log such as catalog dialog and monolog are usually spelt with logue in Australian English catalogue dialogue and monologue however the Macquarie Dictionary lists the log spelling as the preferred variant for analog A double consonant l is retained in Australian English when adding suffixes to words ending in l where the consonant is unstressed contrary to American English Therefore Australian English favours cancelled counsellor and travelling over American canceled counselor and traveling Where American English uses a double consonant ll in the words skillful willful enroll distill enthrall fulfill and installment Australian English uses a single consonant skilful wilful enrol distil enthral fulfil and instalment However the Macquarie Dictionary has noted a growing tendency to use the double consonant 52 The American English defense and offense are spelt defence and offence in Australian English In contrast with American English which uses practice and license for both nouns and verbs practice and licence are nouns while practise and license are verbs in Australian English Words with ae and oe are often maintained in words such as oestrogen and paedophilia in contrast to the American English practice of using e alone as in estrogen and pedophilia The Macquarie Dictionary has noted a shift within Australian English towards using e alone and now lists some words such as encyclopedia fetus eon or hematite with the e spelling as the preferred variant and hence Australian English varies by word when it comes to these sets of words Minor systematic difference which occur between Australian and British spelling are as follows 51 Words often ending in eable in British English end in able in Australian English Therefore Australian English favours livable over liveable sizable over sizeable movable over moveable etc although both variants are acceptable Words often ending in eing in British English end in ing in Australian English Therefore Australian English favours aging over ageing or routing over routeing etc although both variants are acceptable Words often ending in mme in British English end in m in Australian English Therefore Australian English favours program over programme in all contexts and aerogram over aerogramme although both variants are acceptable Similar to Canada New Zealand and the United States kilo gram is the only spelling Other examples of individual words where the preferred spelling is listed by the Macquarie Dictionary as being different from current British spellings include analog as opposed to analogue guerilla as opposed to guerrilla verandah as opposed to veranda burqa as opposed to burka pastie noun as opposed to pasty neuron as opposed to neurone hicup as opposed to hicough annex as opposed to annexe raccoon as opposed to racoon etc 51 Unspaced forms such as onto anytime alright and anymore are also listed as being equally as acceptable as their spaced counterparts 51 There is variation between and within varieties of English in the treatment of t and ed endings for past tense verbs The Macquarie Dictionary does not favour either but it suggests that leaped leaned or learned with ed endings are more common but spelt and burnt with t endings are more common 51 Different spellings have existed throughout Australia s history What are today regarded as American spellings were popular in Australia throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries with the Victorian Department of Education endorsing them into the 1970s and The Age newspaper until the 1990s This influence can be seen in the spelling of the Australian Labor Party and also in some place names such as Victor Harbor The Concise Oxford English Dictionary has been attributed with re establishing the dominance of the British spellings in the 1920s and 1930s 53 For a short time during the late 20th century Harry Lindgren s 1969 spelling reform proposal Spelling Reform 1 or SR1 gained some support in Australia and was adopted by the Australian Teachers Federation 54 Punctuation and style edit Prominent general style guides for Australian English include the Cambridge Guide to Australian English Usage the Australian Government Style Manual 55 formerly the Style Manual For Authors Editors and Printers the Australian Handbook for Writers and Editors and the Complete Guide to English Usage for Australian Students Both single and double quotation marks are in use with single quotation marks preferred for use in the first instance with double quotation marks reserved for quotes of speech within speech Logical as opposed to typesetter s punctuation is preferred for punctuation marks at the end of quotations For instance Sam said he wasn t happy when Jane told David to go away is used in preference to Sam said he wasn t happy when Jane told David to go away The DD MM YYYY date format is followed and the 12 hour clock is generally used in everyday life as opposed to service police and airline applications With the exception of screen sizes metric units are used in everyday life having supplanted imperial units upon the country s switch to the metric system in the 1970s although imperial units persist in casual references to a person s height Tyre and bolt sizes for example are defined in imperial units where appropriate for technical reasons In betting decimal odds are used in preference to fractional odds as used in the United Kingdom or moneyline odds in the United States Keyboard layout edit There are two major English language keyboard layouts the United States layout and the United Kingdom layout Keyboards and keyboard software for the Australian market universally uses the US keyboard layout which lacks the pound euro and negation symbols and uses a different layout for punctuation symbols from the UK keyboard layout See also edit nbsp Australia portal nbsp Language portalThe Australian National Dictionary Australian English vocabulary New Zealand English South African English Zimbabwean English Falkland Islands English Diminutives in Australian English International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects StrineReferences editCitations edit English Australia at Ethnologue 19th ed 2016 nbsp Unified English Braille Australian Braille Authority 18 May 2016 Retrieved 2 January 2017 English IANA language subtag registry 16 October 2005 Retrieved 11 January 2019 Australia IANA language subtag registry 16 October 2005 Retrieved 11 January 2019 2021 Australia Census All persons QuickStats Australian Bureau of Statistics a b Burridge Kate 2020 Chapter 11 History of Australian English In Willoughby Louisa ed Australian English Reimagined Structure Features and Developments Routledge pp 178 181 ISBN 978 0 367 02939 5 a b c d Moore Bruce 2008 Speaking our Language the Story of Australian English South Melbourne Oxford University Press p 69 ISBN 978 0 19 556577 5 Burridge Kate 2020 Chapter 11 History of Australian English In Willoughby Louisa ed Australian English Reimagined Structure Features and Developments Routledge p 181 ISBN 978 0 367 02939 5 Cox Felicity 2020 Chapter 2 Phonetics and Phonology of Australian English In Willoughby Louisa ed Australian English Reimagined Structure Features and Developments Routledge p 15 ISBN 978 0 367 02939 5 Blainey Geoffrey 1993 The Rush that Never Ended a History of Australian Mining 4 ed Carlton Vic Melbourne University Press ISBN 0 522 84557 6 Baker Sidney J 1945 The Australian Language 1st ed Sydney Angus and Robertson Bell Philip Bell Roger 1998 Americanization and Australia 1 publ ed Sydney University of New South Wales Press ISBN 0 86840 784 4 Trudgill Peter and Jean Hannah 2002 International English A Guide to the Varieties of Standard English 4th ed London Arnold ISBN 0 340 80834 9 p 4 Harrington J F Cox amp Z Evans 1997 An acoustic phonetic study of broad general and cultivated Australian English vowels Australian Journal of Linguistics 17 2 155 84 doi 10 1080 07268609708599550 a b c Cox Felicity Fletcher Janet 2017 First published 2012 Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription 2nd ed Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 316 63926 9 Mannell Robert 14 August 2009 Australian English Impressionistic Phonetic Studies Clas mq edu au Archived from the original on 6 July 2011 Retrieved 26 July 2011 Cox amp Palethorpe 2007 p 343 Wells John C 1982 Accents of English Cambridge Cambridge University Press p 597 Mannell Robert 14 August 2009 Robert Mannell Impressionistic Studies of Australian English Phonetics Ling mq edu au Archived from the original on 31 December 2008 Retrieved 26 July 2011 Scott Kellie 5 January 2016 Divide over potato cake and scallop bathers and togs mapped in 2015 Linguistics Roadshow ABC News Australian Broadcasting Corporation Retrieved 5 January 2016 a b c Pauline Bryant 1985 Regional variation in the Australian English lexicon Australian Journal of Linguistics 5 1 55 66 regional accents Australian Voices Clas mq edu au Retrieved 26 July 2011 Bruce Moore Australian Oxford Dictionary and Felicity Cox Macquarie University interviewed in Sounds of Aus television documentary 2007 director David Swann Writer Lawrie Zion Princess Pictures broadcaster ABC Television Australia s unique and evolving sound Archived from the original on 27 September 2009 Retrieved 22 January 2009 Edition 34 2007 23 August 2007 The Macquarie Globe Das Sushi 29 January 2005 Struth Someone s nicked me Strine The Age Corderoy Amy 26 January 2010 It s all English but vowels ain t voils Sydney Morning Herald Jamieson Maya 12 September 2017 Australia s accent only now starting to adopt small changes SBS News australian english Australian Voices Clas mq edu au 30 July 2010 Retrieved 26 July 2011 Reference at www abc net au Australian Broadcasting Corporation dead link Six facts about the Australian accent ABC Education Australian Broadcasting Corporation 18 December 2017 Retrieved 9 April 2023 Guy G Horvath B Vonwiller J Daisley E Rogers I 1986 An intonational change in progress in Australian English Language in Society 15 23 52 doi 10 1017 s0047404500011635 ISSN 0047 4045 S2CID 146425401 Stokel Walker Chris 11 August 2014 The unstoppable march of the upward inflection BBC News Retrieved 17 February 2022 Frederick Ludowyk 1998 Aussie Words The Dinkum Oil On Dinkum Where Does It Come From 0zWords Australian National Dictionary Centre Archived from the original on 16 March 2011 Retrieved 5 November 2007 Access date 5 November 2007 Canberra Facts and figures Archived from the original on 9 November 2012 Retrieved 15 August 2012 Frei Patricia Discussion on the Meaning of Canberra Canberra History Web Patricia Frei Archived from the original on 27 September 2013 Retrieved 11 August 2013 Astle David 12 March 2021 Why do Aussies shorten everything an itsy bitsy teeny weeny bit The Sydney Morning Herald Archived from the original on 31 March 2022 History of Measurement in Australia web page Australian Government National Measurement Institute Retrieved 14 February 2013 Wilks Kevin 1992 Metrication in Australia A review of the effectiveness of policies and procedures in Australia s conversion to the metric system PDF Canberra Australian Government Publishing Service p 114 ISBN 0 644 24860 2 Archived PDF from the original on 9 October 2022 Retrieved 5 August 2017 Measurements used by people in their private lives in conversation or in estimation of sizes had not noticeably changed nor was such a change even attempted or thought necessary a b The Macquarie Dictionary Fourth Edition The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd 2005 a b The Macquarie Dictionary Fourth Edition The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd 2005 Note Entries with Chiefly British usage note in the Macquarie Dictionary and reference to corresponding Australian entry a b The Macquarie Dictionary Fourth Edition The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd 2005 Note Entries with Chiefly US usage note in the Macquarie Dictionary and reference to corresponding Australian entry Pena Yolanda Fernandez 5 May 2016 What Motivates Verbal Agreement Variation with Collective Headed Subjects University of Vigo LVTC a b Collins Peter 2012 Australian English Its Evolution and Current State International Journal of Language Translation and Intercultural Communication 1 75 doi 10 12681 ijltic 11 Geographical names guidelines Planning and property Attorney General s Department Government of South Australia August 2020 Retrieved 8 February 2021 Siegel Jeff 2010 Second Dialect Acquisition ISBN 978 0 521 51687 7 Hewings Matthew 1999 Advanced Grammar in Use p 214 Cetnarowska Bozena 1993 The Syntax Semantics and Derivation of Bare Normalisations in English p 48 ISBN 83 226 0535 8 The Macquarie Dictionary Fourth Edition The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd 2005 Collins English Dictionary 13th Edition HarperCollins 2018 Moore Erin 2007 Yeah no A Discourse Marker in Australian English Honours University of Melbourne a b c d e The Macquarie Dictionary 8th Edition Macquarie Dictionary Publishers 2020 Macquarie Dictionary www macquariedictionary com au Retrieved 23 November 2021 Endangered Languages and Cultures Blog Archive Webster in Australia Paradisec org au 30 January 2008 Retrieved 20 September 2017 Spelling Reform 1 And Nothing Else Archived from the original on 30 July 2012 Digital Transformation Agency n d Australian Government Style Manual Retrieved 25 October 2021 Works cited edit Cox Felicity Palethorpe Sallyanne 2007 Australian English PDF Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 3 341 350 doi 10 1017 S0025100307003192 S2CID 232349884Further reading editKorhonen Minna 2017 Perspectives on the Americanisation of Australian English A Sociolinguistic Study of Variation PhD thesis University of Helsinki ISBN 978 951 51 3559 9 Mitchell Alexander G 1995 The Story of Australian English Sydney Dictionary Research Centre External links edit nbsp Look up Appendix Australian English vocabulary in Wiktionary the free dictionary Aussie English The Illustrated Dictionary of Australian English Australian National Dictionary Centre free newsletter from the Australian National Dictionary Centre which includes articles on Australian English Australian Word Map at the ABC documents regionalisms R Mannell F Cox and J Harrington 2009 An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology Macquarie University Aussie English for beginners the origins meanings and a quiz to test your knowledge at the National Museum of Australia Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Australian English amp oldid 1180001120, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,

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