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Australian Variant . Of English. Socio-historical linguistic context. convicts sent there: Cockneys, Irish, non-English speaking Welsh and Scots. Cockney – the dominant dialect “Americanization” – gold rushes (1850s), American military personnel in World War II .
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Australian Variant Of English
Socio-historical linguistic context • convicts sent there: Cockneys, Irish, non-English speaking Welsh and Scots. • Cockney – the dominant dialect • “Americanization” – gold rushes (1850s), American military personnel in World War II
Influence of Aboriginal languages • Almost 440 words • names for places, flora and fauna (for example dingo, coala, wallaby, billabong ) • Cooee (/kʉː.i:/) - high-pitched call, for attracting attention; also a notional distance: if he's within cooee, we'll spot him.
Hard yakka (hard work) is derived from yakka, from the Yagara language spoken in the Brisbane region. • Bung - broken or pretending to be hurt. • Although didgeridoo, a wooden musical instrument, thought to be an Aboriginal word, is now believed to be an onomatopoeic word invented by English speakers. It may also have an Irish derivation because the word dúdaire means "pipe player" in Irish Gaelic, and dúdaire dubh [du:dɪrʲɪ du:] means 'black pipe player'
British vs. American • TV vs. telly • SMS vs. text • freeway vs. motorway • regional, social and ethnic variation within Australia typically defines word usage.
The Influence from Irish English • word 'Ta' for Thank You • the name of the letter "H" as "haitch" /hæɪtʃ/ • bum backside (Irish bun), tucker - food, provisions (Irish tacar) • paddock field, cf. Irish páirc= Australian paddock
Broad Australian English • It’s used to identify Australian characters in non-Australian films and television programs • Terms Ocker (a speaker), Strine, (the dialect) • Examples are television/film personalities Steve Irwin and Paul Hogan.
General Australian accent • predominates among modern Australian films and television programs • is used by the Wiggles, Dannii Minogue, Kylie Minogue, Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett.
Cultivated Australian English • has many similarities to RP, and is often mistaken for it • spoken by some within Australian society, for example Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush.
Regional differences • In Tasmania, words such as "dance" and "grant" are usually heard with the older pronunciation of these words, using /æ/, whereas in South Australia, /a:/ is more common • fritz in South Australia = devon in New South Wales = Belgium sausage in Tasmania = Empire sausagein Newcastle = polonyin West Australia = Windsor sausagein Queensland = German sausage or Strasburgin Victoria
Kindergarten in New South Wales = prep classin Victoria and Tasmania = reception classin South Australia
Australian Vowels • The short vowels, (only monophthongs) mostly correspond to the lax vowels used in analyses of RP • The long vowels (both monophthongs and diphthongs) mostly correspond to its tense vowels and centring diphthongs. • a phonemic length distinction: certain vowels differ only by length.
/ai/ instead of /ei/: mate /mait/ • /a/ in closed syllable = /ɛ/:/bɛt/, /flɛt/ instead of /bæt/, /flæt/ (common with New Zeland English)
Australian Consonants • are similar to those of other non-rhotic varieties of English • a flapped variant of /t/ and /d/ in similar environments, as in American English • /dj/, /sj/ and /tj/ into /dʒ/, /ʃ/ and /tʃ/, such as /tʃʉːn/ for tune
Vocabulary • The Bush (either a native forest or a country area in general). Dutch origin: 'Bosch' • creek - a stream or small river, (in the UK - a small watercourse flowing into the sea) • Australian English and several British English dialects (for example, Cockney, Scouse, Glaswegian and Geordie) use the word mate
Dinkum (or "fair dinkum") can mean "true", "is that true?" or "this is the truth!” • derived from the Cantonese (or Hokkien) ding kam, meaning, "top gold“? • originated from the extinct East Midlands dialect in England, where dinkum (or dincum) meant "hard work" or "fair work“? • The derivative dinky-di means 'true' or devoted: a 'dinky-di Aussie' is a 'true Australian'.
Spelling • is usually the same as British spelling, with only a few exceptions. • program is more common than programme[ • jail is prevalent, gaol is generally still used in official contexts • -our/ or controversies: elder or modern spelling of words such as labour, flavour etc.
Colloquialisms • Diminutives: arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue), footy (Australian rules football, rugby union football or rugby league football), doco (documentation), smoko (smoke break). • Litotes, such as "you're not wrong" • idiomatic phrases and words (have almost disappeared from everyday use):cobber, strewth, you beaut and crikey. Prawn is used rather than shrimp.
Regionalisms of XVIII and XIXfrom: • sheila – (Irish origin) – a woman, • Bloke – a man • Seppo – an American («Yanks» -> «Septic tanks» -> «Seppos» • pommy, pommieorpoma British (pommergranate) • dust-up – a fight, tootsy (← foot) • billy (← bally) (Scottish) • Larrikin – hooligan (Yorksire) • to stonker (← to stonk) (Central countries of England) • clobber (← clubbered up «разодетый») (Kent) • Cockney rhymed slang: china plate -> good mate have a captain Cook ->have a look Noah's ark->Shark
«past the black stump»- being the last outpost of civilization • «shark biscuits»- beginners at surfing • «Wouldn't shout if a shark bit her» - a scrooge person (‘shout’ also means ‘to treat sb to the alcohol) • «boomerang»- sth that should be returned • «bush telegraph» (moccasin radio/telegraph in Canada) = «сарафанное радио» • «station» — AustrE + «животноводческая, овцеводческая ферма»; • «to tie up» — AustrE + «привязывать животное к столбу».
Recent borrowings • hoon = hooligan • spunky =sexy • a dag «эксцентричный, забавный человек; неряшливо одетый человек» • a rort, to rort «шумная вечеринка; жульничать, мошенничать» • shonky «незаконный, „левый“, ненадёжный» • the Pacific peso
Pseudo-phonetic spelling • "owyergoinmateorright?“ ("How are you going, mate? All right?") • "yair" for "yes“, "noth-think" for "nothing". • The book "Let Stalk Strine" by Afferbeck Lauder – where "Strine" is "Australian" and "Afferbeck Lauder" is "alphabetical order“ • — Knife a samich? — Can I have a sandwich? • - I’ll gechawun inn a sec — I’ll get you one in a sec. • - Emma chisit? — How much is it? • - Attlebee aitninee — That’ll be eight ninety.