1. Australian Englishes

2. Overview Introduction History: Colonisation and language import
Development of AusE
Regional varieties of AusE
Development of Creole languages

3. 1. Introduction
TV ad: "Where the bloody hell are you!?"

4. 1. Introduction
TV- advertisement launched by Tourism Australia earlier this year to attract travellers from all over the world
Any problems in understanding the spoken text?
( obviously, it is mainly the pronunciation of Australian English that differs from Standard British English and General American English)
British TV bosses have banned the commercial since they regarded the language used as “bad” and too rude
England was the only country where such reactions occurred
=> the British and Australian population have an extraordinary relationship concerning usage of language

5. 2. History: Colonisation and Language Import
Australia has been inhabited by the native or Aboriginal people for over 40,000 years.
Discovery of the continent by Captain Cook / Arrival of the British in 1770
Established as a penal colony in 1778 (NSW) mostly for Irish and Southern English convicts
Free settlers came with economic growth especially after discovering gold in 1851
Aboriginal people lacked a single official language
technologically far less advanced
No great impact on economic developments nor on language

6. 2. History: Colonisation and Language Import
Hundreds of different Aboriginal languages: small excerpt:

7. 3. Development of Australian English
Despite of numerous non-British immigrant languages, English has always been the first official language
The majority of the Australian population speaks English with over 80% of them having it as their native language
Easily recognized by its pronunciation
Pronunciation has a clearly urban southern English bias and is noticably slow
southern English immigrants had the strongest influence on the nature of Australian English> AusE
Often compared to Cockney English

8. 3. Development of Australian English
Differences between BrE and AusE:
- formal style of AusE comes closer to BrE than AmE
- more slang words and abbreviations in AusE
Names for places and objects are often influenced by Aboriginal terms (e.g. “Boomerang“, “Kangaroo“, “Uluru“, …)
Common shortenings are for example:
Afternoon => arvo
Barbecue => barbie

9. 4. Varieties of AusE Varieties in social aspects:
Cultivated (spoken by 11%)
General (spoken by 55%)
Broad (spoken by 34%)
AusE varieties do not occur in regional aspects

10. 5. Development of Creole Languages
Creole and Aboriginal languages:
Kriol
Torres Strait Broken
Aboriginal English
Especially in Western Australia and Northern Territory

11. 5.1 Kriol Kriol has many sub classes or dialects
Mixture of Aboriginal English and former “pure“ Aboriginal languages that tribes used to speak
Spoken by about people
Developed as a pidgin in early 20th century in the Northern Territory
Widespread and well understood
Established as a creole at Roper River Mission (Ngukurr), where cattle stations were established and a township developed

12. 5.1 Kriol
200 aboriginal people from 8 different tribes used it as the only language they had in common => became a native language then
Regions it is spoken in today:
Roper River
Katherine areas
Ngukurr
Northern Territory
Kimberley region of Western Australia
Gulf Country
Lower Cape York Peninsula
Queensland

13. 5.2 Torres Strait Broken
Spoken on islands between Australia and New Guinea and on Cape York
Used for trade and commerce
Spoken by approximately people
Pidgin but usually the first language / creole for many speakers
Has 5 dialects

14. 5.3 Aboriginal English Spoken in remote areas
Varieties between standard AusE (SAE), creoles and Australian languages
Comprehensible for English speakers
Examples: “dey poisonous“, “Like my pop got emu eggs down is place“, “Because this one boy, he wen an.. broke it“, “We bin go wi-i-i-ight aroun eberywhere“

15. 5.4 Creoles
„These Creoles are distinct languages. … They show an ingenious blend of English and Australian structural features, producing a language that seems quite appropriate to the bicultural milieu in which many Aboriginal Australians find themselves. Indeed, in some areas an increasing number of young Aborigines are speaking Kriol – instead of or as well as an Australian language – and it is coming to be thought of by them as ‘the Aboriginal language‘.“
(Dixon 1980: 73f.)