Sevastopol bilingval gymnasium #2
“Exploring of Australian English
peculiarities”
Student: Sychova Julia,10-B
Tutors:Puchina I.G.
Gassieva T.M.
2011
How and when did Australian
English originate?
The
history
of
Australian
English starts with kangaroo
(1770)
and
Captain
James
Cook’s glossary of local words
used in negotiations with the
Endeavour River tribes. The
language was pidgin.
Aboriginal Vocabulary
boomerang
billabong
(waterhole)
kookaburra
jumbuck
(sheep)
corroboree
(assembly)
wombat
wallaby
Adopted words from maritime
pidgin English
• Gammon
Victorian English word for pretend,
means joking generally.
Gammoning – usually pronounced Gam'in'.
• Gubbah
Gubbah is a term to refer to white people.
It is a shortening of the word Government
Another theory is a contraction of Governor.
It has also been said to mean "White Ghost".
British colonization of Australia
The fact that “white” Australia
has its roots in the penal system
undoubtedly affects Australian
culture, including language.
British
colonization
of
Australia did not begin until
the late eighteenth century;
Australian convicts of the early years
gaol gang, iron gang,
prisoner of the Crown
short-sentenced
- for seven
years;
an
“abolitionist”
advocated the termination of
transporting convicts to Australia
“Flash” language
Swagman, billy, jumbuck,
tucker-bag and coolibah tree
are early Australianisms.
Roots of Australian English
• corker, dust-up, purler and tootsy - Ireland
• billy - the Scottish bally, (a milk pail)
• fossick - is a Cornish word
(to search unsystematically)
• cobber - the Suffolk verb to cob,
(to take a liking to someone)
• tucker is widely used for “food”.
• clobber - Romany roots, recorded in Kent
(clubbered up, dressed up)
Australian English contains much
evidence of British influence
All
Australia’s
institutions
of
major
parliament,
bureaucracy, education, and even
common language are modeled
on British lines.
Criminal acts: A drawing of soldiers
inspecting convicts arriving in Sydney
in the 18th Century.
The ability of Australian English to
absorb foreign influences
“… any straying from standard usage as
ordained in the United Kingdom was not
Australian English. It was bad English.”
Donald Horne
In
fact,
today
“possibly
Australians have the biggest
passive
people.”
vocabulary
of
any
Commonly distinguish
between 3 accents
• 1. Cultivated.
• 2. Broad.
• 3. General.
•
•
•
•
/ɑ:/
/i:/
/aʊ/
/ɪə/
/a:/
/əɪ/
/æʊ/
/i:/
heart /ha:t/
see /səɪ/
now /næʊ/
near /ni:/
Some mishap
- “To whom should I write?”
- “Well, Emma Chisit.”
The author wrote a quick note for Emma, signed
the book, and handed it back. The customer read
the page and glanced up with a confused look.
- “My name’s Mary. I just wanted to know how
much the book was.”
What exactly is the Australian accent?
The pronunciation is virtually unchanged
across the distance
• “-es,” found either in the plural form of a noun or in
the third person, singular, present tense of a verb,
transforms into an unstressed vowel, a schwa.
• no distinction in pronunciation between “dances”
and “dancers.”
• The prefixes be-, de-, e-, pre-, re-, and se- are
represented by [i] or [I] preceded by a schwa.
• a buffet in Australia sounds more like “buff it”
Uniquely Australian terms
• outback
to refer to remote
regional areas,
• walkabout
to refer to a long
journey of
uncertain length
and
• bush
to refer to native
forested areas, but
also to regional
areas as well.
Dingo, kangaroo - elements of
Aboriginal languages
“Fair dinkum”
can mean “Are you telling me the truth?”,
“This is the truth!“
“This is ridiculous!”
(depending on context.)
G'day is a stereotypical Australian greeting.
(It is worth noting that "G'day" is not
quite synonymous with "good day", and
is never used as an expression for
"farewell".)
Didgeridoo
Often thought of as
an Aboriginal word,
Didgeridoo/Didjeridu
(a well known
wooden musical
instrument)
is actually a term
coined by an English
settler.
A unique set of diminutives formed
by adding -o or -ie to the ends of
(often abbreviated) words
aggro (aggressive),
bikkie (biscuit),
ambo (ambulance office), bitie (biting insect),
arvo (afternoon),
blowie (blowfly),
avo (avocado),
bookie (bookmaker),
bizzo (business),
brekkie (breakfast),
Abbreviations in Australian English
• deli
(delicatessen),
• hoon (hooligan),
• nana (banana),
• roo (kangaroo),
• uni (university),
Colourful Australian metaphors
• as bald as a
bandicoot,
• as cunning as a
dunny rat,
• as lonely as a
country dunny,
• flat out like a
lizard drinking,
• grinning like a
shot fox
Unique or unusual words
• "blue" (either a fight or heated argument, or
an embarrassing mistake),
• "crook" (unwell, also unfair),
• "to wag" (to play truant),
• "cactus" (non-functional),
• "cut" (angry)
Foodstuffs
Australians Americans
British English
chips
French Fries
crisps
biscuit cookie and cracker biscuit
capsicum
peppers
peppers
zucchini
zucchini
courgette
snow pea snow pea
mangetout
eggplant
eggplant
aubergine
coffee
flat white - espresso with milk
short black - espresso
long black - espresso with water
drinks
Cheap, unbranded
Australian wine is
called "cleanskin"
wine
sarsaparilla
is a type of
root beer
Processed pork
• Belgium sausage – Tasmania
• Byron sausage – New England.
• devon – Victoria, New South Wales,
Tasmania, Australian Capital Territory
• empire sausage – Hunter Valley
• fritz – South Australia and Broken Hill,
New South Wales
• German sausage or pork German –
Victoria and northern Tasmania
• luncheon sausage – Queensland
• polony – Western Australia
• round meat – Northern Territory
• strasburg or strasbourg or stras –
Victoria, Tasmania
• wheel meat – Tasmania
• windsor sausage – North Queensland
Kin terms
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Aunty and uncle
Brother and sister
Cousin
Daughter
Father and mother
Poison
Second, or little bit
skin or skin group
Son
Sport
• Cricket: bowled over
(taken by surprise),
stumped
(nonplussed),
clean bowled or alternatively
hit for six (completely defeated)
• Football is called "Aussie
Rules“,"league", "rugby"
and "AFL“,
• American football is
known as gridiron.
Sample Text in Australian English
I got up and put on my black daks. They are
the most exy piece of my clobber as they’re
my Dad’s last Chrissie prezzie. My Dad’s a
bonzer bloke and I like him most of all my
rellies. That’s cos I’ve got no Mum and my
brother’s a bloody bludger and an ignorant
ocker. We’ve never been matey with each
other and I often get aggro with him.