Australian English was created by the first generation of children born in the new colony, who due to a wide variety of accents, began to speak in a distinct dialect of English. Australian English differs to other varieties of English language in vocabulary, accent, pronunciation, register, grammar and spelling.

It can be said that the Australian accent is a blend of the accents of the first white settlers from the British Isle, in particular Ireland and South East England. The Australian accents or varieties are not measured according to region, rather it is considered as a sociocultural phenomenon by linguists. The three categories are; broad, general and cultivated varieties.

This video explains and demonstrates the three variations of the Australian accent and also the know-how into achieving the accent.

Australian accent: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GPMSpw0CLEg

Broad Australian accent is easily recognizable and familiar to English speakers around the world. It is the most stereotypical accent that people associate with Australia. It is spoken nationwide but is most common in rural areas. Many Australian idioms are used by people who speak in this variation.

Steve Irwin (Australian wildlife expert and TV personality)

- Steve Irwin interview on GMTV (United Kingdom)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TIZf7bMVkDs

General Australian accent is the most common accent spoken in Australia and is primarily spoken by people living in the metropolitan areas. This variation often uses more American and British words rather than idioms and words.

Nicole Kidman (Australian actress)

- Nicole Kidman interview on Today (United States of America)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vvQaWSOaM8

Cate Blanchett (Australian actress)

- Cate Blanchett Interview ABC News 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cCphALRrvlw

Hugh Jackman (Australian Actor)

- Hugh Jackman’s opening number at the Oscars 2013
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Terhj8mjPwY
- Australia (film) - Exclusive interview with Hugh Jackman
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0LouaZjdj-M

Cultivated Australian accent is similar to Received Pronunciation, also known as, the standard accent of English in the United Kingdom. Over the generations, the use of this accent has sharply fallen.

Malcolm Fraser (22nd Prime Minister of Australia)

- Malcolm Fraser interview on Tony Abbott
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1L66KhP0jYg

Geoffrey Rush (Australian Actor)

- Geoffrey Rush Oscars Speech
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLhh7j60CWg

Features of the Australian Accent

Watch the video below for a quick introduction to the distinctive features of the Australian accent by comedian Adam Hills.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KpBYnL5fAXE

Distinctive feature of the Australian accent:

• Australian Question Intonation (AQI) – sentences are uttered with rising intonation which makes it sound like a question

Note: Follow the link for more information on Australia accents

- Department of Linguistics, Macquarie University (Sydney, Australia)
http://clas.mq.edu.au/australian-voices/australian-accent

Commonly used Australian idioms and slang

Australian slang is widely spoken across the country. It consists of words or phrases that are mainly considered as informal and most often used in speech.

Word	Meaning	Example
arvo	afternoon	What are you doing in the arvo?
Aussie	an Australian	Hugh Jackman’s an Aussie.
away with the pixies	daydreaming	Don’t bother talking to her, she’s away with the pixies.
barbie	barbeque	Let’s put some meat on the barbie!
bloke	man, guy	He’s a nice bloke
boozer	a pub	I’m going to the boozer for a few drinks.
dipstick	an idiot	She such a dipstick.
dunny	outside toilet	The dunny stinks real bad.
fair dinkum	true, genuine	He’s a fair dinkum Aussie.
fellas	group of guy friends	I’m going to the pub with the fellas.
G’day	Good day! How’s it going?	G’day! How are you doing?
Maccas	Mcdonald’s	Let’s go to Maccas tonight!
mate	friend	He’s a good mate of mine.
mozzie	mosquito	Bloody hell, there’s so many mozzies in here.
Oz	Australia	Visit me in Oz next year.
postie	postman	Has the postie come by today?
rack off!	Get lost!	Stop bothering me, rack off!
ripper	great	The parties going to be a ripper.
Sheila	female/woman/girlfriend	Look at that Sheila over there
stoked	very pleased	I’m stoked about tomorrow’s trip.
veggo	vegetarian	He doesn’t eat meat. He’s a veggo.
yewy	U-turn in traffic	Let’s make a yewy at the lights.

- Note: Follow the link for more examples of Australian slang.
http://www.australianexplorer.com/slang/

Jacki-O’s (Australian radio host) interview with Kevin Hart (American singer/actor/producer) on Australian slang.


Watch the video and complete the subsequent exercises.

Choose the word or phrase that is closest in meaning to the underlined expression.

Song: Aussie lesson for Ellen

This song was a collaboration between Australian radio hosts Fitzy and Wippa and also Sydney brothers, Dailius and Julian Wilson. The songs purpose is to explain Australian words to Ellen Degeneres, an American TV host.

Exercise 1) Australian words
Listen to the song and match the words with their definition by dragging them into the appropriate box.

Exercise 2) Interpretation of American and Australian words
Listen to the song and match each listed word with its Australian counterpart.

Watch the video and then match the expressions with its meaning.