Varieties of Australian English
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
- This article deals with the socio-economic continuum of Australian English.
- For regional variation see "Regional variation in Australian English".
Most linguists consider there to be three main varieties of Australian English. These are Broad, General and Cultivated Australian English. These three main varieties are actually part of a continuum and are based on variations in accent. They often, but not always, reflect the social class and/or educational background of the speaker.
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[edit] Broad Australian English
Broad Australian English is the archetypal and most recognisable variety and is familiar to English speakers around the world, because of its use in identifying Australian characters in non-Australian films and television programmes. In reality it is less common than General Australian English. Broad Australian English is recognisable by a certain nasal drawl and the prevalence of long diphthongs. Broad Australian English is more likely to be encountered when travelling further away from the capital cities.
Lexically, Broad Australian English usually uses more slang and non standard forms of words than the other varieties, for example, "it come up real good", as opposed to the more standard form of "it came up quite well". The variety is more prone to elision and assimilation of words, usually due to the fact that the speakers are sometimes less fluent and clear in their enunciation of consonants. Phonetically the variety is seen to have a nasal drawl and the diphthongs are usually drawn out. This is what gives the spoken variety its unique flair.
[edit] General Australian English
General Australian English is the stereotypical variety of Australian English. It is the variety of English used by the majority of Australians and it dominates the accents found in contemporary Australian-made films and television programs, such as Neighbours. This variety has noticeably shorter vowel sounds than Broad Australian English, among other differences. There is perhaps a trend towards General Australian away from the extremes.
[edit] Cultivated Australian English
Cultivated Australian English has many similarities to British Received Pronunciation, and is often mistaken for it. Cultivated Australian English was once common among public figures in Australia but it is now spoken by less than 10% of the population. An overwhelmingly large and growing majority of Australians now have either General or Broad accents. One effect of this is that the speech of people like Alexander Downer, the Minister for Foreign Affairs is mocked as sounding "affected", "snobby" or "aloof" [citation needed], when his accent is simply an example of Cultivated Australian English, reinforced by the fact that he completed his secondary schooling at a public school in England and went to university there.
[edit] Examples
Examples of each include the normal speaking voices of the following identities:
Broad
- actor Bryan Brown
- television/stage character Dame Edna Everage
- Former Prime Minister Bob Hawke
- actor Paul Hogan
- television personality Steve Irwin
General
- actor Russell Crowe
- Prime Minister John Howard
- actor Hugh Jackman
- actor Nicole Kidman
- actor Jesse Spencer
Cultivated
- actor Judy Davis
- Former Prime Minister Malcolm Fraser
- actor Geoffrey Rush
- opera singer Dame Joan Sutherland
- comedian/actor Barry Humphries (who portrays Dame Edna Everage)
