AUSTRALIAN

ENGLISH
By:
Paula COA, Teo Mahatmana, Yulianti
Australian English Grammar

Australian English
Pronunciation

Australian English Vocabulary

Video
 GRAMMAR
• Like spelling, Australian grammar is a mix of British and American
English. In Britain, collective nouns are usually defined as plural.
• For example: the British would say, "The couple are happy." American
grammar is more pattern orientated so a noun is defined as plural
when it has an s. Americans would say, "The couple is happy"
(singular) but "The two cowboys are happy." In Australia, there isn’t
sufficient knowledge of grammar to reject either British or American
tradition so both have become standard as a result of American
television and American computer grammar checks mixing with
traditional British instruction.
In Australian usage, either singular or plural is fine, depending on the context or
emphasis.
• American: The team is winning.
• Australian: The team is/are winning.
Australians and Americans use the verbs “have” and “take” differently:
• American: I’d like to take a bath.
• Australian: I’d like to have a bath.
Past participles sometimes differ between American and Australian English. While we
would use “burned” in American English, “burnt” is correct Down Under:
• American: No sense crying over spilled milk.
• Australian: No sense crying over spilt milk.
PRONUNCIATION – Vowels
The symbols in vowel-space figures
and in the left-hand column of the
vowel table are from Harrington et
al. (1997). This is a revised symbol set
for SAusE which was developed to
indicate phonetic properties of the
vowels more accurately than the
earlier system recommended by
Mitchell (1946). The Mitchell (1946)
transcription system for vowels
morestrongly reflects a British rather
than an Australian standard due to
its historical origins
 Some vowels that varies systematically with broadness is /i:/, as in
heed. This vowel typically displays on glide (delayed target) in SAusE
giving it a diphthongal quality [ ́i:], however the extent and duration of
the glide varies considerably and is generally more pronounced
amongst the broader speakers (overtly local speaker in Australia). In
SAusE, /i:/ occurs in word-final position in city [sɪti:] and happy
[hæpi:].
 The vowels of Australian English can be divided according to length.
The long vowels, which include monophthongs and diphthongs,
mostly correspond to the tense vowels used in analyses of Received
Pronunciation (RP) as well as its centring diphthongs. There exist
pairs of long and short vowels with overlapping vowel quality giving
Australian English phonemic length distinction, which is unusual
amongst the various dialects of English
• As with New Zealand English, the weak-vowel merger is complete in
Australian English: unstressed /ɪ/ is merged into /ə/ (schwa), unless it
is followed by a velar consonant.
 PRONUNCIATION – Consonant
• Australian English is non-rhotic; that is, the /r/ sound does not appear at the
end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant. However, a linking /r/
can occur when a word that has a final <r> in the spelling comes before
another word that starts with a vowel.
• An intrusive /r/ may similarly be inserted before a vowel in words that do not
have <r> in the spelling in certain environments, namely after the long
vowel /oː/ and after word final /ə/.
• This can be heard in "law-r-and order," where an intrusive R is voiced after
the W and before the A.
• In common with most varieties of Scottish English and American English, the
phoneme /l/ is pronounced as a "dark" (velarised) L in all positions, unlike
other dialects such as Received Pronunciation and Hiberno (Irish) English,
where a light L (i.e., a non-velarised L) is used in many positions.
 PRONUNCIATION
Differences in stress, weak forms and standard pronunciation of isolated
words occur between Australian English and other forms of English,
which while noticeable do not impair intelligibility.
• The affixes -ary, -ery, -ory, -bury, -berry and -mony (seen in words
such as necessary, mulberry and matrimony) can be pronounced
either with a full vowel or a schwa.
Although some words like necessary are almost universally pronounced
with the full vowel, older generations of Australians are relatively likely
to pronounce these affixes with a schwa while younger generations are
relatively likely to use a full vowel.
• Words ending in unstressed -ile derived from Latin adjectives
ending in -ilis are pronounced with a full vowel (/ɑɪl/), so that fertile
rhymes with fur tile rather than turtle.
• In addition, miscellaneous pronunciation differences exist when
compared with other varieties of English in relation to seemingly
random words.

For Example
As with American English,
• The vowel in yoghurt (in Australian English) is pronounced as /əʉ/
("long o") rather than /ɔ/ ("short o")
• The vowel in vitamin, migraine and privacy are pronounced with /ɑɪ/
(as in mine) rather than /ɪ/, /iː/ and /ɪ/ respectively
• The vowel paedophile is pronounced with /ɛ/ (as in red) rather
than /iː/
• The prefix homo- (as in homosexual or homophobic) is pronounced
with a /əʉ/ ("long o") rather than /ɔ/ ("short o")
• Urinal is pronounced with schwa /ə/ rather than /ɑɪ/ ("long i")
• Harass and harassment are pronounced with the stress on the
second, rather than the first syllable.
As with British English;
• advertisement is pronounced with /ɪ/ (in Australian English);
• tomato and vase are pronounced with /ɐː/ (as in father) (in Australian
English) instead of /æɪ/;
• zebra is pronounced with /ɛ/ (as in red) rather than /iː/; basil is
pronounced with /æ/ ("short a") rather than /æɪ/ ("long a");
• buoy is pronounced as /boɪ/ (as in boy) rather than /ˈbʉːiː/.
Examples of miscellaneous pronunciations which contrast with both
standard American and British usages are data, which is pronounced
with /ɐː/ ("dah") instead of /æɪ/ ("day"); garage, pronounced /ˈɡæɹɑː(d)ʒ/
instead of British /ˈɡæɹɪdʒ/ or American /ɡəˈɹɑː(d)ʒ/ (although the
American pronunciation is also used); and maroon (colour), pronounced
with /əʉ/ ("own") as opposed to /ʉː/ ("oon")
 VOCABULARY
• As far as everyday vocabulary is concerned, Australian English once
again shares words and phrases with both British and American
English, but also has some terminology of its own. Most of the
vocabulary of Australian English is shared with British English,
though there are notable differences.
• Some common examples are arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue),
smoko (cigarette break), Aussie (Australian), Straya (Australia) and
pressie (present/gift).
• This may also be done with people's names to create nicknames
(other English speaking countries create similar diminutives). For
example, "Gazza" from Gary, or "Smitty" from John Smith.
VOCABULARY – Words of Australian origin
Words Meaning
Battler a person with few natural advantages, who works doggedly and
with little reward, who struggles for a livelihood and who
displays courage
Bludger a person who avoids working, or doing their share of work, a
loafer, scrounger, a hanger-on, one who does not pull his
weight. Originally, a pimp.
Bogan an Australian term for describing someone who may be a
yobbo (redneck). The major difference between the two is that
yobbo tends to be used as a noun, whereas bogan can also be
used adjectivally to describe objects pertaining to people who
are bogans.
Big smoke any big city such as Melbourne or Sydney.
 Words Meaning
Digger an Australian soldier. The term was applied during the First World
War to Australian and New Zealand soldiers because so much of
their time was spent digging trenches.
Dinkum or "true", "the truth", "speaking the truth", "authentic" and related
fair dinkum meanings, depending on context and inflection. The Evening News
(Sydney, NSW) 23 August 1879 has one of the earliest references to
fair dinkum
Fair go a reasonable chance, a fair deal. Australia often sees itself as an
egalitarian society, the land of the fair go, where all citizens have a
right to fair treatment.
Jackaroo a type of agricultural worker.
Nasho a term meaning a person from the National Services, mandatory
military service in Australia.
Outback a "remote, sparsely-populated area"
 VOCABULARY – Comparison with Other Varieties
• Where British and American vocabulary differs, Australians
sometimes favour a usage different from both varieties, as
with footpath (for US sidewalk, UK pavement), capsicum
(for US bell pepper, UK green/red pepper), or doona (for US
comforter, UK duvet) from a trademarked brand.
• In other instances, it either shares a term with American
English, as with truck (UK: lorry) or eggplant (UK:
aubergine), or with British English, as with mobile phone
(US: cell phone) or bonnet (US: hood).
• There are also terms shared by British and American
English but not commonly found in Australian English,
which include:
British/American Australian English
Abroad Overseas
Flip-flops Thongs
Meadow Grassy plain
Pickup truck Ute
Woods Bush
Wildfire Bushfire
• A non-exhaustive selection of British English terms not
commonly used in Australian English include:
British English Australian English British English Australian English
Lorry Truck Fen Swamp
Barmy Crazy/mad Trainers Runners/sneakers
Candy floss Fairy floss
Courgette Zucchini
Chivvy Nag
Heath Shrubland
Duvet Doona
Moor Swampland
Aubergine Eggplant
Ice lolly Ice block/icy pole Dell Valley

Potato crisps Potato chips Australian Aussie

Sweets Lollies
• A non-exhaustive list of American English terms not
commonly found in Australian English include:
American English Australian English American English Australian English
Airplane Aeroplane Railroad Railway
Popsicle Ice block/icy pole Diaper Nappy
Bell pepper Capsicum Scallion Spring Onion
Flashlight Torch Ladybug Ladybird
Gasoline Petrol Bangs Fringe
Cell-phone Mobile-phone Candy Lollies
Parking lot Car park Counter-clockwise Anticlockwise
Soda pop Soft drink Faucet Tap
 For further information about
Australian English, there is a video
talking about it.
Happy watching !!
 References
• Anon. 2020. Australian English.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English#Vocabulary (Accessed on March 15,
2020)
• Anon. 2020. Australian English Vocabulary.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English_vocabulary (Accessed on March 15,
2020)
• Cox, F & Sallyanne, P. 2007. Australian English. England: Cambridge University Press.
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/journal-of-the-international-phonetic-
association/article/australian-english/8B2DA5419C7F52650AD8107DEC3E47FD
(Accessed on March 15, 2020)
• Lingoda. 2020. A Guide to Australian English: Everything You Need to Know.
https://blog.lingoda.com/en/a-guide-to-australian-english (Accessed on March 15, 2020)
• Verblio. 2016. How to Write Australian English. https://www.verblio.com/blog/write-
australian-english (Accessed on March 15, 2020)
• Video source: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J9cIniVl0bg