[News] Disappearing Slang and Cultural Variants: How Australian English Is Changing

[Angel of Death]

Last week, I wrote about whether an Asian-Australian accent existed and asked for your thoughts on how the Australian accent is changing. Dozens of readers wrote in about their experiences navigating regional, cultural and ethnic Australian accents, observing that the way we speak is becoming more homogenized, and to correct my own Australian linguistic error — yes, you’re right, we throw prawns, not shrimp, on the barbie.  Thank you to everyone who shared their thoughts. Here is a sampling of the responses we received. What Did You Say? Wool?  I live in regional Western Australia, but I went to university at the University of New South Wales in Sydney about 30 year ago. I found that I had to adjust my accent for people to understand me. I studied a course called “Wool and Pastoral Science.” When I said “wool” I found many people thought I was saying “ool” and I had to make an effort to pronounce the “w.” I was told that in Western Australia we have implosive consonants, and in N.S.W. the consonants are explosive. The same thing happened when I said I come from “Kojonup.” Most people thought I said “Kojonu.”  I went to a private all-girls school in Perth, and my accent probably reflected that. But, I have also noticed, like you say, that accents are not as diverse now as they were when I was a teenager. The kids learn expressions from social media. Much of the mainstream media is national rather than state-based. I wonder if my kids would have the same issues?  — Rachael Plowman The Pros and Cons of Homogenization  As an Australian of Indian ethnicity, I loved this article.  My view is that with our children, they will have a stronger Australian accent than we do, as their ears were never “trained” to pick up the sounds from our mother tongues. This is not always a good thing — I grimace every time I hear my kids pronounce an Indian person’s name (or food dish) like an ocker.  — Kesh Anand  Advertisement Continue reading the main story  There are still some differences in the Aussie accent between states and between city and country, but the broader Australian accents seem to be disappearing and becoming more homogenized.      Thanks for reading The Times.  Subscribe to The Times  An Australian accent is still quite distinctive and discernible when heard overseas away from Australia. We still shorten our words and use “ie” at the end of some words, e.g. sickie (taking sick leave from work), breakie (breakfast). But the real Australian slang is vanishing.  “You liddle beauty. Can’t wait for a flamin ripper of a Chrissy.” Yes, my Queensland cousins used to speak like that to me in 1965, and it was their natural way of expressing themselves.  — Adrienne Hunt  Your article regarding Asian Australian accents is spot on, but it’s written from a myopically Asian viewpoint.  You entirely missed the fact that there have been very distinctive and easily identifiable Greek, Italian and Lebanese Australian accents (and patois) for decades.