Australian English
Australian English (AusE, AuE, AusEng, en-AU) is the name given to the group of dialects spoken in Australia related to the English language. English is Australia's official language though it has no official status in the constitution. Australian English is a non-rhotic accent (R-less - the [r] sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant). For example, in far away the sound [r] can be in far because it comes before the word beginning with the vowel. And such words as scarf, far-fetched or bar do not contain [r]. An intrusive [r] may occur before a vowel in words that do not normally have "r" in the spelling. For example, such words as no or don't will have the sound [r]. As all dialects of English have their own peculiarities, Australian English has its vowel phonology with strong influence of Cockney. There are two types of vowels in Australian English: long and short vowels. The long a [ei] sounds more like a long i [ai], the long i [ai] sounds like [oi]. Other vowels are not shifted so much. Australian speakers usually use a form of upward inflection in their speech but it is not associated with questions. In English, upward inflection typically signals a question. It is mostly used by speakers with intention to include their listener into the dialogue. There are some words and idioms which are unique to the dialect. For example, hooroo means goodbye, moolah is money, never never means the outback or the centre of Australia, Pom (pommy, pommie) is an Englishman, smoko is morning tea, Aussie is Australian, pressie means gift, brumby is a wild horse, greenie means environmentalist . Expression like he doesn't know Christmas from Bourke Street means that someone is a bit stupid, or he hasn't got a brass razoo has meaning that someone is very poor. The word mate (typically used in British English) is also common in Australian English. Many words used by Australians were at one time used in England but have since fallen out of usage or changed in meaning. In informal speech, incomplete comparisons are sometimes used, such as sweet as. Full, fully or heaps may precede a word to act as an intensifier. The suffix "-ly" is sometimes omitted in Australian English (e.g. real good in lieu of really good). There're also some diminutives: chalky – teacher, footy - football (Australian rules, of course), chockie – chocolate, barbie - barbecue, chewie - chewing gum, chrissie - Christmas, exy - expensive, mozzie - mosquito, oldies - parents. Australian English has absorbed many Aboriginal words: coolabah - a type of tree, wallaby - small kangaroo, wurley - a simple shelter. There're also some colourful expressions in Australian English: Like a dog’s breakfast - a mess, Up a gumtree - in trouble, Happy as a bastard on Fathers’ Day - very happy, Dry as a dead dingo’s donger - very dry indeed, mad as cut snake - very angry, spit the dummy - get very upset at something, etc. As in most English speaking countries, there is no official governmental regulator or overseer of correct spelling and grammar. The Macquarie Dictionary is used by universities and style guides as a standard for Australian English spelling. Australian spelling generally follows conventions of British spelling. As in British spelling, the 'u' is retained in words such as honour and favour and the -ise ending is used in words such as organise and realise, although the older -ize also exists, but is far less common. Words listed by the Macquarie Dictionary as currently spelled differently to the received British spellings include "program" as opposed to "programme" and "jail" as opposed to "gaol".
