English in Australia

Seminar paper from the year 2010 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 1,5, LMU Munich (Institut fur Anglistik und Amerikanistik), course: Hauptseminar Sprachwissenschaft: Varieties of English, language: English, abstract: This paper describes the English variety that is spoken in Australia. However, it is not a complete analysis of this variety, since this would go far beyond the scope of this paper. It is rather a summary of the most important features of present time AusE. In the first chapter I give an outline of those aspects of Australian history that have been relevant for the formation of AusE. The ensuing chapter describes the linguistic features of this national variety. The differences of the phonological system of AusE compared with other English varieties are described. For that purpose I compare the results of the studies of several authors concerning the pronunciation of vowels, consonants and the intonation pattern. Furthermore, what has been found out about the specifics of AusE morphology, syntax and lexicon is summed up. This chapter also deals with the question why AusE is so remarkably uniform throughout the whole country and if there is any regional variation. The fourth chapter gives a survey of the three major dialects of AusE called Broad, General and Cultivated Australian which are rather sociolects than regional dialects. The last chapter finally sums up the main results of the essay.