Aussie Slanguage – “Strine”
Although in Australia the primary language used is English, Aussies have a unique colloquial language called Strine. It derives from the saying the word “Australian” throught both closed teeth and the nose and combines many long lost cockney and Irish sayings of the early convicts with words from Aboriginal languages. Words are often abbreviated and “o” or “ie” are added at the end. With the influx of immigrants all over the world, other common languages such as Chinese (2.1%), Italian (1.9%), Vietnamese (1.7%) and Greek (1.4%) are spoken.
Aboriginal Languages
Before the Europeans settled in Australia, it was estimated that there were 600 to 700 dialects of 200 to 250 languages spoken by the indigenous people. Today at least 100 distinct Aboriginals languages are spoken to varying extents. For the Aborigine people, having a association with a particular language is of great social and cultural significance. According to traditions, languages “belonged” to tracts of country. However many of them were either bilingual or multilingual and in this days speak English as well. As of today, there are no fluent speakers left with the exception of those found in the centre of Australia and along the North Coast.
The Aborginal language is quite similar to the English language and often reflects about the people’s close relationship with the environment. Other similarities include the sounds used and the way these sounds are combined. All the languages have the sound “ng” as in “sing” and “ny” as in canyon in them.While many of them speak standard Australian English, in parts of the outback where they seldom use English or do not have access to secondary school education, they are unable to speak it fluently.
In order to have a polite conversion with Aborigine people, visitors are advised to treat it with respect and unless introduced , visitors should introduce from a distance. Also, directness is not encouraged as it indicates rudeness and one should never attempt to speak Aboriginal English.
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