Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Like is there any Australian equivalent to the US/UK/Italian North/south dichotomy? Are there certain more liberal areas and more conservative/traditional areas, or places with a more historic/colonial vibe as opposed to cosmopolitan Sydney and Melbourne?
What about accents? How much regional variation is there? I have a friend from Adelaide who has what to us Americans is a pretty "standard" Australian accent (which to my sounds sort of British except for t's between vowels, short a's and the "ou" sound).But last summer I met a girl who if I remember right was from Tasmania and I could hardly understand her accent, which was like Steve Irwins but as if her mouth was full of marbles.LOL
So yeah, in summary, are their parts of Australia with cultural differences and if so, which do you personally like better.
Thanks
In terms of accents, its South Australian, including Adelaide, accents that are an outlier, while you'd be hard pressed to pick someone from Tasmania compared to someone from Victoria or even New South Wales. Here, the SA accent gets compared a lot to New Zealand or English accents. Google something like “why are South Australian accents different”, and you’ll get plenty of hits that’ll give you some insights. An actor like Russell Crowe, who's from New Zealand, could probably pass himself off as a South Australian, but you'd always pick him from a Queenslander, Tasmanian or Victorian. https://coveredrachel.wordpress.com/...ralian-accent/
Some northern Queensland accents also stand out; the way they pronounce words like “too” can sound almost South African at times.
Beyond that, folk from regional and rural areas generally speak with a slower, more pronounced drawl than their city cousins. I’ve heard it described as “chewing” their vowels, but "mouth full of marbles" is probably not too different.
Culturally, the largest differentiator is city vs regional or rural, with folk outside the state capitals being more conservative and ‘old school”. Queensland has a reputation for being more conservative than NSW or Victoria, but really that’s just a reflection of its much larger regional population. In remote parts of the country, it is a very different world compared to major cities. In the Northern Territory, parts of Queensland and WA, you’ll definitely find a lot of “rugged, outdoors, self-sufficient” types that inner city hipsters would find it hard to relate to.
Last edited by Bakery Hill; 12-05-2016 at 11:33 PM..
There are some subtle differences in accent on the east coast, but hard for the average person to pick up.
I am not that familiar with the Adelaide or SA accent to comment on, although it is renowned as distinct.
Queensland say a few words differently, and Southwest WA (where I lived for 2 years) - I can pick them sometimes. (usually the way they say "Perth", or words like "heat" etc, the heavy UK, NZ and South African populations formed a unique hybrid).
Country people will also tend to talk in more slang and strine, and say words like Monday as "Mundy", and sometimes uncultured comments like not adding the 's" on year to make it plural (eg about 5 year ago), and talk in present tense about past tense etc.
Victoria, and particularly the inner north of Melbourne where I live, is significantly more left-leaning and socialist than the rest of the country. However even in Victoria there are plenty of traditional, conservative locales in the countryside. The Murray and Mallee regions are full of such towns. Outback Queensland and NSW are both very conservative.
Sydney is a big, sprawling city, and despite having a sizeable progressive core in its inner west around the universities, overall it has a much more conservative and religious culture than Melbourne. The Sutherland Shire for instance, which is known for being very Christian and patriotic would look totally out of place in Melbourne. A lot of folks from Sydney and Melbourne love to hate on each other's cities but I personally love both in their own way.
In terms of accents, its South Australian, including Adelaide, accents that are an outlier, while you'd be hard pressed to pick someone from Tasmania compared to someone from Victoria or even New South Wales. Here, the SA accent gets compared a lot to New Zealand or English accents. Google something like “why are South Australian accents different”, and you’ll get plenty of hits that’ll give you some insights. An actor like Russell Crowe, who's from New Zealand, could probably pass himself off as a South Australian, but you'd always pick him from a Queenslander, Tasmanian or Victorian. https://coveredrachel.wordpress.com/...ralian-accent/
Some northern Queensland accents also stand out; the way they pronounce words like “too” can sound almost South African at times.
Beyond that, folk from regional and rural areas generally speak with a slower, more pronounced drawl than their city cousins. I’ve heard it described as “chewing” their vowels, but "mouth full of marbles" is probably not too different.
Culturally, the largest differentiator is city vs regional or rural, with folk outside the state capitals being more conservative and ‘old school”. Queensland has a reputation for being more conservative than NSW or Victoria, but really that’s just a reflection of its much larger regional population. In remote parts of the country, it is a very different world compared to major cities. In the Northern Territory, parts of Queensland and WA, you’ll definitely find a lot of “rugged, outdoors, self-sufficient” types that inner city hipsters would find it hard to relate to.
This post has sorta' explained the differences; however is the questioner asking about original Australians, say 4 generation British.Irish/Scottish stock?
The old Australian 'dialect' is not heard very much these days, and certainly not in the multicultural mish-mash of the cities and as the ethnic population outnumbers the Australian population certain phrases and words are picked up and integrated into what the speakers call Australian.
I am a 4th generation Australian of Irish, English and Scottish stock, and when filling those forms that people in the public service shove at you rather than ask what it is that you need to know......"Excuse me, could you tell me where the dunny is at." Sez the fair dinkum Aussie. "Fill in this form and I will get back to you.....Next."
Yeah! Those forms. Well where they have "What Language do you speak?" a lot of Australians put 'English'. Now, the Australian language is as far from English as Russian is from Chinese, so I put Australian, and let them work that out.
There are many sayings and expressions in out speak and an Aussie can pick out where a person comes form by the idioms and slight accent differences;; however one must take care as some language that is not Australasian use the same "lingo" to some extent, and I will put you straight on that one to start with.
"Across the ditch" is across the Tasman Sea, where the Kiwi (New Zealander) lives. The Kiwi, almost without exception will finish a sentence with "aye!" as in, "Might go and have a beer, aye?" or Good weather, aye?" but this will also be confused with the e sounded as an i, such as Good Wither, Aye?" and of course the much quoted Fesh and Cheps.
So, be careful when a Queenslander says "Might go for a swim, aye?" and then later "Cummin' fer' a beer, aye?" and " 'ave to pick up the cheese and kisses first, aye?" Sorry, I got carried away, Fair Dinkum!!!! Cheese and Kisses is an expression derived from out Yorkshire blood lines and means the Kids and the Missus. But ya' knew that, din't ya'?"
If you want me to carry on, I can assure that an Australian can do that without any trouble...well maybe with a little bit of trouble but not a troubling trouble, ifn'ya'knowwat'Imean".
This post has sorta' explained the differences; however is the questioner asking about original Australians, say 4 generation British.Irish/Scottish stock?
The old Australian 'dialect' is not heard very much these days, and certainly not in the multicultural mish-mash of the cities and as the ethnic population outnumbers the Australian population certain phrases and words are picked up and integrated into what the speakers call Australian.
I am a 4th generation Australian of Irish, English and Scottish stock, and when filling those forms that people in the public service shove at you rather than ask what it is that you need to know......"Excuse me, could you tell me where the dunny is at." Sez the fair dinkum Aussie. "Fill in this form and I will get back to you.....Next."
Yeah! Those forms. Well where they have "What Language do you speak?" a lot of Australians put 'English'. Now, the Australian language is as far from English as Russian is from Chinese, so I put Australian, and let them work that out.
There are many sayings and expressions in out speak and an Aussie can pick out where a person comes form by the idioms and slight accent differences;; however one must take care as some language that is not Australasian use the same "lingo" to some extent, and I will put you straight on that one to start with.
"Across the ditch" is across the Tasman Sea, where the Kiwi (New Zealander) lives. The Kiwi, almost without exception will finish a sentence with "aye!" as in, "Might go and have a beer, aye?" or Good weather, aye?" but this will also be confused with the e sounded as an i, such as Good Wither, Aye?" and of course the much quoted Fesh and Cheps.
So, be careful when a Queenslander says "Might go for a swim, aye?" and then later "Cummin' fer' a beer, aye?" and " 'ave to pick up the cheese and kisses first, aye?" Sorry, I got carried away, Fair Dinkum!!!! Cheese and Kisses is an expression derived from out Yorkshire blood lines and means the Kids and the Missus. But ya' knew that, din't ya'?"
If you want me to carry on, I can assure that an Australian can do that without any trouble...well maybe with a little bit of trouble but not a troubling trouble, ifn'ya'knowwat'Imean".
See ya'!
Work on this: G'daymate'owya'goin'orrite?"
It fascinates me to hear about all the old idioms and pronunciations that are preserved in colonial dialects of English. And yes, I guess you could say that was the group I had in mind (thought of phrasing it "excluding immigrants/first generation")
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
