Week 10

Read pg.152-162 of Living Lingo (blue textbook).

Introducing Australian English

1) Explain what is meant but a pluricentric language with specific reference to Australian English.

2) In what ways can a pluricentric language divide and unite?

Lexical Features

1) Give 2 examples (for each) of lexicon that has been adopted from Indigenous Australian language and British regionalisms.

Grammatical features

1) How is Australian English generally connected to one's social scale?

2) Explain 2 pronoun features of Australian English.

3) How are adjectives often used in vernacular Australian English?

4) Explain 2 verb features of Australian English.

Other Grammar (Negation, Clause combining & Discourse features)

1) What is a colloquial discourse feature often at the end of a sentence? Do you think it is best described as a 'hedge' or a 'discourse particle'? Explain.

2) What reason does Edward Wakefield give for doubting 'pure English' would ever become the language of Australia?

Morphological features

1) Explain the role of diminutives in Australian English.

Phonological features

1) What are the 'complex array of different factors' that influence the variation in vowel phonemes in the 3 varieties of Australian English?

2) What happens to vowels typically associated with the Broad end of the language spectrum?

3) Are Australians rhotic or non-rhotic speakers? Why?

4) What are 2 consonant features familiar to certain varieties of Australian English?

5) Assimilation, Elision, Deletion are commonly associated with what variety of Australian English? Give 2 examples.

Prosodic features

1) Explain H.R.T (High Rising Terminal) or 'Uptalk' and why males may tend not to adopt this linguistic behaviour.

2) How is uptalk connected to back-channelling and floor holding?

Complete the questions from our previous lesson.

Australian Accents

Speakers of Standard Australian English do not all sound the same. There are regional differences, age-related differences, and social differences.

In the past, accent variation in Standard Australian English was described with reference to a continuum of broadness, ranging from the most local type (Broad Australian) through to a more British sounding type (Cultivated Australian). An intermediate category, General Australian, was the most common type.

Over the past 40 years, Australian English speakers have gradually moved towards the centre of this broadness continuum. The majority of younger speakers today use a General type of Australian English.

The move away from the Cultivated type is probably related to the shift in linguistic affiliation from a British external standard to an Australian internal standard of English. Throughout the second half of the 20th century, Australian English became increasingly accepted as the standard form of English used in this country. This acceptance was paralleled by Australian independence in a global marketplace.

Cultivated Australian increasingly became associated with British affiliation, affectation and effeminacy. As the 20th century progressed, fewer social advantages were to be gained by speaking with a Cultivated Australian English accent.

Broad Australian English also lost some ground. This form symbolised republicanism, mateship, larrikinism, and egalitarianism. However, it was the most stigmatised form having connotations of ockerism and a lack of sophistication. A move away from the Broad may also have been related to a shift in Australia's sense of place in the world. It has also been suggested that Broad may have decreased as a result of association with a foreign accent variety used by migrants from Southern Europe in the post-WWII era.

The General type was uniquely Australian but without the undesirable connotations associated with either Cultivated or Broad. It became the new standard.

Accent variation in Australia today cannot be adequately described with reference to the broadness continuum. Recent research shows that there is now new variation that is separate from these traditional categories.

Questions

1) Why have Australians moved away from the cultivated accent?

2) What are the associations that are connected to the broad Australian accent?

3) What do you think is meant by, 'A move away from the Broad may also have been related to a shift in Australia's sense of place in the world.'

Attitudes to Australian English

Read pages 163-168

1) What attitudes do speakers of the dominant varieties of pluricentric languages have about other varieties?

2) What might be some associations connected to Broad and Cultivated varieties of Australian English?

3) How was Australian English viewed compared to British English?

4) How are attitudes towards Australian English changes? What evidence is there for a "growing egalitarianism" and "social democracy" in terms of views of Australian English?

5) Despite some change, what attitudes remain in regards to Aboriginal varieties of Australian English?

For THREE of the following videos explain:

• the accents being used and examples of phonological features which distinguish them

• the unique or interesting lexical choices which distinguish these varieties from one another

• which types of identities are being portrayed

• the attitudes being expressed towards these varieties.

Task 1

Now read (or you can listen to the podcast if you like) Irene Poinkin’s review of Bruce Moore’s “Speaking our Language: The Story of Australian English” at http://www.abc.net.au/radionational/programs/linguafranca/speaking-our-language-the-story-of-australian/3181234#transcript

1. Where does Bruce Moore believe the Australian accent originated?

2. How does Moore account for the rise of a prescriptive approach to the Australian pronunciation? Reference received pronunciation and the development of a cultivated variety in your answer.

3. How does Moore explain the rise of a broad variety after the nineteenth century? What differing values did broad and cultivated express?

4. Explain the differences in pronunciation, citing one example to support.

5. How does Moore refute the idea of the Americanisation of Australian English?

Task 3

Read the article “Pardon My F*?#$! French’ from The Age on 23/7/12, at http://www.smh.com.au/national/pardon-my-f-french-20120724-22n9l.html and consider the following:

1. Why does Green begin his article with the story about Linfox employee Craig Symes?

2. How is it possible that there can be “mixed messages given to employees about swearing” in the workplace? Does your experience in workplaces confirm or refute this?

3. How is context central to the debate about this particular issue?

4. Explain the research done by New Zealand’s Victoria University, and how it could be used to support ideas about how slang can be an important marker of group identity and membership.

5. What are some of the characteristics noted as typical of Australian speech by Linguists Burridge and Allan?

6. What is meant by “there is clearly something deeply primal about the way we swear and how it makes us feel?” Do you agree with this statement?

7. What are some of the signs of a “significant liberalisation’ occurring in our society? Use specific examples, and add two that are not included in this article.

8. What is your opinion on the “classic chicken and egg argument?” Justify your response.

9. Why are there still some words that are shocking, or maintain their taboo status, like c**t?

10. How is swearing linked to common perceptions about gender, according to Rosewarne?

11. What does Allan think about the changing nature of taboo? Does this reflect your own experience?