Lexi Webster
Australia is home to a diverse range of languages, with English being the most widely spoken. While it is not the official language, it is the de facto national language, with Australian English exhibiting a distinct accent, lexicon, grammar, and spelling. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages are also prevalent, with around 120 to 170 still spoken today, including Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole) and Kriol. The country's linguistic landscape also includes sign languages, such as Auslan, and various creoles like Norf'k-Pitcairn, reflecting Australia's multicultural heritage and vibrant ethnocultural dialects.
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What You'll Learn
English as a de facto national language
English is the majority language of Australia today. Although English has no official legal status, it is the de facto national language and is almost universally spoken. Australian English has a distinctive accent and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.
Australian English has a number of unique features. Diminutives and hypocorisms are common, often used to indicate familiarity. For example, "afternoon" becomes "arvo", "breakfast" becomes "brekkie", and "mosquito" becomes "mozzie". People's names are often shortened in a similar way, such as "Gazza" for Gary, or "Smitty" for John Smith. Incomplete comparisons are sometimes used, such as "sweet as" or "full", "fully" or "heaps" to intensify a word. This was more common in regional Australia and South Australia but has been used in urban Australia for decades.
There are also differences in pronunciation and spelling. For example, the word "suit" is pronounced with a /ʉː/ sound after the /s/, and the word "lute" is pronounced with the same /ʉː/ sound after the /l/. The phoneme /l/ is pronounced as a "dark" (velarised) l ([ɫ]) in almost all positions, unlike other dialects such as Received Pronunciation or Hiberno (Irish) English. The trap-bath split is more complete in South Australia, with words like "dance", "advance", and "answer" pronounced with an /ɐː/ sound (as in "father") more frequently than in other states.
Australian English also has some unique discourse markers. For example, "but" may be used at the beginning of a sentence, as in "I don't want to go but". This is also found in Scottish English. The discourse markers "yeah no" and "no yeah" are used to mean "no" and "yes" respectively, and extended discourse markers of this nature are sometimes used for comedic effect.
There are also a number of ethnocultural dialects of Australian English that are spoken by people from some minority non-English speaking backgrounds. These contain features of General Australian English as adopted by the children of immigrants, blended with some non-English language features, such as Afro-Asiatic languages and languages of Asia. Samoan English is also influencing Australian English, along with other ethnolects including those of Lebanese and Vietnamese Australians.
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages
English is the majority language in Australia today, and Australian English has a distinctive accent and lexicon, differing slightly from other English varieties in grammar and spelling. However, before British colonisation, it is estimated that over 250 Aboriginal Australian languages were spoken. Today, around 120 to 170 Indigenous languages and dialects are still spoken, but many are endangered.
The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76,978 Indigenous Australians, 9.5% of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population. The number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who spoke an Indigenous language at home decreased from 12.1% in 2001 to 9.5% in 2021. The most common Indigenous languages include Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole), Kriol, Djambarrpuyngu, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Murrinh Patha, and Tiwi.
Yumplatok, or Torres Strait Creole, is a non-typical Pacific English Creole and is the main language of communication on the islands. It is the most widely spoken Indigenous language, with 7,596 speakers in 2021. Two other indigenous languages are spoken on the Torres Strait Islands: Kalaw Lagau Ya, also known as Kalau Kawau Ya, Kulkalgau Ya, and Kaiwaligau Ya, and Meriam Mir, a Papuan language.
There have been several instances of Australian politicians using Indigenous languages in parliament. In 1988, Trish Crossin became the first Senator to give a maiden speech in an Indigenous language, speaking in Gumatj, a Yolŋu dialect. In 2016, Senator Malarndirri McCarthy gave an Acknowledgement of Country in Yanyuwa.
Traditional Indigenous languages often incorporated sign systems to aid communication with the hearing impaired and to complement or replace verbal communication for cultural reasons. Many of these sign systems are still in use, and the Australian sign language Auslan was used at home by 16,242 people at the time of the 2021 census.
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Australian English variations
English is the majority language in Australia, with around 76% of Australians reporting speaking only English at home in the 2021 census. However, there are many variations and influences on Australian English. Australian English has a distinctive accent and lexicon, and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.
One of the most notable features of Australian English is the use of diminutives and hypocorisms, which are often used to indicate familiarity. For example, "afternoon" becomes "arvo", "breakfast" becomes "brekkie", and "mosquito" becomes "mozzie". Australians also have a habit of abbreviating words or giving them nicknames, and these nicknames can be further abbreviated with the addition of the suffix '-o', which originates from the Irish 'ó'. For example, Gary might become "Gazza", and John Smith might become "Smitty". Incomplete comparisons are also common in informal Australian English, such as "sweet as", and intensifiers like "full", "fully", or "heps" may precede a word for emphasis.
There are also variations in phonology between different regions of Australia. The most pronounced difference is between South Australia and the other states and territories. For example, words such as "dance", "advance", and "plant" are pronounced with /ɐː/ (as in father) in South Australia, while the older /æ/ (as in mad) is dominant elsewhere. L-vocalisation is also more common in South Australia. In Western Australia and Queensland, the vowels in words like "near" and "square" are typically realised as centring diphthongs ([nɪə, skweə]), while in other states they may be realised as monophthongs ([nɪː, skweː]).
Australian English has also been influenced by the languages of immigrant groups, particularly after the Second World War when there was an influx of refugees and displaced persons from Europe, and in the 21st century with increased immigration from Asia. The most common languages spoken in Australia after English include Mandarin, Arabic, Vietnamese, Cantonese, Punjabi, Greek, Italian, Hindi, Spanish, and Nepali. These languages have influenced the development of ethnocultural dialects of Australian English, with features of General Australian English adopted by the children of immigrants blended with some non-English language features. Samoan English, for example, is also influencing Australian English, as are the ethnolects of Lebanese and Vietnamese Australians.
In addition to these variations and influences, Australia also has a rich history of Indigenous languages. While many Indigenous languages have become extinct since 1950, there are still around 120 to 170 Indigenous languages and dialects spoken today, including sign languages. The 2021 census found that 76,978 Indigenous Australians spoke an Indigenous language at home, with the most common being Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole), Kriol, Djambarrpuyngu, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Murrinh Patha, and Tiwi.
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Australian slang
Australian English is the majority language of Australia today and has a distinctive accent and lexicon. It differs from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling. Australian English also has numerous ethnocultural dialects, spoken by people from some minority non-English-speaking backgrounds. These dialects contain features of General Australian English as adopted by the children of immigrants, blended with some non-English language features.
There are around 120 to 170 Indigenous languages and dialects spoken in Australia today, but many are endangered. The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76,978 Indigenous Australians. The most widely spoken Indigenous languages include Kriol and Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole). Other Indigenous languages with a significant number of speakers include Djambarrpuyngu, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Murrinh Patha, and Tiwi.
In addition to its distinct Indigenous languages, Australia has developed its own slang within the English language. Some common examples of Australian slang include "arvo" for "afternoon", "barbie" for "barbecue", "smoko" for "cigarette break", "Aussie" for "Australian", and "Straya" for "Australia". Australians also frequently use diminutives and hypocorisms, such as "Gazza" from Gary or "Smitty" from John Smith. The use of the suffix "-o" originates from the Irish suffix "ó", which is used in a similar manner.
Australian English also has some unique pronunciations and variations in phonology. For instance, the word "suit" may be pronounced as "/sʉːt/," and the phoneme "/l/" is often pronounced as a "dark" (velarised) l ([ɫ]). There are also regional variations in pronunciation, such as the trap-bath split, which is more common in South Australia, and the salary-celery merger, which is typical of Victorian English.
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Indigenous languages and dialects
Australia's Indigenous languages and dialects are numerous and varied, reflecting the country's diverse Indigenous cultures and communities. It is believed that there were around 250 distinct First Nations Peoples social groupings and a similar number of languages or varieties in the late 18th century. Today, there are more than 250 Indigenous languages and around 800 dialects spoken across Australia. The precise number is uncertain, with estimates ranging from 250 to 363.
The Indigenous languages of Australia belong to several language families and isolates, with the widespread Pama-Nyungan family being the most common. The relationships between these language families are not entirely clear, and many languages became extinct with the settlement and encroachment of colonial societies, which broke up Indigenous cultures. The status and knowledge of Aboriginal languages today vary, with many facing endangerment. In 2020, 90% of the remaining languages, which number just over 100, were considered endangered.
Tasmania, for example, had around 5-16 languages before British colonisation, but these were gradually lost, with the last speaker of a traditional Tasmanian language, Fanny Cochrane Smith, dying in 1905. Palawa kani is a constructed language that aims to preserve and revive Tasmanian Aboriginal languages, built from surviving words.
Indigenous languages are specific to particular places and people, with some areas like Arnhem Land having many different languages spoken over a small area. In contrast, larger geographic regions like the Western Desert have dialects of a single language. The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76,978 Indigenous Australians. The most commonly spoken Indigenous languages include Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole), Kriol, Djambarrpuyngu, Pitjantjatjara, Warlpiri, Murrinh Patha, and Tiwi.
Efforts to preserve and promote Indigenous languages are ongoing, with 22 Indigenous language centres across Australia dedicated to this cause. Bilingual education is also being successfully implemented in some communities, and there is a resurgence of ethnic pride among Aboriginal peoples, with government programs assisting in language maintenance and literacy.
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Frequently asked questions
English is the national language of Australia.
Australians speak around 300 different languages, including many Indigenous languages.
The most common languages spoken in Australia besides English are Mandarin, Arabic, Cantonese, Vietnamese, and Italian.
According to the 2021 census, 72% of people in Australia speak only English at home.
Some Indigenous languages spoken in Australia include Kriol, Yumplatok (Torres Strait Creole), Warlpiri, and Djambarrpuyngu.
