There Are Many Varieties of Australian English and They Can Be Classified Into Following Overt Or Covert Norms

There are many varieties of Australian English and they can be classified into following overt or covert norms. As a result, different varieties will have different levels of prestige- different levels of esteem and social value1- amongst different groups. Overtly prestigious varieties, such as Standard Australian English, may have more prestige overall in common society; however covertly prestigious ones, such as Teenspeak, Aboriginal English and migrant ethnolects, will be more valuable within certain social subgroups.

Standard Australian English, codified in dictionaries, such as The Macquarie Dictionary, and in the Cambridge Australian English style guide, is often considered more prestigious than any other variety in Australia. It is the variety that has the “greatest clout” in contemporary Australian society. It has overt prestige- its linguistic features, such as using “good” grammar, for example no double negatives (“I don’t want anything to eat” instead of “I don’t want nothing to eat”) and no “incorrect” pronouns (“myself” not “meself”, “what are you up to…” not “what are youse up to tomorrow?”), are seen in society as “proper”, and it is taught in grammar guides and schools as the “correct” variety and other non-standard ones as “substandard”, “lazy” and so not to be used. Thus Australian Standard English is expected to be used in more formal contexts, such as court cases and essay-writing. Furthermore, using this standard variety, which is directly associated with higher social classes and the culturally dominant group, makes the user appear well-educated, refined, wealthy, and higher in the hierarchy and this perception is widespread through society. However, using this variety does not always result in these positive perceptions and prestige; in Australia, using Standard English and so seen as being more intelligent or a high achiever- a “tall poppy” – is often looked down on, due to our egalitarian and working-class culture, and so can be viewed as being untrustworthy, egotistic etc. Again, there are other situations and contexts when using this overtly prestigious variety would be unfavourable to the speaker, such as with intimate family and friends; adopting a covertly prestigious one would be “better.”

Non-standard varieties are covertly prestigious varieties and often times are more esteemed than the overtly standard. The way we wish to be seen is extremely important to us and we use language to reflect and construct our individual and group identity. This is done by many by deviating from the “accepted norms”, creating “in-group” markers, such as slang, and so reinforcing solidarity and belonging, while excluding those outsiders. Teen speak is a prime example; Teenagers generally want to be distinct from their parents’ generation and so have constructed their own identity. Teenagers use their own slang, such as “lit”- fantastic (“the party was so lit”), “kek”- to laugh out loud, “throw shade” – give someone a dirty look or say something nasty, “Gucci” -good/cool and numerous other examples2, excluding the often “clueless” adults and parents, who would also not regard this variety highly at all; only in- groupers value their own variety. Teens also use language to mark themselves apart from other teens; for example a “nerdy” group of teenage girls avoided the “normal” teen slang, engaged in word play and favoured hyper-correction to create their clique and identity. Other teens, especially males, may use taboo language, dysphemisms, and swearing to create their own “tough”, “macho” identity, excluding others. If a teen, who used more

1 Richard Nordquist, “Linguistic Prestige”, accessed 9/2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/linguistic- prestige-1691533 2 Brenda Breslauer and A. Pawlowski, “Teens Tell All: Your guide to teen slang, from bae to woke” accessed 9/2018 https://www.today.com/parents/teen-slang-glossary-what-does-it-mean-t105486 standard language, wanted to be part of the “tough” group (or any other group for that matter), s/he would be under extreme pressure to conform to their language usages or risk never being included. Thus many language usages to create in-groups are covertly prestigious and are often more prestigious in these cases than using the overtly prestigious standard Australian English. However again using a covertly prestigious variety is not always favourable, for example in a court case, where standard language is expected, and not doing so is seen as “wrong”, “disrespectful.” Likewise excluding others is seen as unkind, callous and perhaps bullying and would not reflect well on the writer/speaker in certain contexts.

There are many other varieties in Australian language, such as Aboriginal English. Aboriginal English evolved from English, out of contact with colonizers, and Indigenous languages. This is evident in their lexicology, with lexemes taken directly from their original languages (“gubba” derogatory term for a white man, “bunji”-friend3) while some taken from English have semantically shifted and taken on a different meaning (“deadly”- excellent/amazing, “mob”- family /tribal group), 4 and differing syntax and grammar, for example, doubly marked plurality (“childrens”), and creole transitive verb suffixes of –em/-im (“we seeim”). *There is also a continuum for accent, ranging from “heavy” (sounding like their traditional languages) and “light” (sounds close to Australian English). This variety has more prestige with Aboriginal communities than Standard Australian English or any other variety. An Aboriginal man with two varieties, his Aboriginal English and Standard Australian English would likely be reproached for sounding too like a “white fella” or talking “flash” if he used the latter in his community, evidence of Standard Australian English having less prestige. However, inversely, when he was elsewhere and employed the former, it would not have the same prestige as Standard English.

Finally, other varieties were formed for users to create their own Australian identity while recognizing their heritage and cultural background, like migrant ethnolects. Ethnolects, such as Lebspeak and Wogspeak, began to emerge to separate themselves from Anglo- Australians but also from their parents, as stated by Warren 1999 – “young people of the second generation adopt a distinctive accent and speech patterns which distinguish them from both their parent’s values and from those of the Anglo host culture.” For example, users of Lebspeak will often change “this” into “dis” but will also utilize Arabic lexis from their cultural background, such as "Shoo" for "what's up?", "yallah"-"let's go/goodbye" and "habib”- "darling."5 Many Italians and Greeks also have moved away from the Ethnic Broad accent and linguistic features of their parents, wishing to be not typecast as working class migrant stereotypes as portrayed by “Wog boys” and “Effie.” These ethnolects are often employed when speaking to their parents and all members of their community, no matter their age, and sometimes to others, who are not first-language English speakers. Thus these ethnolects have much more covert prestige than the overtly prestigious Standard Australian English with these speakers, distancing themselves from both Anglo-Australians and parents, while also simultaneously reflecting their ethnic background and marking in-group membership of their community. However, these users will often not use their ethnolect

3 “27 Aboriginal words and phrases that all Australian’s should know” accessed 9/2018 https://www.welcometocountry.org/26-aboriginal-words-australians-should-know/ 4 ibid 5“It's our own strain of Strine, habib” accessed 9/2018 https://www.smh.com.au/national/its-our- own-strain-of-strine-habib-20090308-8sgx.html when talking to most interlocutors, using their mainstream variety, for ease of communication and as it would no longer be prestigious to these outsiders.

Whether one variety is more prestigious than another in Australia depends on the context and situation. It is true that Standard Australian English is, on the whole, considered to be the most prestigious and upheld as the “correct” version. However in subgroups of Australian society, their own covertly prestigious varieties will have much more prestige than Standard English.

Bibliography:

Breslauer, B and Pawlowski, A, “Teens Tell All: Your guide to teen slang, from bae to woke” accessed 9/2018 https://www.today.com/parents/teen-slang-glossary-what-does-it-mean- t105486

Burridge, Kate, et al. Living Lingo: VCE English Language. VATE, 2009.

Fox, Kirsten, et al. English Language for Senior Students: a Guide to Metalanguage. Insight Publications, 2016.

Nordquist, Richard, “Linguistic Prestige”, accessed 9/2018, https://www.thoughtco.com/linguistic-prestige-1691533

“27 Aboriginal words and phrases that all Australian’s should know” accessed 9/2018 https://www.welcometocountry.org/26-aboriginal-words-australians-should-know/

“It's our own strain of Strine, habib” accessed 9/2018 https://www.smh.com.au/national/its- our-own-strain-of-strine-habib-20090308-8sgx.html