LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 26.FEB.2000 (06) [E]

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From: Andrew Beckwith [andrewbe at dove.net.au]
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 26.FEB.2000 (04) [E]

I live in the state of South Australia and it is usually fairly easy to pick
an Eastern States (New South Wales and Victoria) accent.  However, it only
really  applies to few words which sound different. I am not sure if this
has been researched and I suspect it may only apply to younger group of
people (i.e. approximately less then 50).  It may also be a confined to
working and lower middle class groups.

In the Eastern states the pronunciation of "oo" in pool and School is
markedly different.  In South Australia we say a much shorter "oo" sound
similar to what you would hear on the BBC.  However, a person from the
Eastern States, especially Sydney, would pronounce the "oo" sound in a more
drawn out way and with a nasal quality.

Similarly the "a" sound in graph is quite different.  In the Eastern states
people would say Graph with a short a sound similar to the a in "cat".  In
South Australia we would say pronounce the "a" in graph more like and "ar"
of "ah" sound.

When I was a child at school, children who had emigrated from these states
would certainly stand out and may even be occasionally teased about these
differences.   The school I went to would be defined as working class and so
it is not simply a matter of working class children coming into a middle
class area.

Regards

Andrew Beckwith

-----Original Message-----
From: Lowlands Languages & Cultures
[mailto:LOWLANDS-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG]On Behalf Of Lowlands-L
Administrator
Sent: Sunday, 27 February 2000 9:48 AM
To: LOWLANDS-L at LISTSERV.LINGUISTLIST.ORG
Subject: LL-L: "Language varieties" LOWLANDS-L, 26.FEB.2000 (04) [E]

 =======
I believe David Crystal's _Encyclopedia of the English Language_
confirms my
suspicion that in fact there are no regional accents in Australia.
Despite
local beliefs to the contrary (concerning particularly the /a/ in
"dance"),
countless research projects have tried to find regional differences, be
it
in pronunciation or vocabulary, but all have failed. Interestingly,
even
Tasmanian speech is regionally indeterminable from mainland Australian;
whereas New Zealand speech is quite distinct (compare, for example,
"fish
and chips" said in the two accents).

These studies have, however, confirmed what Ron said about differences
in accent because of age or class. Further details can be found in the
above publication.

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