The official language of Australia. What languages are spoken by the inhabitants of the Green Continent?

Australia is the driest and smallest continent on the planet. Despite this, most of the plants and animals on it are unique. In addition, it is on the Australian coast is the largest coral reef.

Not only is its nature interesting in this continent. Representatives of many nationalities live here, and the question arises what language is official in Australia? The answer to this question you will find in our article.

The cultural and ethnic diversity of Australia

The state is officially called the Australian Union, since it includes, in addition to the mainland of Australia, also several islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (including the large island of Tasmania). After the visit to Australia of the famous seafarer James Cook, she became a British colony. After that, it was used as a place where all criminal and undesirable elements of Great Britain and Ireland were sent to the link.

However, after the discovery of gold on the mainland, both Englishmen and residents of other countries voluntarily began to migrate here. The arrival of foreigners significantly changed the lives of indigenous Australians, which led to a significant reduction in their numbers. At the moment, the number of Europeans in Australia is 90%, the Asians about 10%, but the Aborigines - only 1%.

Australia: the official language of the country

Because of the diversity of nationalities, the number of individual languages in Australia is about 400. What languages are spoken in Australia? The largest number of immigrant languages are Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Hindi. Of course, except for English, which speaks most of the country's population.

When there is a question about what is the official language in Australia, then the most obvious and supposed answer is English. In fact, there is no official language in Australia. And although 80% of the population uses English in their communication, the status of the official language in the Australian Constitution is not fixed.

Features of Australian English

So, behind the scenes English is the official language of Australia. True, this language is not at all British, it has a number of its features and is called Australian English. "Strane" is another name for it, which is in tune with the word "Australia" in English pronunciation.

It is interesting that in writing, the Australian version of English is absolutely no different from the British version. As for vocabulary, its composition, in addition to British words, includes American words, as well as lexemes from the indigenous languages of the continent.

Unlike the British, Australians often shorten words, skip some sounds, instead of clearly pronouncing them in phrases, like the British do.

In Australian English there are slang expressions and words other than the British version. For example, instead of the British word countryside ("countryside"), an Australian will be more likely to hear bush, and instead of a friend ("buddy") - mate or cobber.

Based on these facts, we can safely say that the official language of Australia is not British English, but its Australian version.

Genesis of Australian English

Since the original southern continent was considered an English colony, the main and official language of Australia was British English. However, Australia was inhabited by immigrants from different regions of England and the British Isles, and later by representatives of other countries.

British English was influenced by other languages, as well as many dialects of English, not to mention jargon and slang. As a result, the children of the first European settlers, experiencing the influence of such linguistic diversity, created a completely new dialect, which is now called Australian English.

Of course, the fact that convicts were sent to the mainland could not but affect the formation of a new dialect. Most of the exiles did not have an education, so their pronunciation was characterized by a reduction in pronunciation, and the use of various jargon and vernacular.

What languages do the aborigines speak in Australia?

The languages of the indigenous people of Australia are called the general name of the Australian, although the question of their genetic relationship remains open. By the end of the twentieth century, the number of Australian aborigines was almost halved. By that time, only half of them owned Australian languages.

Initially, the Australian languages were more than 250. Now most of them are subject to the threat of extinction. The indigenous population speaks a lot of Australian dialects, which can be so different that often the carriers of different dialects do not understand each other.

Australian languages are divided into 16 language families and 12 separate languages. Almost all adverbs of Australian aborigines are agglutinative (that is, words do not change by endings; different prefixes and suffixes are simply "glued" to them, which carry only one meaning).

Conclusion

Now you know a little more about the amazing continent, where representatives of different nationalities and cultures live together. Many residents of the southern country believe that it is Australian English that is the official language of Australia, even though it does not have such a legal status.