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 that the largest coral reef is located.
This continent is not only interesting for its nature. Representatives of many nationalities live here, and the question involuntarily arises of which language is official in Australia? You will find the answer to this question in our article.
Australia's cultural and ethnic diversity
The state is officially called the Australian Union, as it includes, in addition to the mainland of Australia, several islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans (including the large island of Tasmania). After a visit to Australia by the famous navigator James Cook, she became a British colony. After that, they began to use it as a place where all criminal and undesirable elements of Great Britain and Ireland were sent to exile.
However, after the discovery of gold on the mainland, both the British and residents of other countries began to migrate here voluntarily. The arrival of foreigners significantly changed the lives of Native Australians, which led to a significant reduction in their numbers. At the moment, the number of Europeans in Australia is 90%, Asians about 10%, but Aboriginal people - only 1%.
Australia: the official language of the country
Due to the diversity of nationalities, the number of individual languages in Australia is approximately 400. What languages are spoken in Australia? The largest group of immigrant languages are Arabic, Vietnamese, Spanish, and Hindi. Of course, except for English, which is spoken by most of the country's population.
When the question arises of which official language is in Australia, the most obvious and supposed answer is English. In fact, Australia does not have an official language. And although 80% of the population uses English in their communication, the status of an official language in the Australian Constitution is not assigned to it.
Features of Australian English
So, behind the scenes, English is Australia's official language. True, this language is not at all British, it has a number of its features and is called Australian English. "Strain" is another of its names, which is consonant with the word "Australia" in English pronunciation.
Interestingly, the written Australian version of English is no different from the British version. As for vocabulary, its composition, in addition to British words, includes American words, as well as tokens from the languages of the native inhabitants of the continent.
Unlike the British, Australians often shorten words, miss some sounds, instead of pronouncing them clearly in phrases, as the British do.
Australian English has slang expressions and words other than British. For example, instead of the British word countryside ("countryside"), an Australian will be more accustomed to hear a bush, and instead of 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.
The genesis of Australian English
Since originally the southern mainland was considered an English colony, the main and official language of Australia was British English. However, Australia was inhabited by immigrants from various regions of England and the British Isles, and later representatives of other countries of the world.
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 influence the formation of a new dialect. Most of the exiles had no education, so their speech was characterized by a reduction in pronunciation, and the use of various jargon and colloquial speech.
What languages do Aboriginal people speak in Australia?
The indigenous languages of Australia are referred to by the common name 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 spoke Australian.
There were more than 250 Australian languages. Most of them are now at risk of extinction. Indigenous people speak many Australian dialects that can be so varied that often speakers of different dialects do not understand each other.
Australian languages are divided into 16 language families and 12 separate languages. Almost all the dialects of the Australian aborigines are agglutinative (that is, the words do not change according to the endings, various prefixes and suffixes simply “stick” to them, which carry only one meaning).
Conclusion
Now you know a little more about the amazing continent, where representatives of various nationalities and cultures live together. Many residents of the southern country believe that Australian English is the official language of Australia, even though it does not have such a status legally.