Speaking Our Language: The Story of Australian EnglishFor the first time ever the story of Australian English is about to be told in full. As part of our Centenary celebrations Oxford University Press Australia is proud to be publishing this significant contribution to the national landscape. Speaking our Language is written for people who want to know where Australian English came from, what the forces were that molded it, why it takes its present form, and where it is going. The subtitle of this book, The Story of Australian English, derives in part from the chronological story that the book traces: the story begins with Joseph Banks and Captain James Cook collecting indigenous words such as kangaroo and quoll in northern Queensland in 1770, and it continues from there right up to the present day, when Australian English is firmly established as the natural and national language of Australia. It is a 'story' in another sense as well: the story of development of Australian English is inextricably intertwined with the stories of Australian history and culture, and of the development of Australian identity. Of all the markers of identity, language is by far the most significant. This language we speak, and which gives voice to our Australian English is central to the process of giving voice to our Australian identity: in important ways, we are what we speak, and we are how we speak. Speaking our Language grew out of the research of the Australian National Dictionary Centre (ANDC) at the Australain National University. The Centre is named after the Australian National Dictionary, which was first published in 1988, and which includes some 10,000 Australian words. The Centre is now busy finalizing a second edition of the Australian National Dictionary, and expects to add about 4500 new words and meanings. |
From inside the book
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Page 34
... land . The noun location describes an allocation of a grant of land , or the process of establishing a settler in a place . Thus unlocated refers to land that has not been allocated to a settler , and while it is generally synonymous ...
... land . The noun location describes an allocation of a grant of land , or the process of establishing a settler in a place . Thus unlocated refers to land that has not been allocated to a settler , and while it is generally synonymous ...
Page 110
... land , or simply the far - back ( 1898 ) , or far - out ( 1879 ) land or further - back ( 1887 ) or further - out ( 1895 ) . And this is the area that is described as back o'beyond ( 1888 ) and back o'Bourke ( Bourke is the name of a ...
... land , or simply the far - back ( 1898 ) , or far - out ( 1879 ) land or further - back ( 1887 ) or further - out ( 1895 ) . And this is the area that is described as back o'beyond ( 1888 ) and back o'Bourke ( Bourke is the name of a ...
Page 111
... land , but after that it referred to those who settled on Crown land , which in the past had been taken over by squatters . The members of this new farming group were called free selectors ( 1864 ) and the process of taking up the land ...
... land , but after that it referred to those who settled on Crown land , which in the past had been taken over by squatters . The members of this new farming group were called free selectors ( 1864 ) and the process of taking up the land ...
Contents
Chapter One Words from Indigenous Languages | 1 |
The Natural World | 19 |
The Social World | 39 |
Copyright | |
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Common terms and phrases
Aboriginal English Aboriginal languages Aboriginal Words animal appears Australian accent Australian English Australian National Dictionary Australian terms Australian words became borrowings Britain British dialect Broad Australian Bulletin Sydney bush bushranger called Canberra chapter chook chum colony compounds contexts convicts Cultivated Australian cultural describe developed diggers dingo diphthongs distinctively Australian early emancipists England English in Australia especially ethnolect evidence example flora and fauna free settlers gangs goldfields Hobart idioms indigenous Irish Journal kangaroo kind land larrikin linguistic lolly London mallee meaning Melbourne migrants mulga muttonbird myth native Ned Kelly nineteenth century Northern Nyungar origin period person phrase pidgin platypus prisoner pronunciation Queensland recorded regional rhyming slang sense servant sheep social sounds South Australia South Wales speak speakers spoken standard English sterling swag Tasmania ticket of leave tree twentieth century verb Victoria wallaby Western Australia wild Wiradjuri World Zealand Zealand English