Rob Reacts to... Where Did The Australian Accent Come From? 

“Sweet as bro” is more Kiwi than Aussie

Re your question re the aboriginal accents.....urban aboriginals do have similar accents to other Australians...Many aboriginals who live in the bush and in remote areas speak their own language and English is their second language

I am Aboriginal my accent is proper Aussie though. I grew up in the country and not the city. The town i lived in was mostly a white school and that though so thats how i think i didnt keep an Aboriginal accent. Aboriginal people in the bush and remote areas have different accents though as English is often the 2nd language. A lot of City Aboriginals have aussie accents though. It can honestly vary a lot.

That little Island down there. Tasmania. Is actually roughly the size of Ireland haha

Australians are notorious for adopting accents. We constantly absorb the language around us. This can happen in a very short period of time, even days or weeks. We will pick up on someone"s phrases or intonations and incorporate them into our conversations. The reasons behind this may be many. It could be adapting our speech to what they are used to so as to ease conversation, it could be an attempt to fit in socially, or WE ARE JUST TAKING THE PISS. There is nothing more infuriating to an aussie than to see an expat lose most of their accent. At that point they have sold out and become a yank or a pom.

Cate Blanchett's accent is largely cultivated as she spends a lot of time between the US and England. It sounds far more English than a Aussie standard and quite different since her college days. Hugh's is very Sydney upper middle class sounding and Steve's is typical remote Queensland. Queensland's usually end each sentence with 'Hey'.

Alright, I feel it needs to be said. The strength of the Aussie accent is dependent on who you’re talking to. When I’m online and meet another Aussie, the accent gets progressively stronger and stronger. But it’s milder when I’m talking to anyone else.

If the British have a class system at level 10, I would rate Australias at about 3.

Wominjeka, Rob. (hello in Woiwurrung) Deadly topic! The most extreme difference in accents is between the privately educated city-siders (more English) and country born and bred bushies (strine). Our class system is less defined but don't kid yourself, it is alive and well, along with the prejudice and aspirations.

There were (and are ) hundreds of Aboriginal Language groups . Some groups rarely use English these days while others speak entirely in English , others still use a mixture .

We do have a "class system" but accent isn't really part of it. It's also socially unacceptable to talk about it, otherwise the tall poppy syndrom will show itself very quickly

There are thousands of different dialects among the original inhabitants

Yeah *nah* = I get what you’re saying but disagree. *Yeah* nah = I agree with what you’re saying, no need to repeat it. *Nah* yeah = Ok, maybe I do agree with you. Nah *yeah* = yeah totally.

There were around 250 Aboriginal languages spoken and dialects within those languages at the onset of European settlers. Now only about 120 first languages are left. There is a map of Indigenous Australians that show groups and clans that pretty much covered the whole of Australia even the remotest parts of Australia.

7:24 "no real accent" The delusion is real mate 😂😂

My grandfather was a drover in the years before WW2, similar to Hugh Jackman's role in the movie Australia. He spoke a lot of words and slang that had Aboriginal influence to them. Even 40 years later. But also.. I think that all of Australia has some Aboriginal influence. In the city it's less noticeable and you'll find less influence, and more influence from private school education, universities etc. Probably stemming back to the English talked about in this video. There is a bit of a poshness there. As you go more rural, there's a larger Aboriginal influence. It seems like a universal thing in most countries, the cities tend to speak more neat, tidy and posh. The further you are away from the cities, it starts to get rough around the edges. While at the same time being less uptight and more layed back. There is a bit of a class element to it as well. In terms of upper class vs lower class. I'm seeing many contradicting opinions of Australia accents.. it's a bit of an enigma.. haha. In terms of Aboriginal accent, it's hard to describe with words. But words or places like Kookaburra, Billabong, Dandenong, Wooloongabba, Humpybong, and Wogga Wogga are based from Aboriginal meanings or words. Some of them have been changed or altered, but you can still see some of the patterns in the sounds of them. There are so many different Aboriginal accents or dialects, it's really hard to generalise.

Australia has a high immigration especially after WW2 when many southern Europeans settled here to start a new life.. Something not mentioned was the ethnic background of the people that determines their accent. Many of my friends have different accents based on the nationality of their parents. For example the "wog" accent is that of someone of Italian/Greek heritage (including myself). Search Effie for a caricature of it.

I think you will find that we do over-exaggerate our Aussie accent for fun when talking to people from overseas, In American movies if they have an Australian they will make him or her so Aussie that it is embarrassing to us here in Aus. If you travel to Different towns and states in Australia you will see a difference. I was going to comment on Tasmanians but I thought Yeah Nah.....

We don’t have a class system, but we do have extreme disparity in wealth and opportunity.

The Australian accent emerged quickly among the children of the first free and convict settlers. It was not influenced by indigenous peoples. The question about how indigenous people speak and their accents is pretty complicated. There are many examples of indigenous Australians whose accents are at the cultivated end of the Australian accent continuum. Many indigenous people speak English with broad Australian accents often with a distinctly indigenous intonation that locals can distinguish. Many indigenous people speak a non-standard English dialect influenced by an indigenous language substrate. There are also indigenous people for whom English is a second language; their accents vary depending on which indigenous language is their first language.

Deffinitly different if you're an Aussie. You can pick it. More so in the cities. The country (bush) is mostly the same. Melbourne Sydney Adelaide and Brisbane all sound different.

There are variations on the accent depending on where you live but they're very suttle. Usually more to do with the words used than how they're said.

There are literally a couple of hundred aboriginal languages with 100s and hundreds of more dialects. Fun fact, none of the known languages has an equivalent word for ‘disability’. Diseases like bronchitis, measles, scarlet fever, chicken pox and even the common cold wiped out large swathes of Aboriginal people. Also VD, TB & smallpox (dangerous for both races) - some estimates of the impact on the Aboriginal population are in the vicinity of 60% wiped out.

I’m in Western Australia and we have so many elders ( aborigines) in different areas in the largest state in Australia 🇦🇺 Northern ,Southern , central ,Eastern . But it also applies to all states in Australia 🇦🇺 and territories.

Fun fact: “Australia” was never a British colony. The commonwealth of Australia was federated in 1901 from the former British colonies of: Victoria, New South Wales, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and Western Australia. There was no legal entity called “Australia” until that point.

Had to laugh at the ads during this video. Two of them were for Milo. RU-vid is spying on you 😂

An Indigenous Australian map breaks the continent into over 800 separate Indigenous countries, each country was the territory of a particular tribe and had its own Indigenous language. The majority of Indigenous Australians still speak their traditional language and use English as a second language. They often have a very distinct Indigenous Accent.

The whole thing that we end sentences with questions marks is false, and it bugs me 😃 there are some that do, but I would say it’s a generalisation. The show Kath and Kim takes the piss out of the Ocker Aussie accent. I would say our accents are more to do with socio- eco and education .

have a listen to old footage from say the 40's and i think we sound more English than now

Merely 30-40 years ago, we sounded more English than we do now. So it is true that our accent is still changing and developing.

I laughed when you said your accent was… no accent. That’s how I see myself in Australia 🤪

We do have working class, middle class, upper class etc, however, we aren't all that into distinguishing between them and are happy to mix socially etc

The slight differences in the accent where I lived in the western suburbs of Sydney was a real mix. It wasn't different from one area to another, the differences were all around in equal measure, like what you mentioned with the softer and harsher sounds. You could walk down a road and hear the slight difference from one person to another. And if I travelled an hour east to the City, the accent didn't change at all. It was the same subtle differences.

When the first fleet arrived, they nearly left again because the pub was shut.

There was one time rum replaced money in aus.

Some suttle differences do occur due to region. For example I am one of 4 brothers, we all grew up in Sydney in a poor to middle class family. Two stayed in Sydney , one went to Queensland and I moved to Victoria. My Brother in Queensland and I share a very similar accent, so much so that my father would often mix us up when talking on the phone. However I have noticed suttle differences in my Queensland brother's accent. Over time he speaks alot slower than i do and this is a trait often attributed to those living in Queensland. Some think it relates to a layed back lifestyle that you dont get in the southern states.

My husband was a blue collar worker, he was a maintenance fitter but then he went to night school and he ended up in charge of the work shop, hiring and firing , project manager. Then you have the white collar worker , they work in an office

In Australia there are more 250 indigenous languages including around 800 dialects.

the whole ending a sentence with a question comes from you guys, a lot of brits end a sentence with yeah

Here are a couple of videos explaining the 3 common accents and also some of our most common slang ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZnioDeQNlxQ.html ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-Ei7230KxvCg.html

A interesting read is The Sydney Language by Jakelin Troy produced with the assistance of the Australian Dictionaries Project and the Australian Insitute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. Written to revive the interest in the long "extinct" Aboriginal language of the Sydney District. It draws on the work of Lieutenant William Dawes a scientist on the First Fleet. Part of this is based on the phonology or sound system and Dawes othographic table. Interestingly Dawes was from Portsmouth and spoke a dialect of "south-eastern English".

I like my Islander friends taking the piss out of the Aussie accent. Very funny.

Rob, Yes, when the English came here the Aboriginal people around Sydney came down with Measles and Small Pox and many of them around Sydney died and it happened as the white man spread through out Australia. We were mostly living on the coast and did not get over the Great Dividing Range until 1813…..and then we spread like wild fire, taking the infections with us. There were over one hundred different Aboriginal languages in Australia before the white man came and with some Aboriginals today, English is their second language.

There were at least 300 aboriginal languages across the country - as well as quite a lot of dialects.

being an Aussie living in England, unless a person knows an Actual Australian, i ususally get asked if i'm from other parts of the world first, or they here a twang but can't place it. so the first part of the vid i already break lol . I've actually found that People from Ipswich UK sound very much like Queenslanders ( it gets even more confusing when they just say ipswich cos there's an Ipswich in Queensland too). Yeah we do have a working class system. the interaction between Aboriginals and Early settlers apart from warfare was fairly minimal, and there are a load of different Aboriginal Language like 250+ different ones, it wasn't till later years with the expansion throughout Aus and into other states that contact with indiginous became more common. Also the accent does change depending on where you're from, Qlders sound different to Victorians, who sound different to Crow Eaters (south Aussies) we use the term Ocker for the more rough and simple they sound so Qlders and NT sound real ocker, where as Victorians sound a bit more refined, then you get To Adelaide where we've the most milder of the accents ( this is due to the 10 pound boats in the 60's though)

And just as a note: Aboriginals were here WAY WAY WAY before the Poms decided to declare this place Terra Nullus. And I know this is aimed at the original video, but hey, you learnt summat new as well. Re viruses,, YES some tribes were wiped out.

Many convicts came from the east of London bringing their cockney accent with them, which is where a large part of the accent comes from. Smallpox wiped out a vast number 50% plus of the indigeneos population.

Well Rob, the Isle of Wight get a mention 😮 not the nicest mention 😂 I'm from cosham, Portsmouth and I've lived on the island for 40 yrs and I'm still a foreigner or overner! all my relatives still live around Portsmouth and I get the same old jokes' have you got electricity yet?and the classic if on the ferry' we are approaching the island now so turn you watches back 50yrs'I find it funny and refer to the island as Alcatraz and that my wife was born and inbred on the island😂great video again it's different from others just churning out the same old stuff. Cheers mate 👍✌️🍻

Dont confuse accent with dialect. Accent is pronunciation based, dialect is vocabulary based.

Canberra is an upper class city and people’s accents are somewhat more refined. When I lived in a small country we called our meal at night ‘tea’. Came to Canberra and they call it ‘dinner’. I have never heard a Canberran call it ‘tea’.

Keeping mouths closed because of flys was part of it ..& loads of convicts were Irish & Cockneys.

haha yes rob you should look at the crazy names of places down here in Tasmania

Captain Sparrow in Pirates of Caribbean sometimes sounds an Aussie one or a Cockney accent. It’s hard to pick it at times.

Some aboriginal communities were decimated by the diseases that Europeans brought with them. We do have classes, but they're not as pronounced as British ones, we don't have a class "system" per-se. Also, there are many many aboriginal languages / dialects, these can (but don't always) affect their accents when speaking English.

There are slight variations from state to state but generally it's quite similar, South Australia has biggest variation followed by WA

I'm Australian and have ancestors from Croydon, Consett [ north England ] Yorkshire and Wales so even within a family there is some Dialect Levelling. My Ancestor from Consett travelled the world in the 19 century starting in about 1850 travelled to America twice, Australia, he attended all fairs in Europe at that time and had two thousand year artifacts from Pomaii

The broad Aussie accent or “strine” come from the outback and far North Queensland. Basically they started to speak with their teeth closed and would clip words down to try to keep out the flies hence the strained sound rather than the rounded vowel sound you’ll find in south Australia or Western Australia.

i watched a doco about English language. words were pronounced feaver instead of feather and so on. A royal created a new dictionary to differentiate Lower class from the royals so words like feather were created where feaver was the original English accent

The accents in Australia all vary depending on where you live.

Watch Eric Banner play Poyda (Peter) to hear a great example of the Australian “wog” accent. This is the accent of Greek, Italian, Croatian, Lebanese and other Mediterranean immigrants. Most common in northern and western suburbs of Melbourne.

No Aussies use “sweet as bro” 😂

An Englishman was moving to Ireland and wanted to "fit in". His doctor said that he could remove 10% of his brain and he would then have an Irish accent. After the operation the surgeon was embarrassed. He told the patient that he had read the request wrongly and had removed 90% of his brain, leaving only 10%. The patient replied "No worries mate, she'll be right . . . fair dinkum!" (told to me by a Pommy mate).

My Great Grandmother was sent to Tasmania as a convict & her accent was totally different to my Father's who came from Louth.....

Australia has 4 'general' accents that essentially radiate out from the state capitals, there are regional differences e.g. South Australians are a little more English, New South Welshmen more harsh and elongated (listen to them pronounce the name Cam, it it's an elongated Kem) but again it's not universal. The 3 accents are as described in the video. The 4th is similar in concept to what the English call MLE (Multicultural London English). Australia has something similar that we would colloquially call the 'Wog Accent', the letter L is quite distinguishable, or the word hour as 2 syllables. This accent is often parodied on television and youtube.

I've seen videos from this bloke before, and l wasn't impressed. He's a bit superficial. Apparently, Australian english has the "flattest" vowel sounds of all. This makes it hard for others to impersonate successfully, but we can more easily impersonate other accents. There are 3 languages in Australia; strine, which is mostly slang, swearing and abbreviations. Used mostly by bogans, (pronounced, bow gns). Conversational, which is what is used most of the time, it has less slang and swearing. And formal, as used in government documents, legislation, religious services etc. Accents are separate, and range from broard to normal. Words per minute can be anywhere from very slow to machine gun fast. Mix it all together to get the various Aussie accents.

Great video mate, to completely honest, you just have to come to Australia and visit all sides of the major cities and only then you'll discover the true accents of Australia - the ones no one gets to hear and are also the most distinct. Living in west Melbourne, the accent changes quite a bit going 20 mins out or in to Melbourne from where I am. I drove to a place called sunbury ( a place i don't go often) but is only 15 mins away. Got to the pub and the first person asked where I was from just from how I spoke.

In Australia the accents varie from general accent, for example Chris Hemsworth, broad accent ( Steve Irwin, people from the outback or in the bush), and the cultivated accent, more like British accent ( you'll hear this accent from TV reporters.

We love abbreviations and shorten words all the time but best of all Aussies are most hospitable to everyone

a) Aboriginal people from remote areas have their own distinct accents based upon their owm language rhythms, in urbans areas and among the young they still seem to carry a slightly different accent from the Anglo/Aussies. b) Yes, the First Fleeter's were loaded with viruses and disease that escaped into the Aboriginal population, which had no immunity, they died. c) There is a class stratification, it is very fluid and based more on money or country/city issues d0 I don't know where these "workers" come from - the convicts were the workers. The First Fleet was an almost total male package, made up of the Navy with Arthur Philip in charge - he was a country lad from Whitby (definitely not "upper"), the NSW or Rum Corp (the goalers) and the convicts plus the "flogging Parson/ The convict were from all classes and most weretransported for petty crimes, political agitation and debt. Regardless of background the Brutes of the Rum Corp treated them all the same - brutally e) There were over 260 distinct Aboriginal languages in 1788, and a large number are still spoken today outside of the major urban centres. The settlers picked up words and phrases which have become part of the Aussie lingo. f) Adelaide matrons were renowned for their version of RP, Brissies bright young things are adopting a West Coast USA twang, Victoria's kids say Fillum for film, and in NSW they have kassels rather than carsels g) I thought Cate spoke elvish on a good day and Russian on a bad one.

There are over 300 different Aboriginal nations identified as occupying different parts of Australia. Many of them having their own unique dialect and language. PS. One glaring omission in the video you played, is the significant influence of Irish settlers in Australia. There was also, of course, the Great Gold Rush of the mid 1800's which had a big impact on Australia and it's social and economic development.

"posh-ish" is very non-posh sounding word.

Hertfordshire has varied accents, due to London overspill etc. The original accent would have been "rural" as it was originally mainly agricultural.

Australian English developed out of a lingua franca devised by the children of first settlers. They needed a common language so they could communicate with each other. The first settlers came from all parts of Britain, many only spoke Gaelic plus their local colloquialisms. Most convicts transported to Australia came from Scotland, Ireland plus Wales and their first language was Gaelic. What's interesting about Australia, there is very little difference in accent around the country but Adelaide has a distinctive accent. Have a listen to Australian ex politician Christopher Pyne. He has what's deemed an Adelaide accent. South Australia was settled by free settlers as opposed to convicts, which might be one reason their accent may be different. It's difficult to tell if someone's from Perth or Sydney, yet Western Australia developed independently to NSW and are over 3000klms apart. You'll get changes in vocabulary across the country, which may be due to local colloquialisms and local indigenous words have been adapted. Melburnians/Victorians have different vocabulary for things compared to New South Wales.

Australia has a sating "Jacks as good as his master" Its not used much now but it means we are all the same, dont you dare think you are better than me because you have more money than I do. There are very slight differences in accent between the States, but you need to have a good ear to pick them up. KIWIS sounded like Aussies until the 1950s The natural tone of the Aboriginal voice is very nasal and from the back of the throat. Like holding your nose and talking. Australia developed its nasal accent because of the flies. It was better to not open your mouth much when talking. Australians can talk without opening their mouths much at all. We were all taught to speak like the Queen but its easier not to.

People that live in remote county have a harsh accent and country people then a bit less and city people seem to have a posh accent and I’m sure like England it changes as you go around Australia

Impact of European arrivals on the natives was devastating. still is.

I own a cork hat but it was a souvenir

My mum was from Bedford UK and all her family originated from rural Ireland. I was born and raised here in western sydney. My accent is very regarded as very australian when i visit the UK and Ireland - but compared to other aussies here, i get told i have a bit of an english accent - which because of my aussie accent actually sounds a bit like a northern english accent - especially when i drink.

South Australians sometimes pronounce a few words that to myself(Victorian) sound reminiscent of UK English.

I’m in Victoria and we always say that Tasmanians have two heads and they inbreed. 😂

Outback have stronger accents than coastal inhabitants and there's a variation from south to north, I've found we use different words for the same items, bathers (clothes) in South Australia are called togs in Queensland. Sparrows are spoggies in SA and Spriggees in Victoria. Lots of variation so you won't get bored. 👍🦘

Hobart in Tasmania with a population of about 250,000 is the second oldest capital city in Australia . Settled in 1804 .. It's way older than Melbourne , Adelaide , Brisbane , Perth , Darwin and Canberra ..Only Sydney is older ...In fact so is Launceston our second biggest city settled in 1806 . It was named Patersonia briefly in honour of the first garrison commander but renamed very soon after the town in Cornwall England . The river Launceston sits by is called the Tamar as it's English namesake does also . Launceston is about 110,000 people today .,Not only that but in Hobart and Launceston are still home to many historic British colony buildings to this day . The oldest continuously in use bridge is also in Tasmania at Richmond . It has had continuous traffic on it since 1823..Tasmania has a huge amount of place names and river names from England , Ireland and Scotland ..Another historic fact .. At Bothwell is a place called Ratho Farm . It is home to the oldest golf course in the world outside of the British Isles . Golf was first played there in 1822 . It's still in existence to this day.

I’m guessing, and I stress guessing, that the Aboriginal portion of the accent was due to the names adopted for most of our towns and suburbs (mostly indigenous names) . Those very unique sounds of names like of location I recon had a major impact in n the Aussie Twang . Like I’m from a place called DANDENONG, AKA dandy. Those sorts of names are (as I think once read) about 70% of location names. Could be wrong but maybe 🤔 not?

probably explains why alot of convicts were Irish. Ned Kelly has an irish background. Alexander Pearce was irish (he was a notorious cannibal who was sent here on boat to van diemans land (Tasmania) Australia's worst convicts got sent there at the time. i feel like he's another guy you should check out.

4:20 yes sounds very similar to how we treat Tasmania.

Google an Indigenous map !! ( Australian) all the tribes ... you can Hear different accents in the indigenous, even actors sound different

A distinct difference between people who live in the remote parts of the inland as in indigenous and long time white Australia is the speaking pace. That`s cheese & chalk.

I have a large Koori population around me, and their accents very quiet a lot. The Kooris to my ear and only in my experience, do have a slightly different twang than the non indigenous. There are also Kooris who talk just like the Euro population, it just depends on family, and schools they associate with.

Australia had settlers not just from England, but Scotland, Wales, Ireland, and the Isle of Man as well, that too would have influenced the accent. The Irish, Scottish, and Welsh brought their languages with them as well. Irish was the second most commonly spoken language in the Australian colony at the time. Despite that those languages were rarely passed on beyond the second generation due to the suspicion it raised when speaking another language other than English especially when some of the Irish were sent to Australia for rebelling against British rule in Ireland. Their influence from their own languages and accents would have also had an influence

Before watching the video, my first answer is "My arse".

Our variations in accent are basically categorised as 'General' or 'Bogan' 😅

If you want to hear how Cate Blanchett speaks watch the behind the scenes from Thor Ragnorok she sounds like a real Okker Aussie, she changes her accent depending on the roles she plays as many Aussie actors have to, cool series on AUS check out The Comedy Company series from the 90’s I think, I think you’ll enjoy it. And it’s pronounced G’day emphasis on the G. All the best from Oz.

There were around 250 Aboriginal languages and many tribes :en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_Aboriginal_group_names

I said it was a fun fact. And as for the aboriginal side of things, yes some did become sick from diseases. And the aboriginal dialect changes with their land, similar to how we now have states, so an aboriginal in Victoria would have almost a completely different language to one in Queensland for example. We also adapted to their language that's why some of our towns, rivers, mountains have aboriginal names or meanings.

There's generally 3 main Aussie accents; Cultivated, General, Broad. This is a great video to distinguish the 3 using some Celebs to do so: ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-ZnioDeQNlxQ.html

and i thought it was because we was half pissed most of the time

Of course there are different "classes" in Australia . I think the difference is that it is really frowned upon here to refer to your class or to expect preferential treatment because of class , nobody mentions it in my experience , ever .

In the late 1800's and early 1900's the education system (although run on state basis) started most children off with a similar pronunciation as they originally used similar books and teaching aids. In the 1950's I can still remember classes on some subjects given via radio. Then there were two successive generations of men who came from all over Aus and travelled to the same war zones where they interacted with each other for many years. This certainly spread the slang nationally. In WW1 there were about 4M Aussies. And about 1M served at some stage in the armed forces.

We don’t have a class system but we are “categorised” by our wealth/non wealth, we call it our socioeconomic situation. In Melbourne you are classed by what school you went to, University education, what car you drive and what suburbs we live in.

Yes, influenza decimated many Aborigines but lead poisoning was the biggest killer, from the thunder sticks.