World News joined 0011

[Black Widow]

"G'day mate" and "Strewth" are words cemented in the Australian psyche but according to an academic they could soon become obsolete.

Bruce Moore says the change will come about as the nation shakes loose its colonial roots and moves towards a standard national pronunciation.

The Australian National University academic claims the nasal Australian twang - exemplified by the likes of the late Steve Irwin and actor Paul Hogan - will disappear within a few decades.

"Australians are becoming more confident with the standard Australian accent - and that means there's no longer the need for those sorts of extreme sounds," Mr Moore writes in his new book.

Words like "mate" would no longer be pronounced "mite" as some of the unique characteristics of Australian speech disappeared, he says.

"There's no doubt the broad accent does carry cultural values. I'm not doubting that. That's why it's used in advertisements," writes Mr Moore.

"But in the future that extreme form of it won't be so necessary because the standard accent will carry those same values."

Broad accents came from the need for cultural distinction in the late 19th Century, while 'posh' accents evolved from the use of Queen's English in education in the late 1800s, Mr Moore says.

The lexicographer makes the claims in his book titled Speaking Our Language: The Story Of Australian English.


sky news

[JohnCenaFan28]

Thanks for this.

[Bazzinator]

yea well i dont use it often especially strewth but g'day is fairly common and thats round to stay

[Embrace The Experience]

Tell that to the tradesmen of Australia; G'day mates here to stay.