Australian teens take on American accents (1 Viewer)

[chicky_pie]

rds of approval we use now are American - great, cool, neat, filthy and phat. Australian terms like ace and grouse are now almost invisible, as is 'hooroo' for goodbye."

He said it did not help that most of Australia's singers used an American accent - singing "lurve" instead of "love".

"We follow all sorts of American patterns of behaviour," he said.

Speech teacher June Finney said anything American was highly regarded by young people and it "stood to reason" pronunciations were changing to mimic the American accent.

"We live in a period where anything goes and sadly that seems to apply to our speech as well," Ms Finney said.

But Professor Sussex said it was unlikely the Australian accent would ever be completely erased.

"The original identity will persist," he said.


http://www.news.com.au/story/0,23599,23963970-421,00.html

 

[Martyno1]

fuck that

 

[Slidey]

Doesn't seem very true.

I hang around very different groups of people at times - what you'd called bogans on what extreme and the "intellectual elite" on the other - they all use a pretty fucking Australian accent, unique slang and all.

In fact, when I went to university, I started hearing more Aussie words and phrases.

And if they think nobody uses 'ace' anymore, they can pull their heads out of the sand. Honestly, I'm all for blaming America, but I think you can chalk this one up to Irovy Tower academics over-reacting to e-globalisation.

 

[Triangulum]

who the fuck in australia uses 'phat' other than ironically? also, 'filthy' as a term of approval? i have no idea where this woman is coming from. i'm with slidey, there's still plenty of aussie slang around. the main place where american slang has gained a bit of a hold over australian (among young people, anyway) is in forms of address, so you'd use man or bro or something rather than mate, but it's not like the word mate is unused or anything.

anyway, i feel like basking in the intellectual glow of a news.com.au comment section:

This urban speak thing has infected the UK too. It is shameful. Not surprising though when the American recording and television industry bombardes the Western world with rubbish from their lowest class of citizens.

we are so sick of being dominated by other racial influences, at least this one is white!

I think the person who wrote this article should do themselves a favour and remove themselves from the population in the most painful way possible. You are not welcome in this country, shall you be stripped of your citizenship and may it be illegal for you ever to call yourself Australian again.

 

[katie tully]

i have never seen an aussie use the word 'phat' without being punched in the face for it

where does this chick hang out, the US consulate?

 

[xeuyrawp]

Roly Sussex, the linguistics professor that did who had those findings, is an idiot.

He spends his whole academic life dedicated to seeing how America influences non-American English speakers. I wouldn't pay much attention to anything he has to say, imo.

 

[Bobness]

Roly Sussex, the linguistics professor that did who had those findings, is an idiot.

He spends his whole academic life dedicated to seeing how America influences non-American English speakers. I wouldn't pay much attention to anything he has to say, imo.

Wikipedia agrees with you.

Although i took your word for it before checking it (against a pretty unreputable source)

 

[Snaykew]

We may use American terms, but we do so with an Australian accent.

 

[marchetta]

I don't think we're sounding more American. You should read this article instead http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2005/01/24/1106415533877.html. Felicity Cox stated in the article that there was no evidence of the Australian accent becoming more American.

 

[Riet]

Fucking bulllshit, mate.

 

[scarybunny]

I'd be more worried about the internet taking over normal speech.

 

[RohanZ]

Fucking bulllshit, mate.

fair dinkum, aye?

 

[xeuyrawp]

Wikipedia agrees with you.

Although i took your word for it before checking it (against a pretty unreputable source)

He came to a conference on historical linguistics at Macquarie and was pwned by one of my friends about some random North African language. Other than that, all I can remember is hearing him talk about how Australians will be speaking an idiolect of American by the year 2050.... :-/

 

[Riet]

More likely all the english speaking countries in the world will slowly blend into some weird transatlantic accent.

 

[xeuyrawp]

More likely all the english speaking countries in the world will slowly blend into some weird transatlantic accent.

Meh, you can't really say things like that in linguistics because it's very loaded. Economic and cultural change may mean that English loses its prominence altogether.

Also, unless the Anglophonic countries politically or culturally blend, I doubt the accents will - Americans, Brits, and Aussies pride themselves on sounding different, because it reflects their own distinct culture (so they think). Even the subidiolects of America (eg "Southern"), Britain (generally a class divide), and Aussie (both class and location) are still remaining very distinct; for the English world to blend, those would have to be lsot first.

Lastly, you can't just talk about accents - they're actually one of the last things to change (cf some of the Irish Americans who've been there yonks). Syntax and lexicography are usually the first things to change, I think, so expect them to change before accents do.

 

[Slidey]

People have been concerned about Americanisation taking over Australian English for about 200 years now.

It hasn't happened yet.

 

[zstar]

I don't care to be honest.

American English is the international business language.

Sure having an Aussie accent might get you a free beer and an acting job in America but let's face it American english is used for many things such as programming or HTML tags (e.g color instead of colour)

 

[Captain Gh3y]

americans can take over if they want

as long as chinese customs don't

 

[bigboyjames]

what an embarrassment to talk like an american.