The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
Oct 9th 2014, 9:18 am
#31
Crazy Cat Lady
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
Really? Since the native English speakers over there hail from the UK through ancestry, I find that hard to believe, unless of course you've never heard a native English speaker from there. The guttural and harsh accent comes from the Dutch (Afrikaans speakers).
Maybe you're confusing guttural with diction or just trying a wind up.
Maybe you're confusing guttural with diction or just trying a wind up.
Oct 9th 2014, 10:21 am
#32
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
Oct 9th 2014, 10:32 am
#33
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
My youngest two, who had very similar lives the past 5 years ( same school etc ) , one has an English accent and the other one can break into the most awful Australian drawl 
Its not often and I notice it comes out with certain mates, the words all roll into one..... awful.
Him moving to Melbourne has not changed that, maybe its just the girls doing the fake American girl thing
Aussie partner drops the drawl at home, he uses it at work, construction , its the only way they speak! Tradies in melb or qld seem to take great pride in it.
However once overseas, ( even if its just two weeks in LA
) I notice when aussies see another aussie its bang on 'owyagoinmatenahyeah'. I just walk off
I think Australia has a class thing, eg. its very rare you bump into a Doctor or Specialist doing the drawl.
Melb accent to me never seems American, but its very common to hear a mix of greek/aussie, or aussie/asian accent. They to me typify Melbourne
Its not often and I notice it comes out with certain mates, the words all roll into one..... awful. Him moving to Melbourne has not changed that, maybe its just the girls doing the fake American girl thing
Aussie partner drops the drawl at home, he uses it at work, construction , its the only way they speak! Tradies in melb or qld seem to take great pride in it.
However once overseas, ( even if its just two weeks in LA
) I notice when aussies see another aussie its bang on 'owyagoinmatenahyeah'. I just walk off I think Australia has a class thing, eg. its very rare you bump into a Doctor or Specialist doing the drawl.
Melb accent to me never seems American, but its very common to hear a mix of greek/aussie, or aussie/asian accent. They to me typify Melbourne
Last edited by Molly Coddle; Oct 9th 2014 at 10:41 am. Reason: Forgot to add a ?
Oct 9th 2014, 10:40 am
#34
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
Oct 9th 2014, 11:01 am
#35
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
Oct 12th 2014, 5:08 am
#37
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
It is a matter of fact that there are well spoken people in Australia and in SA.
The teens and students I know are delightfully well spoken (background helps probably) and could actually be perceived as better spoken than some of the teens who grew up in the Thames Estuary.
I'd say to people who are worrying about the way people speak - you need to widen your social circle. It's the same people who complain about their lives - have a look at it (and widen it!)
As long as someone can be understood in an international context that is the acid test for me - and unfortunately there are a lot of English people - I speak of my own countrymen - that struggle in the international workplace - (and even in London). There is something to be said for homogenising an English accent so maybe its a good thing we are moving away from RP - we are levelling the playing field.
Oct 12th 2014, 10:43 am
#39
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
Ain't that the truth!
Oct 12th 2014, 8:31 pm
#41
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
OMG.......
It's sad that the nice Aussie accent is going and being replaced with all this pseudo American valley stuff if that's what it's called. It's all sooooooo dramatic, squeaky, like and that's just the guys ha ha. Plus they all sound so flipping jolly all the time, said the English Eeyore
It is interesting how the Aussie and American accents have changed over the years. If you watch any old American movie there isn't much of a strong accent there. Then since they've started putting emphasis on different parts of the word sometimes you have to convert it like you would do a foreign language! The problem is having been here a while now I have to stop myself thinking certain words the Aussie/American way and even blurting out the occasional one....eeek! I still refuse to say darta, pro-ject and yo-ghurt but then when you think about it English is so quirky and the way we say words!
Saying rooter is my fav when they are all routing....
It's sad that the nice Aussie accent is going and being replaced with all this pseudo American valley stuff if that's what it's called. It's all sooooooo dramatic, squeaky, like and that's just the guys ha ha. Plus they all sound so flipping jolly all the time, said the English Eeyore
It is interesting how the Aussie and American accents have changed over the years. If you watch any old American movie there isn't much of a strong accent there. Then since they've started putting emphasis on different parts of the word sometimes you have to convert it like you would do a foreign language! The problem is having been here a while now I have to stop myself thinking certain words the Aussie/American way and even blurting out the occasional one....eeek! I still refuse to say darta, pro-ject and yo-ghurt but then when you think about it English is so quirky and the way we say words!
Saying rooter is my fav when they are all routing....
Oct 12th 2014, 10:55 pm
#42
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
I was not talking about my own children, I was talking about adults - and when I did refer to children - I was talking about how impressed I was.
Why would it worry me? Children have always picked up words and phrases. My parents used to hate the endless word 'stressed' as in "I'm so stressed out" - to them it was an abuse of that word. In any case, my children are already picking up primary school chat.
As long as they can be understood internationally, as adults, I am not bothered. If they are employable across the globe in any place where English is spoken that is enough.
Oct 12th 2014, 11:04 pm
#43
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
OMG.......
It's sad that the nice Aussie accent is going and being replaced with all this pseudo American valley stuff if that's what it's called. It's all sooooooo dramatic, squeaky, like and that's just the guys ha ha. Plus they all sound so flipping jolly all the time, said the English Eeyore
It is interesting how the Aussie and American accents have changed over the years. If you watch any old American movie there isn't much of a strong accent there. Then since they've started putting emphasis on different parts of the word sometimes you have to convert it like you would do a foreign language! The problem is having been here a while now I have to stop myself thinking certain words the Aussie/American way and even blurting out the occasional one....eeek! I still refuse to say darta, pro-ject and yo-ghurt but then when you think about it English is so quirky and the way we say words!
Saying rooter is my fav when they are all routing....
It's sad that the nice Aussie accent is going and being replaced with all this pseudo American valley stuff if that's what it's called. It's all sooooooo dramatic, squeaky, like and that's just the guys ha ha. Plus they all sound so flipping jolly all the time, said the English Eeyore
It is interesting how the Aussie and American accents have changed over the years. If you watch any old American movie there isn't much of a strong accent there. Then since they've started putting emphasis on different parts of the word sometimes you have to convert it like you would do a foreign language! The problem is having been here a while now I have to stop myself thinking certain words the Aussie/American way and even blurting out the occasional one....eeek! I still refuse to say darta, pro-ject and yo-ghurt but then when you think about it English is so quirky and the way we say words!
Saying rooter is my fav when they are all routing....
I think the American Valley thing is a sort of teenage phase - dominated by the country that outputs the most cultural shows/TV etc.
Years ago, kids didn't have a teenage phase - they went from being children into the workforce.
Now we have teens and an extended education - now well into people's 20s - plus access to constant peer pressure throughout that time on social media it is inevitable that a teen culture will emerge. See my post on the luddite topic!
Also TV has gone very tabloid this last 15 years or so.
What I've noticed is that some teens and early 20s grow out of it very quickly
(around the time they enter the workforce) - it also depends on what influences they have in their life - if their life has been one round of TV and suburban life it would be harder to grow out of.
It's one of the reasons we send our kids overseas every 2 years to learn another language - it shows them there is more to life than the immediate one they have day to day.
Oct 12th 2014, 11:19 pm
#44
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Joined: Oct 2005
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Re: The end of the Australian upward inflection ?
My youngest two, who had very similar lives the past 5 years ( same school etc ) , one has an English accent and the other one can break into the most awful Australian drawl Its not often and I notice it comes out with certain mates, the words all roll into one..... awful.
Him moving to Melbourne has not changed that, maybe its just the girls doing the fake American girl thing
Aussie partner drops the drawl at home, he uses it at work, construction , its the only way they speak! Tradies in melb or qld seem to take great pride in it.
However once overseas, ( even if its just two weeks in LA) I notice when aussies see another aussie its bang on 'owyagoinmatenahyeah'. I just walk off
I think Australia has a class thing, eg. its very rare you bump into a Doctor or Specialist doing the drawl.
Melb accent to me never seems American, but its very common to hear a mix of greek/aussie, or aussie/asian accent. They to me typify Melbourne
Its not often and I notice it comes out with certain mates, the words all roll into one..... awful. Him moving to Melbourne has not changed that, maybe its just the girls doing the fake American girl thing
Aussie partner drops the drawl at home, he uses it at work, construction , its the only way they speak! Tradies in melb or qld seem to take great pride in it.
However once overseas, ( even if its just two weeks in LA
) I notice when aussies see another aussie its bang on 'owyagoinmatenahyeah'. I just walk off I think Australia has a class thing, eg. its very rare you bump into a Doctor or Specialist doing the drawl.
Melb accent to me never seems American, but its very common to hear a mix of greek/aussie, or aussie/asian accent. They to me typify Melbourne
When in Rome...I often go into a bit of tradie talk - when in the CFA, when out and about. I know tradies who went to the best schools in Melbourne - you'd never guess - but then even in the UK - there are people who use Estuary by choice.
I spent quite a lot of time in my 20s in the UK having to mix with a complete range of people- and I believe that you simply have to get on with people sometimes. Having a mouth full of marbles may not always get you places.
And sometimes marbles gets you places, (and don't you forget it!)
Have to admit, I have met some very well spoken people in Melbourne but in Australia - you do meet that specialist, or professional person etc who still does sound very Australian.
I've said it before- of course Australia has a class system - but I reckon day to day people iron it out - so people tend to not want put people offside- that is one thing about Australia that IS quite egalitarian. There is a time and place. People (new migrants?) seem to like the idea of Australia being classless - and so others might naturally love to rubbish that as absolutely absurd - the reality, I think, is that in Australia the *idea* of being Egalitarian is more important than observing class strictly. It's just a form of social manners really.