Differences In Australian Accents

Jessica   Fri Apr 18, 2008 1:15 pm GMT
If any, which differences have you noticed in the Australian accent, other than 'General', 'Cultivated' and 'Broad'?

I am from Melbourne, and from what I have read on the internet, I have a mixed accent.

I pronounce these words as described:

Castle: Carsel

Demand: Them-manned

Pants: I am not sure how to describe this. I do not pronounce it as 'Parnts'

Grant: Grant (Same as 'pants')

Dance: Dants

Clasp: Clarsp

Graph: Grarph

Taco: Tah-co

Salad: Sal-ad.

Apparantly, people from Victoria sometimes say:

Malbourne instead of Melbourne

Belcony instead of Balcony

Salary instead of Celery, and vice-versa

As a hypothetical sentence: 'Hi, this is Halen. Halen, walcome to Malbourne'.

I have thought about it, and I do think 'Malbourne' and 'Melbourne' sound the same; You need to force the 'E' to become an 'E', which feels un-natural. This is the only thing that I will agree to. Being from Victoria makes it harder to hear any accent that we supposedly have.

I have been to Tasmania, New South Wales and southern Queensland. (Gold Coast, Brisbane and Beerwah areas).

In Tasmania, I noticed that the way people spoke was more 'country Australian'. I read somewhere that somebody else who has been there agreed with me, but could also hear something in close resemblance to a New Zealand accent.

In New South Wales, I found it hard to distinguish an 'accent', as most people I heard speaking were immigrants and had an accent from their homeland. Though I did notice that people spoke faster.

In Queensland, I noticed that the way people spoke reminded me of low-budget ads in regional parts of Victoria. Slightly slow. And maybe more of a 'broad' accent when compared to anywhere else I have been. For example, listening to the radio, I thought that the news was an ad, and that there would be laughter afterwards, like on a comedy show.

Regional words I so far know of are:

For a piece of potato which has been battered, fried and salted - Potato Cake in Victoria and Tasmania; Potato Scallop in New South Wales and Queensland; and Potato Fritter in South Australia and Western Australia.

For a bathing suit - Bathers in Victoria; Cossie in New South Wales; and Togs in Queensland.

Sandwich Meat - Strassburg, shortened to Stras, in Victoria; Devon elsewhere.


If anybody else has heard any other differences to the Australian accent, or any regional words, I would like to know!
Cassis   Wed Apr 23, 2008 11:38 pm GMT
Could you post a link to an audio sample where you read Comma gets a cure or something? That would be interesting.
Geoff_One   Thu Apr 24, 2008 2:13 am GMT
Most parts of Australia: Peanut Butter
South Australia: Peanut Paste

Most parts of Australia: Go outside (the house)
Come inside (the house)
Queensland: Go downstairs
Come upstairs
{Comments can be made on qualifications regarding this usage}