Strine
Strine is a colloquial term for Australian English, particularly its distinctive accent and slang—especially the broad accent—often represented through phonetic spellings that mimic how words are pronounced by native speakers. The word "Strine" itself derives from the Australian-accented pronunciation of "Australian," often rendered phonetically as "Strine."[1][2] The term was coined in 1964 by Australian writer Alastair Morrison, who adopted the pseudonym Afferbeck Lauder (a phonetic rendering of "alphabetical order") to publish satirical pieces exaggerating Australian speech patterns. Morrison's inspiration came from an incident at a Sydney book signing where British author Monica Dickens, Charles Dickens's great-granddaughter, misheard an Australian fan's question "How much is it?" as a personal name, "Emma Chisit," highlighting the accent's unintelligibility to outsiders.[3] He popularized the concept through weekly columns in the Sydney Morning Herald and books such as Let Stalk Strine (1965) and Nose Tone Unturned (1967), which featured humorous transliterations like "bludger" for lazy person or "arvo" for afternoon.[3] Strine encapsulates key linguistic features of Australian English, including vowel shifts (e.g., "day" sounding like "die"), non-rhotic pronunciation, and widespread use of diminutives and abbreviations, contributing to its role as a marker of national identity and mateship.[4] Despite its playful origins, Strine has influenced perceptions of Australian culture globally, though it poses challenges for non-native learners, such as Asian international students in Australia, who may struggle with its rapid, slurred delivery—which, as early as the 1970s, prompted specialized language courses at institutions like the University of New South Wales.[4]Definition and Overview
Meaning of the Term
Strine is an Australian slang term that specifically denotes the broad variant of the Australian English accent, characterized as stereotypical, exaggerated, and often humorous in its portrayal of unrefined speech patterns.[2] This accent is distinct from the general or cultivated forms of Australian English, which are closer to standard varieties and less regionally marked.[1] Individuals who speak in this manner are commonly referred to as "Ockers," a term evoking a rough, uncultured Australian archetype associated with the broad accent's distinctive intonation and vowel shifts.[5] The etymology of "Strine" stems from a phonetic respelling of the word "Australian" as it would be pronounced in the broad accent, yielding /ˈstraɪn/ through syncope—the omission of sounds—and liaison, where syllables blend fluidly.[6] This jocular rendering captures the accent's tendency to slur and shorten words, transforming "Australian" into a single, clipped syllable that humorously mimics the speech itself.[7] The term was first coined in 1964, marking its entry into popular usage as a playful label for the exaggerated features of the broad Australian accent.[1] While it highlights a specific dialect within the broader spectrum of Australian English varieties, Strine emphasizes the comedic and stereotypical elements rather than the full linguistic diversity.[2]Relation to Australian English
Strine occupies a specific position within the spectrum of Australian English dialects, which are primarily distinguished by sociolects rather than strict regional boundaries. Australian English encompasses three main sociolects: Broad, General, and Cultivated, with Strine embodying the Broad variant as the most pronounced and working-class-associated form. This classification, proposed by linguists A. G. Mitchell and A. Delbridge, reflects a continuum where Broad represents exaggerated features tied to social identity, General serves as the predominant middle-ground accent used by the majority of speakers, and Cultivated approximates Received Pronunciation influences from British English.[8] Strine diverged from British English following the colonization of Australia in 1788. Linguistically, Strine is classified as a non-standard dialect of Australian English, incorporating blended elements from early settler-era speech through dialect contact and koineization processes, yet it lacks full creolization. Despite its non-standard status, Strine has achieved iconic standardization in Australian media and cultural representations since the mid-20th century, symbolizing national identity and serving as a semi-dominant variety in the Asia-Pacific region.[8][9]History
Origins in Colonial Australia
The Australian accent, later humorously termed Strine, originated in the colonial period following the arrival of the First Fleet in 1788, which established a British penal colony at Sydney Cove with approximately 1,500 people, predominantly convicts and marines from southeastern England and Ireland.[10] This foundational speech variety emerged from the blending of southeastern British dialects, including those from London (often associated with Cockney) and the West Country, alongside Irish English spoken by about 22% of male convicts, creating a diverse linguistic base without a dominant regional form.[11] The children of these early settlers, born in the colony, played a key role in koineization, a process of dialect mixing that began to unify features among the younger generation by the early 19th century.[12] In the 19th century, the Australian gold rushes, starting in 1851 in New South Wales and Victoria, introduced further linguistic diversity through influxes of immigrants from various European regions, including additional British, Irish, and continental accents, which temporarily heightened variation in speech patterns across urban and rural settlements.[13] However, a dialect leveling process—where speakers accommodated shared features to facilitate communication—prevented any single influence from prevailing, resulting in a more uniform Australian English accent by around 1900, as evidenced by the stabilization of core phonological traits among native-born populations.[10] This uniformity was particularly pronounced in the peer-group speech of children, who adopted a distinct colonial dialect by the 1830s, distinct from their parents' varied origins.[11] Socioeconomic factors, rooted in the working-class composition of the convict majority (over 70% from English trials), shaped the accent's development, embedding it in both rural outposts and emerging urban centers like Sydney and Melbourne, where practical, non-prestige speech forms solidified.[11] Early records, including diaries and letters from the 1820s onward, such as those in the Mitchell Library collection, reveal proto-features like non-rhoticity (the absence of pronounced 'r' sounds post-vowel) inherited from southeastern British varieties, alongside vowel broadening in diphthongs that contributed to the broad accent style.[12] By the mid-19th century, observers noted these traits in written accounts; for instance, naturalist George Bennett described a "pure" yet Cockney-tinged colonial speech, while writer Louisa Meredith critiqued its "detestable snuffle" as a "colonial twang," marking early literary recognition of the emerging native Australian speech without the later satirical labeling.[12]Coinage and Popularization
The term "Strine" was coined in 1964 by Australian graphic artist and author Alastair Ardoch Morrison, who wrote under the pseudonym Afferbeck Lauder—a phonetic rendition of "alphabetical order"—in a series of humorous columns for the Sydney Morning Herald.[3] These columns playfully depicted the Australian accent as a distinct dialect, with "Strine" serving as a pun on the slurred pronunciation of "Australian."[14] Morrison drew inspiration from a Sydney Morning Herald report on author Monica Dickens's book signing in Sydney, where she misheard a customer's query "How much is it?" as a request to sign the book for "Emma Chisit."[15] Morrison's columns led to the publication of Let Stalk Strine in 1965, a satirical dictionary compiling phonetic puns and exaggerated entries on Australian English usage, illustrated by Al Terego.[3] Success prompted sequels, including Nose Tone Unturned (1967), which featured short stories in the same vein; Fraffly Well Spoken (1968), a guide to upper-class British English reimagined through Strine; and Fraffly Suite (1969), expanding on linguistic parodies.[16] In 2009, Text Publishing reissued all four works in an omnibus edition titled Strine: The Complete Works of Professor Afferbeck Lauder.[17] The term and Morrison's publications gained rapid traction in 1960s Australia, spreading through newspapers and books that topped bestseller lists and captured the era's playful self-examination of national speech.[18] They influenced satirical comedy sketches on television shows like The Mavis Bramston Show (1964–1968) and radio broadcasts, helping embed "Strine" as a symbol of Australian humor and identity.[14] Initially received with enthusiasm for satirizing the country's emerging cultural confidence in the post-World War II period, the books enjoyed significant commercial success, with early editions selling tens of thousands of copies and fostering pride in the dialect's unique character.[15]Linguistic Characteristics
Phonological Features
Strine, as a representation of the broad variety of Australian English, features a distinctive phonological system characterized by significant vowel shifts, non-rhotic consonants, and prosodic patterns that contribute to its recognizable drawl and rhythm. This accent emphasizes elongated vowels and diphthongs, setting it apart from more conservative varieties like cultivated Australian English.[19] The vowel system in Strine exhibits a broad diphthong shift, where the /eɪ/ diphthong in words like "face" is realized as [æɪ], and the /aɪ/ in "day" or "price" shifts to [ɑɪ], creating a more open and retracted quality compared to other English varieties. Centering diphthongs are prominent, such as /ɪə/ in "near," often pronounced as [ɪə] or monophthongized to [iə] in broader forms. The GOAT diphthong /oʊ/ in "no" becomes [əʉ], with a centralized onset and rounded offglide, exemplifying the accent's tendency toward fronting and raising in diphthongs. Regarding mergers, the pin-pen merger is absent, maintaining a distinction between /ɪ/ (as in "pin") and /e/ (as in "pen"), while the father-bother distinction is somewhat blurred, with /ɑː/ in "father" approaching the short /ɒ/ in "bother" in casual broad speech.[19][19][19] Consonant traits in Strine include non-rhoticity, where post-vocalic /r/ is not pronounced unless followed by a vowel, as in "car" [kaː]. Intervocalic /t/ is typically flapped to [ɾ], resulting in "water" being articulated as [ˈwɔɾə]. Yod-dropping occurs variably, particularly after certain consonants, leading to "new" as [nuː] in broad realizations, though retention as [njuː] is also common.[19][19][20] Intonation in Strine is marked by the high rising terminal (HRT), a rising pitch contour at the end of declarative statements that conveys shared knowledge or seeks confirmation, often giving statements a questioning inflection. The rhythm leans toward syllable-timing, with elisions and syncope reducing unstressed syllables, as seen in "Australian" reduced to [ˈstɹɑɪn] ("Strine" itself). This prosodic pattern, combined with vowel elongation, creates a flowing, syncopated cadence.[21][19]Lexical and Syntactic Elements
Strine, as a stylized representation of broad Australian English, features a distinctive lexicon shaped by shortening, affixation, and borrowings that reflect cultural and historical influences. A prominent lexical trait is the use of diminutives, often formed by adding the suffix -o or -ie to nouns, creating affectionate or casual abbreviations such as arvo for afternoon, brekkie for breakfast, barbie for barbecue, servo for service station, and ute for utility vehicle. These hypocoristics are a hallmark of informal Australian speech, emphasizing brevity and familiarity.[22][23] Another key element is the incorporation of words borrowed from Australian Aboriginal languages, which have enriched the vocabulary with terms for native flora, fauna, and concepts. Notable examples include kangaroo (from Guugu Yimidhirr gangurru, referring to the large marsupial) and boomerang (from Dharug womara, denoting the curved throwing stick). Over 400 such borrowings exist in Australian English, many adopted during early colonial contact and now standard in global usage.[24][25] Idiomatic expressions in Strine further highlight its pragmatic and optimistic tone. Phrases like fair dinkum, meaning genuine or true, originated in 19th-century British dialect but gained prominence in Australia to affirm honesty or express surprise, as in "Fair dinkum?" (Is that true?). Similarly, she'll be right conveys reassurance that things will turn out fine without intervention, embodying a laid-back attitude, as in "Don't worry, she'll be right." These idioms often rely on the phonological shortenings noted in broader Australian English for their rhythmic flow.[26][27][27] Syntactically, Strine employs informal contractions and question tags to foster conversational intimacy. Common contractions include g'day from "good day," used as a greeting, and elisions like ta for "thanks." Tag questions such as eh? or you reckon? seek agreement or confirmation, as in "It's hot today, eh?"—a feature prevalent in casual Australian speech, particularly in rural or broad varieties. In informal contexts, speakers often avoid the subjunctive mood, opting for indicative forms, as in "I suggest he go" becoming "I suggest he goes," aligning with trends in vernacular Englishes.[28][29] Humorous representations of Strine, notably in Afferbeck Lauder's 1965 satirical lexicon Let Stalk Strine, exaggerate these elements through puns that mimic perceived mispronunciations. The title itself is a pun on "let's talk Strine," while entries like wombat (playing on "what might," as in uncertainty) and yeggowan ("you going to?") illustrate inventive wordplay on lexical shortenings and syntax. Lauder's work, pseudonym for Alastair Morrison, catalogs over 100 such terms, blending genuine slang with parody to spotlight Strine's quirks.[17] The following table presents 25 representative Strine terms, drawn from common usage and Lauder's lexicon, with meanings:| Term | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Arvo | Afternoon |
| Barbie | Barbecue |
| Brekkie | Breakfast |
| Dinkum | Genuine, true |
| Fair go | Fair treatment |
| G'day | Good day (greeting) |
| Hooroo | Goodbye |
| Mate | Friend |
| No worries | You're welcome/no problem |
| Reckon | Think, suppose |
| Servo | Service station (gas station) |
| Sheila | Woman (dated) |
| Ta | Thanks |
| Ute | Utility vehicle (pickup truck) |
| Avago | Have a go |
| Billabong | Oxbow lake (Aboriginal borrow) |
| Cooee | Call for attention (Aboriginal) |
| Didgeridoo | Traditional instrument (Aboriginal) |
| Fair dinkum | Honestly, truly |
| She'll be right | It'll be okay |
| Ace | Excellent |
| Bog in | Start eating heartily |
| Chunder | Vomit |
| Drongo | Fool |
| Flat out | Very busy |