Australian History/Accents

[Margim]

This is really a carry over from a discussion started elsewhere. Feel free to add anything you like regarding Australian history you want to ask/clarify/answer here.

Zoke0, yes, I get your point about Aussie accents sounding much like the 'criminal' accent as you described it - being the cockney accent from London. There are similarities - but those who actually come from one of these two areas wqould notice the difference (in fairness, most of the early convicts were not criminals - there was no malicious intent - it was just the rich classes trying to make more living space).

I found it interesting, actually, on a recent trip to the US to find my Aussie accent being thought of as English, European and even South African. To the American ear they sound the same, but to us they are different (and truthfully, I have difficulty discerning between Canadian/US accents - but I'm told they are different).

 

[Simon Darkshade]

Such generalizations do leave out those Australians with no convict descent, and with rather different accents of a most uncockney fashion.

 

[Illustrious]

Originally posted by Simon Darkshade
Such generalizations do leave out those Australians with no convict descent, and with rather different accents of a most uncockney fashion.

Yes, but I'm sure the three of them won't mind!

 

[Simon Darkshade]

There are far more than three of us, you horrid little peasant. We're British to our bootstraps, with none of that Bolshy Blairism or getting rid of slavery and all that.

 

[Margim]

Actually, there's no convict blood in my particular heritage either, but thats beside the point... the general nation wide accent has been strongly influenced by cockney (or Irish) accents - unless you are from that 'special' breed of South Australians

 

[rilnator]

When I lived in Melbourne I met heaps of Australians with really wierd accents. Didn't sound Irish or cockney. More like south east Asian actually........

 

[Tsargrad]

Ahh yes that special South Aussie breed.

The accent is more 'criminal' or how shall we say it 'non pompous brit' accent and the Kiwi's got the Scottish accent.

But yeah no convict blood here from where I can trace... Scottish guard on first fleet kicking some pommie butt

(pity we aren't in the Civilization games to control)

 

[Mark Young]

I have 11 convicts on my mothers side.
I also have an accent that is quite err...... different to most people here but I didn't think that there was a connection. I just thought it was the result of growing up in the middle of the Tasmanian bush.

 

[Margim]

Maybe its a result of both mouths trying to speak over each other.

(sorry, could't resist. I actually have relatives in Tassie )

 

[Tsargrad]

Originally posted by Margim
Maybe its a result of both mouths trying to speak over each other.

(sorry, could't resist. I actually have relatives in Tassie )

Would make an interesting scenario for Civilization.

Build a map of Australia, and have the Tasmanian conquer of the country; or the New South Welsh men conquering the country to make it all NSW like it once was...

 

[Mark Young]

I had one head taken off when I moved up hear, I can still hear the voices though

 

[Mega Tsunami]

I have never noticed the connection between a cockney accent and an Australian one.
Neither do I connect either accents with criminals. Who says just criminal cockneys were sent to Australia? Surely the original immigrants were a good mixture of all British (and other) accents, criminal and non-criminal?

Still, there’s nowt wrong with the Aussie accent. Just imagine if you sounded like South Africans!

 

[Tsargrad]

Yeah I prefer the accent over South African..

It probably is a little cockney, because when we talk we don't finish the words when we speak.. (apparently - we don't notice cos that is what we do)..

 

[Margim]

Actually, while in America my mother was asked if she was south african. On a seperate trip months earlier, I was asked i i was european. *shrugs*.