When Britain colonised Australia in 1788, the first European settlers brought their language and culture. Since then, English became the main language spoken. (Meakins & Williams, 2024).

By the 1820s, the way Australians spoke started to sound different from people in Britain and Ireland. This was because they needed new words for Australia’s unique plants, animals, and way of life. Australian English also borrowed some words from Indigenous languages and created its own slang.

In 2024, Australia has around 26 million people. Most of them are from Europe, especially the UK and Ireland. About 72.5% of Australians speak English, making it the most common language. (Snapshot of Australia, 2022).

Australian English kept changing because of immigration, social changes, and the country’s growing identity. Today, it has a unique accent, words, and expressions that make it special.

Sajtós(2021) claimed that Polynesian explorers first discovered New Zealand in the 10th century. They lived in isolation on these islands for several centuries, and their language eventually developed into the Māori language.

In 1642, Dutch explorer Abel Tasman discovered the islands, calling them Nieuw Zealand after a Dutch province.

They did not stay long after the Maori people fought them off the islands.

"Arvo, Avo, Ambo, Servo, Barbie, Sanga, Kanga, Blowie, Footy, Mozzie, Bottle-o, and it just goes on and on!"

/ˈaːvoʊ/, /ˈævoʊ/, /ˈæmboʊ/, /ˈsɜːvoʊ/, /ˈbaːbi/, /ˈsæŋə/, /ˈkæŋə/, /ˈblaʊi/, /ˈfʊti/, /ˈmɒzi/, /ˈbɒtloʊ/, ənd ɪt dʒəst ɡoʊz ɒn ənd ɒn/

"She'll be right; there's only 10kms to go."

/ʃil bi ˈraɪt; ðɛəz ˈoʊnli ˈtɛn ˈkeɪ ˈɛm ɛs tə ˈɡoʊ/

"It was ace! We had a ripper of a time!"

/ɪt wəz eɪs! wi hæd ə ˈɹɪpə ɒv ə ˈtaɪm/

"Say out of all the tradies, which is a tradesman, tradies, you got your chippies - which is a carpenter, sparkies, which is an electrician, the brickies, which are bricklayers."

/seɪ aʊt əv ɔl ðə ˈtreɪdiz, wɪtʃ ɪz ə ˈtreɪdzmən, ˈtreɪdiz, jə gɒt jə ˈtʃɪpiz - wɪtʃ ɪz ə ˈkaːpəntə, ˈspaːkiz, wɪtʃ ɪz ən ɪˌlɛkˈtɹɪʃən, ðə ˈbɹɪkiz, wɪtʃ ə ˈbɹɪkleɪəz/

"Knock off & get on the piss."

/ˈnɒk ɒf ənd ɡɛt ɒn ðə pɪs/

Oh no, no. There is a plan.

/əʊ nəʊ, nəʊ. ðeər ɪz ə plæn/

The learning support action plan is rolling out across New Zealand now

/ðə ˈlu:nɪŋ səˈpɔːt ˈækʃən plæn ɪz ˈroʊlɪŋ aʊt əˈkrɒs njuː ˈziːlənd naʊ/

But quite rightly as you pointed out, nine years, this did not just happen overnight.

/bʌt kwaɪt ˈraɪtli æz jʊ ˈpɔɪntɪd aʊt, naɪn jɪəz, ðɪs dɪd nɒt dʒʌst ˈhæpən ˈoʊvərnaɪt/

I’m trying to fix nine years with neglect.

/aɪm ˈtraɪɪŋ tə fɪks naɪn jɪəz wɪð ˈnɪˈɡlɛkt/

Lexical variation refers to how words change depending on the context, style, and language group in which they are employed.

Vocabulary refers to the words and expressions we use during speech. It is important for thought, communication, and cultural identity.

This shows the connection between the structure of language and its usage. Changes in meaning, frequency, and social factors are all examples of lexical variety.

These changes influence the manner in which individuals and communities express the same concepts through diverse word choices.

Vowels are the speech sounds articulated without any hindrance or closure in the vocal tract. These sounds usually occur at the center of syllables.

Phonemic variation refers to differences in vowel sounds that lead to changes in meaning.

Each distinct vowel sound that can change the meaning of a word is considered a separate phoneme.

For examples,

/e/ as in ‘bet’

/i:/ as in ‘seat’

They are classified from the position of the tongue and the shape of the lips.

Understanding phonemic variation in vowels is important to analyze language change, dialect differences, and phonological structure.

Stress in English means that some syllables in some words are produced more forcefully than others (un-stressed)

This prominence is critical for proper pronunciation, with stressed syllables being higher and clearer and unstressed syllables being weaker and more blurred.

There is usually one main stress per word which is crucial for meaning. Stress is sometimes assigned according to word structure with rules that nouns tend to have stress on the first syllable and verbs more often on the second.

For English learners, knowing and using the proper stress is essential; it has a great effect on understanding and communication.