Features of SAE

Question 1

Lexicology - Australian English is characterised by:

Answer 1

• Informality
• Toughness + coarse language
• Relaxed tenor
• Anti-sentimentality
• Dislike of verbosity
• Creativity

Question 2

Morphology

Answer 2

Hypocoristic use of suffixes (eg. “servo”, “scomo”, “sickie”, etc).

Question 3

Semantics

Answer 3

Idioms - often add humour, meaning cannot be determined by defining each word separately (eg. “chuck a sickie”, “to do a bradbury”, etc).

Question 4

Discourse

Answer 4

Uptalk - raise pitch at the end of an intonation unit that is realised on declarative sentences where a lower pitch would be expected.
- Express humour/positivity, holding the floor, checking feedback (minimal responses/back chanelling).

Question 5

Role of SAE in Australian Society

Answer 5

• National identity
• Education (use in educational materials + assessments)
• Government + law (use in legal + gov settings/documents)
• Media + entertainment (SAE ensures clearly understood by as many people as possible).