Australian Pronunciation
Created | Updated Apr 16, 2002
a very difficult language to learn. This can be quite a problem because
correct use of the language is one of the few ways of being accepted
as a true Aussie - the others being (a) the ability to drink a yard
glass in under 5 seconds and (b) a name like "bluey".
As a means of aleviating the necessity of vomitting or changing you
name here is a quick guide to Australia pronunciation to give you
the edge you need.
The following are in no particular order yet.
Australia : o-str-ILE-yah. o- as in "hot" It is important for many people -
especially americans - to get the stress right. The stress is on the
ILE sound in the second last sylable (as capitalised).
Americans I have noticed like to stress the
first sylable of a word, leading to OR-stral-ee-ah.
This makes Aussies laugh, but not in a good way.
Aussie : o-zee. Definitely NOT o-see.
A******e : ah-soul
Australian : o-strEYE-an. EYE = sounds of the word "eye".
G'Day : ged-eye. Often a tricky one and impossible to express
phonetically. One must correctly learn to suppress the ennunciation
of the vowels. When speaking Australia vowel sounds are muffled and
blended towards the "oy" sound.
Volkswagon : vee-dub
Sunglasses : sun-eez
Mate : m-EYE-t
