Languages of Australia: Difference between revisions

{{Short description|Languages of a geographic regionnone}}

{{Redirect|Australian language|the Polynesian language spoken on the [[Austral Islands]]|Austral language}}
{{Use Australian English|date=February 2017}}

{{Infobox country languages|country=Australia|main=[[Australian English]]|indigenous=120 to 170 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and dialects|sign=[[Auslan]] and several others|official=None at Federal level|minority=Over 300}}The '''languages of Australia''' are the major historic and current languages used in Australia and its offshore islands. Over 250 [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact.<ref name=":92">{{Cite book |last=Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications |url=https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/indigenous-arts-and-languages/indigenous-languages-and-arts-program/national-indigenous-languages-report |title=National Indigenous Languages Report |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |year=2020 |location=Canberra |pages=13}}</ref> English is the majority language of Australia today. Although English has no official legal status, it is the ''[[de facto]]'' official and national language.<ref name="languagelanguage22">{{Cite web |title=Pluralist Nations: Pluralist Language Policies? |url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/04/speech18b.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220020910/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/04/speech18b.htm |archive-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=11 January 2009 |work=1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney |publisher=[[Department of Immigration and Citizenship]]}} "English has no de jure status but it is so entrenched as the common language that it is de facto the official language as well as the national language."</ref><ref name=":24">{{Cite journal |last=Ward |first=Rowena |date=2019 |title='National' and 'Official' Languages Across the Independent Asia-Pacific |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5130/portalv16i1/2.6510 |journal=Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |volume=16 |issue=1/2 |pages=83-483–4 |quote=The use of English in Australia is one example of both a de facto national and official language: it is widely used and is the language of government and the courts, but has never been legally designated as the country's official language.}}</ref> [[Australian English]] is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,<ref name=":32">{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Bruce |title=The Vocabulary Of Australian English |url=http://www.nma.gov.au/libraries/attachments/exhibitions/vocabulary_of_australian_english/files/5471/Vocabulary%20of%20Australian%20English.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320004658/http://www.nma.gov.au/libraries/attachments/exhibitions/vocabulary_of_australian_english/files/5471/Vocabulary%20of%20Australian%20English.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2011 |access-date=5 April 2010 |publisher=National Museum of Australia}}</ref> and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.<ref name="Fourth Edition 20053">"The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005.</ref>

{{Main articles|Australian English}}

English was introduced into Australia on British settlement in 1788 and in the following decades gradually overtook Indigenous languages to become the majority language of Australia.<ref name=":20">{{Cite book |last=Leitner |first=Gerhard |title=Australia's Many Voices, Australian English the national language |publisher=Mouton de Gruyter |year=2004 |isbn=3-11-018194-0 |location=Berlin and New York |pages=5-65–6}}</ref> Although English is not the official language of Australia in law, it is the ''[[de facto]]'' official and national language.<ref name="language22">{{Cite web |title=Pluralist Nations: Pluralist Language Policies? |url=http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/04/speech18b.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081220020910/http://www.immi.gov.au/media/publications/multicultural/confer/04/speech18b.htm |archive-date=20 December 2008 |access-date=11 January 2009 |work=1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney |publisher=[[Department of Immigration and Citizenship]]}} "English has no de jure status but it is so entrenched as the common language that it is de facto the official language as well as the national language."</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |lastname=Ward |first=Rowena |date=2019 |title='National' and 'Official' Languages Across the Independent Asia-Pacific |url=http":24"//dx.doi.org/10.5130/portalv16i1/2.6510 |journal=Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies |volume=16 |issue=1/2 |pages=83-4 |quote=The use of English in Australia is one example of both a de facto national and official language: it is widely used and is the language of government and the courts, but has never been legally designated as the country's official language.}}</ref> It is the most widely spoken language in the country, and is used as the only language in the home by 72% of the population.<ref>{{cite web |title=Language spoken at home {{pipe}} Australia {{pipe}} Community profile |url=https://profile.id.com.au/australia/language}}</ref> The increase in the migrant population over the past decade has seen a decline in the number of people speaking only English at home.<ref name=":6">{{Cite web |date=2021 |title=Australia 2021 census community profiles, time series profile |url=https://abs.gov.au/census/find-census-data/community-profiles/2021/AUS |access-date=8 May 2023 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref>

[[Australian English]] is a major variety of the language with a distinctive accent and lexicon,<ref name=":3">{{Cite web |last=Moore |first=Bruce |title=The Vocabulary Of Australian English |url=http://www.nma.gov.au/libraries/attachments/exhibitions/vocabulary_of_australian_english/files/5471/Vocabulary%20of%20Australian%20English.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110320004658/http://www.nma.gov.au/libraries/attachments/exhibitions/vocabulary_of_australian_english/files/5471/Vocabulary%20of%20Australian%20English.pdf |archive-date=20 March 2011 |access-date=5 April 2010 |publisher=National Museum of Australia}}</ref> and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.<ref name="Fourth Edition 200520053">"The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005.</ref> [[General Australian]] serves as the standard dialect.<ref name=":4">{{Cite web |last=Lalande |first=Line |date=4 May 2020 |title=Australian English in a nutshell |url=https://www.noslangues-ourlanguages.gc.ca/en/blogue-blog/australian-english-eng |publisher=Government of Canada}}</ref>

Humans arrived in Australia 50,000 to 65,000 years ago<ref>Flood, Josephine (2019). ''The Original Australians''. Sydney: Allen and Unwin. p.&nbsp;217. {{ISBN|9781760527075}}.</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last1=Veth |first1=Peter |title=The Cambridge History of Australia, Volume 1, Indigenous and Colonial Australia |last2=O'Connor |first2=Sue |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2013 |isbn=9781107011533 |editor-last=Bashford |editor-first=Alison |location=Cambridge |pages=19 |chapter=The past 50,000 years: an archaeological view |editor-last2=MacIntyre |editor-first2=Stuart}}</ref> but it is possible that the ancestor language of existing Indigenous languages is as recent as 12,000 years old.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Marchese |first=David |date=28 March 2018 |title=Indigenous languages come from just one common ancestor, researchers say |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-03-28/indigenous-language-comes-from-a-single-root-tongue/9594414 |access-date=9 May 2023 |website=ABC news}}</ref> Over 250 [[Australian Aboriginal languages]] are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact.<ref name=":992">{{Cite book |last=Australian Government, Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications |url=https://www.arts.gov.au/what-we-do/indigenous-arts-and-languages/indigenous-languages-and-arts-program/national-indigenous-languages-report |title=National Indigenous Languages Report |publisher=Commonwealth of Australia |year=2020 |location=Canberra |pages=13}}</ref> The National Indigenous Languages Survey (NILS) for 2018-19 found that more than 120 Indigenous language varieties were in use or being revived, although 70 of those in use are endangered.<ref name=":12">National Indigenous Language Report (2020). pp. 42, 65</ref> The 2021 census found that 167 Indigenous languages were spoken at home by 76,978 Indigenous Australians.<ref name=":13">{{Cite web |date=28 June 2022 |title=Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people: Census |url=https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-peoples/aboriginal-and-torres-strait-islander-people-census/2021 |access-date=7 May 2023 |website=Australian Bureau of Statistics}}</ref> NILS and the Australian Bureau of Statistics use different classifications for Indigenous Australian languages.<ref name=":16">National Indigenous Languages Report (2020). p. 46</ref>