Languages of Australia: Difference between revisions

{{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="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 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=83–4 |doi=10.5130/portalv16i1/2.6510 |doi-broken-date=15 February 2024 |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>