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Languages of Australia

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"Australian language" redirects here. For the Polynesian language spoken on the Austral Islands, see Austral language.

Australia legally has no official language. However, English is by far the most commonly spoken and has been entrenched as the de facto national language since European settlement.[1] Australian English is a major variety of the English language with a distinctive pronunciation and lexicon,[2] and differs slightly from other varieties of English in grammar and spelling.[3] General Australian serves as the standard dialect.

Languages of Australia
MainAustralian English
IndigenousAustralian Aboriginal languages, Tasmanian languages, Torres Strait Island languages, Norfuk
ImmigrantMandarin (2.7%), Arabic (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.3%), Cantonese (1.2%), Punjabi (0.9%)
ForeignJapanese, Italian, Indonesian, French, German, Mandarin, Arabic, Spanish, Greek, Vietnamese, several others
SignedAuslan, AISL, various manual Indigenous languages, such as Eltye eltyarrenke, Rdaka-rdaka and Yolŋu Sign Language amongst others

According to the 2021 census, English is the only language spoken in the home for 72% of the population. The ten next most common languages spoken at home are:[4] Mandarin (2.7%), Arabic (1.4%), Vietnamese (1.3%), Cantonese (1.2%), Punjabi (0.9%), Greek (0.9%), Italian (0.9%), Tagalog (0.9%), Hindi (0.8%) and Spanish (0.7%). A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation immigrants are bilingual or even multilingual.

In 2018, it was reported that one million people in Australia could not speak English.[5][6]

Over two hundred and fifty Indigenous Australian languages are thought to have existed at the time of first European contact, of which fewer than twenty are still in modern daily use by all age groups.[7][8] About 110 others are spoken exclusively by older people.[8] At the time of the 2006 census, 52,000 Indigenous Australians, representing 12% of the Indigenous population, reported that they spoke an Indigenous language at home.[9]

On Norfolk Island, the Norfuk language has official status.[10]

Australia is home to many sign languages, the most widespread of which is known as Auslan, which is the main language of about 5,500 people.[11] Other sign languages include the various manual Indigenous languages like Eltye eltyarrenke, Rdaka-rdaka and Yolŋu Sign Language. Lastly, there is a small community of people who speak Australian Irish Sign Language (AISL), a Francosign language related to French Sign Language rather than being a Banzsl language like Auslan.[12][13]

English language

 
Percentage of people who speak the English language at home in 2016

Rates of English language as most common languages spoken at home are in 2021, 2016 and 2011:[14]

Aboriginal languages

Main article: Indigenous Australian languages

It is believed that there were almost 400 Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait languages at the time of first European contact. Most of these are now either extinct or moribund, with only about fifteen languages still being spoken among all age groups of the relevant tribes.[23] The National Indigenous Languages Report is a regular Australia-wide survey of the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages[24] conducted in 2005,[25] 2014[26] and 2019.[24] An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50,000 (0.25%) people.

 
Number of speakers of Australian indigenous languages as a percentage of population according to the 2011 census.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island languages with the most speakers today are Upper Arrernte, Kalaw Lagaw Ya, Tiwi, Walmajarri, Warlpiri, and the Western Desert language.

Sign languages

Main article: Australian Aboriginal sign languages

Tasmanian languages

Main article: Tasmanian languages

Torres Strait languages

Main article: Torres Strait Island languages

Two languages are spoken on the islands of the Torres Strait, within Australian territory, by the Melanesian inhabitants of the area: Kalaw Lagaw Ya and Meriam. Meriam Mir is a Papuan language, while Kalaw Lagaw Ya is an Australian language.

Pidgins and creoles

Two English-based creoles have arisen in Australia after European contact: Kriol and Torres Strait Creole. Kriol is spoken in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, and Torres Strait Creole in Queensland and south-west Papua.

Broome Pearling Lugger Pidgin was a pidgin used as a lingua franca between Malays, Japanese, Vietnamese, Torres Strait Islanders and Aborigines on pearling boats.

Angloromani is a mixture of Romani and Australian English. It is spoken by the Romani minority in Australia.

Immigrant languages

There has been a steady decline in the percentage of Australians who speak only English at home since at least 2001. According to the 2001 census, English was the only language spoken in the home for around 80% of the population. By the 2006 census it had fallen to close to 79%, while in the 2011 census, that number had fallen to 76.8%. According to the 2021 census, English is the only language spoken at home for 72% of the population. Languages Other Than English (LOTE) is becoming an increasingly popular subject in Australian schools,[27] and English as a Second Language (ESL) is an alternative, less advanced English subject for newly immigrated students.

The next five most common languages spoken at home, as of the 2016 census, are:[28]

A considerable proportion of first- and second-generation migrants are bilingual.

Foreign languages

Main article: Foreign language teaching in Australia

Foreign languages are widely taught in Australia. The most popular languages taught at schools other than English are Japanese, Italian, Indonesian, French, German and Mandarin.[29] However, many other languages are also taught at schools, including other foreign languages, Indigenous Australian languages and Auslan.

See also

References

Citations

  1. ^ "Pluralist Nations: Pluralist Language Policies?". 1995 Global Cultural Diversity Conference Proceedings, Sydney. Department of Social Services. Archived from the original on 20 December 2008. Retrieved 10 July 2017. "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."
  2. ^ Moore, Bruce. "The Vocabulary Of Australian English" (PDF). National Museum of Australia. Archived from the original (PDF) on 20 March 2011. Retrieved 5 April 2010.
  3. ^ "The Macquarie Dictionary", Fourth Edition. The Macquarie Library Pty Ltd, 2005.
  4. ^ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile".
  5. ^ "Almost 1m Aussies can't speak English". Daily Telegraph. 13 June 2018.
  6. ^ "Language".
  7. ^ "A mission to save indigenous languages". Australian Geographic. 19 August 2011. Archived from the original on 24 December 2013. Retrieved 18 March 2016.
  8. ^ a b "National Indigenous Languages Survey Report 2005". Department of Communications, Information Technology and the Arts. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 July 2009. Retrieved 5 September 2009.
  9. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (4 May 2010). "4713.0 – Population Characteristics, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006". Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  10. ^ "Archived copy". www.info.gov.nf. Archived from the original on 25 July 2008. Retrieved 12 January 2022.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  11. ^ Australian Bureau of Statistics (27 June 2007). "20680-Language Spoken at Home (full classification list) by Sex – Australia". 2006 Census Tables : Australia. Canberra: Australian Bureau of Statistics. Retrieved 7 December 2010.
  12. ^ "austririshsign-adam-0376". Endangered Languages Archive. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  13. ^ "Australian Irish Sign Language: a minority sign language within a larger sign language community". Culture in Crisis. Retrieved 24 December 2022.
  14. ^ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile".
  15. ^ "Snapshot of Tasmania | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  16. ^ "Snapshot of Queensland | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  17. ^ "Snapshot of South Australia | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  18. ^ "Snapshot of Western Australia | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  19. ^ "Snapshot of Australian Capital Territory | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  20. ^ "Snapshot of New South Wales | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  21. ^ "Snapshot of Victoria | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  22. ^ "Snapshot of Northern Territory | Australian Bureau of Statistics". 28 June 2022.
  23. ^ McConvell, P. & N.Thieberger. 2001. State of Indigenous Language Report. http://www.environment.gov.au/soe/2001/publications/technical/indigenous-languages.html
  24. ^ a b "National Indigenous Languages Report (NILR)". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 6 November 2018. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  25. ^ "National Indigenous Languages Survey Report 2005". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 19 February 2016. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  26. ^ "Community, identity, wellbeing: The report of the Second National Indigenous Languages Survey". Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. 16 February 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2020.
  27. ^ "Draft Shape of the Australian Curriculum: Languages" (PDF). p. 35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 March 2016.
  28. ^ "Language spoken at home | Australia | Community profile".
  29. ^ "Should learning a second language be compulsory in Australian schools?".

Sources

 
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