I think Australians are cute, don't you Jess? I LOVE their accents. They are so sunny and cheerful sounding.
Kerry, do Australians have different accents like we do here? I know they have many different accents in the UK as well, so I'm assuming you all also have accents which vary from one part of the country to another.
Over here, it's often quite easy to tell what part of the country a person comes from - sometimes even a particular state. My "Hoosier" ears can easily discern a Kentucky accent, an Ohio accent, a Michigan accent and to a lesser degree an Illinois accent from a speaker from Indiana. And those are all neighboring Midwestern states!
So I was wondering if this is also true in Australia?
I love American and English accents.
I am particularly fond of the very genteel, refined, Southern American accent and also love the hillbilly accent as spoken in the Beverley Hillbillies and by Dolly Parton. A man with that accent really turns my knees to jelly.
When I was a young chap, I used to love listening to Jethro (I liked looking at him too!) in the Beverley Hillbillies.
Of the gazillions of different English accents, my favourite is probably the London Cockney accent, which sound a bit like an Australian accent.
Generally speaking, we don't have such regional accents here in Australia. There are a couple of exceptions; e.g., in Sydney we pronounce castle "car-sul" and in Melbourne they say "ca-sul" (the first syllable pronounced as in cat or hat). And Queenslanders put an "Eh?" on the end of everything, turning it into a question; e.g., "Nice day, eh?" "Let's go to the movies, eh?" That's unique to Queensland.
Having said that, however, I personally believe there are three distinct and readily recognisable Australian accents:
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High Australian is spoken by the educated and monied classes at the top of the heap. Our Heath was born to privilege, came from a rich, educated family and went to elite schools. His grandfather was a Knight, which automatically elevated the entire family well above most of the rest of their countrymen. Heath had a High Australian accent.
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Middle Australian is spoken by the majority of Australians. It's neither posh nor crass. Think Hugh Jackman and Nicole Kidman. I put myself in this category.
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Low Australian is less widespread these days. It has a somewhat coarse, guttural sound. You're less inclined to hear it in the larger, affluent cities, and more likely to hear it in regional, country areas; though, this isn't always the case. An example of this accent is Paul Hogan ("Throw a shrimp on the barbie") and Steve Irwin.
This is strictly my own opinion only. I'd be interested to hear the opinion of my fellow Aussie Bettermostians.