Australian Accent Blamed On Alcohol, Expert Claims ‘Alcohol To Australians Is Like Guns To Americans’
According to a specialist in public speaking, the Australian accent was born of drunken slurs from the overconsumption of alcohol. The British accent’s evolution is claimed to have been passed down to the children of the early Australians, who were sober in their youth.
Mr. Dean Frankel works at Melbourne’s Victorian University and has made the claim that intoxication is the cause of the Australian accent. His research shows that the convicts that inhabited Australia early in the 18th and 19th century, most either Irish or British, spent their time over indulging in alcohol, leading to the slurred accent we hear today.
The accent stuck, according to Metro, because the children of the drunk convicts picked up the speech patterns and carried it forward through its evolution, resulting in the accent that was, as Frankel put it, “spiked by alcohol.”
“The Australian alphabet cocktail was spiked by alcohol.”
Frankel also states that some German and Aboriginal influence intermixed with English and alcohol.
“Our forefathers regularly got drunk together and through their frequent interactions unknowingly added an alcoholic slur to our national speech patterns.Aussie-speak developed in the early days of colonial settlement from a cocktail of English, Irish, Aboriginal and German – before another mystery influence was slipped into the mix.”
Frankel furthered his claim by stating that the average Australian only speaks at two-thirds of an average English speaker’s capacity. He also called for better “verbal expression and delivery” to be taught in schools.
“Missing consonants can include missing ‘t’s (impordant), ‘l’s (Austraya) and ‘s’s (yesh), while many of our vowels are lazily transformed into other vowels, especially ‘a’s to ‘e’s (stending) and ‘i’s (New South Wyles), and ‘i’s to ‘oi’s (noight).”
Frankel does not believe that the Australian accent will change anytime soon, especially with such a strong pastime of drinking alcoholic beverages.
“Alcohol to Australians is like guns to Americans. Alcohol has been a part of the Australian culture for so damn long, it is crucial to the DNA of Australia.”
Although Frankel credits the Australian accent to alcohol, there are critics who believe his theory is utterly false. Frankel claims that his theory is easily tested by placing a sober Australian next to a drunk English speaking individual. If asked to recite the same sentence, the accents will be nearly indecipherable.
Dr. Rob Pensalfini, a UQ linguistics expert, feels that Frankel’s theory is based more on observation and guesswork, rather than hard facts.
Pensalfini believes that the Australian accent is simply a melding of all accents that were present in the early days of Australia’s culture. He states that over time, other theories and stories have been told to explain the accent. One story, according to ABC News Australia, claims that the Australian accent is due to the “closed lip” way they speak, which was utilized to keep flies out of their mouths. However, it is simply an old tale.
Most likely, according to Pensalfini, the origin of the Australian language hails from Cockney origins with an intermingling of Irish and English accents. Pensalfini, who is also an actor and director, stated that individuals who are intoxicated typically attempt to over-articulate their speech, rather than give in to slurring. It is an attempt to make themselves appear non-drunk.
Regardless of the reason for the accent, Frankel feels that it hinders communication in Australia, leading to an increase of domestic violence and internalization of emotions. Frankel feels that a revamp of the Australian language could lead to better communication and fewer misunderstandings that could lead to domestic issues.
[Image via Janaka Dharmasena/Shutterstock]
