Strine

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For other uses, see Strine (disambiguation).

Strine /ˈstrn/ is a term coined in 1964[1] and subsequently used to describe a broad accent of Australian English. The term is a syncope, derived from a shortened phonetic rendition of the pronunciation of the word "Australian" in an exaggerated Broad Australian accent, drawing upon the tendency of this accent to run words together in a form of liaison.[2]

It was the subject of humorous columns published in the Sydney Morning Herald from the mid-1960s. Alastair Ardoch Morrison, under the Strine pseudonym of Afferbeck Lauder (a syncope for "Alphabetical Order"), wrote a song "With Air Chew" ("Without You") in 1965 followed by a series of books - Let Stalk Strine (1965), Nose Tone Unturned (1967), Fraffly Well Spoken (1968) and Fraffly Suite (1969). An example from one of the books: 'Eye-level arch play devoisters ...' ("I'll have a large plate of oysters").

In October 2009, Text Publishing, Melbourne, re-published all four books in an omnibus edition.[3]

The naturalist and TV presenter Steve Irwin was once referred to as the person who "talked Strine like no other contemporary personality".[4]

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ The Oxford Companion to the English Language, Oxford University Press (1992), p. 990 (ISBN 0-19-214183-X)
  2. ^ Chris Roberts, Heavy Words Lightly Thrown: The Reason Behind Rhyme, Thorndike Press, 2006 (ISBN 0-7862-8517-6)
  3. ^ "Strine". Text Publishing Company. October 2009. Retrieved 30 November 2009. 
  4. ^ Freakish end to a wild lifeThe Age

Sources[edit]

  • Lauder, Afferbeck (A, A. Morrison) Let Stalk Strine, Sydney, 1965, page 9
  • Steber, David. Strine and Amusing Language from the Land Down Under, Steber & Associates, 1990. (ISBN 1877834009)

External links[edit]