The official language of Australia, like many other modern countries that were formerly colonies of England, is English. Residents of the continent speak Australian English.
History of Language in Australia
Before the British came to Australian lands, the natives used different languages and dialects to communicate. An expedition led by British lieutenant James Cook in 1770 recognized Australia suitable for settlement. After the formation of the British colony on January 26, 1788, English began to spread throughout the continent.
The Australian version of English began to develop in parallel with the British, taking it as a basis. The rules for writing words, making phrases and sentences were regulated by the British Empire, and the lexical composition of the language has undergone some changes.
Australia has become a place for exiled convicts from the UK. Together with them, officials supervising criminals moved to the new continent. Naturally, such a contingent brought with it its own special dialect. Many jargon later became the norm of speech.
Colonization of Australia was accompanied by significant extermination of the indigenous population. Accordingly, the number of speakers of the original Australian languages has decreased many times. Today in Australia they are freely owned by no more than 60 thousand people of the older generation.
After the Second World War, in which Australia voluntarily took part as an ally of Great Britain, the authorities began to encourage the immigration of European citizens to the country. The immigrants brought their culture and language with them, forming diasporas.
