English has been used in Australia for around 200
years, since the European settlers arrived in 1788, and is the
'de facto' national and official language. 'Australian
English' has been gaining recognition in recent years as an
autonomous variety. Historically, Australian English is
derived from British English, but since the 1980s Australians
have increasingly sought to develop their own reference guides
to usage. These include the influential Macquarie
Dictionary (1981), the first such publication which
claimed to be 'Australia's own'. Population: 19
million.
Reading Blair, D. & P. Collins (eds) (2001) English in Australia. Amsterdam:
Benjamins. Eagleson, R.D. (1984) English in Australia and
New Zealand. In Bailey, R.W. and M. Görlach (eds) English
as a World Language. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press. pp.415-438. Turner, G.W. (1994) English in Australia.
In Burchfield, R.W. (ed.) The Cambridge History of
the English Language. Vol. 5. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press,
pp.277-327
