Italo-Australian dialect

People with Italian ancestry as a percentage of the population in Australia divided geographically by statistical local area, as of the 2011 census

Italo-Australian is an Italian dialect developing in Australia that is spoken by Australians of Italian descent.

Characteristics

The exact number of speakers is unknown, but it is highly speculated that the language is mainly spoken by the younger generations, passed on by the elder ancestors, who created the language. Some researchers think that can be spoken by nearly 300,000 Italian Australians in 2012.

Origin

The foundation of this dialect is the Modern Italian Language, which was brought to Australia following the Italian diaspora in the post World War One era. It wasn't until the years after the second diaspora after World War Two that the dialect came into note.

The language was simply created with modern Italian words being influenced by the vocabulary of the English language, to create Italian/English words. Some words being of Italian spelling changing to an English only with a few character changes to make it sound Italian. Italian linguist Tullio De Mauro has noted the dialect in his famous book 'Storia Della Lingua' as "developing dialect that is still enduring the modern influences of English".

De Mauro also claims the language is growing with the vocabulary being passed onto the younger generations of Italian Australians.

Common words

Italian is said to be the foundation, and English is said to be the influence, according to De Mauro.

English	Italo-Australian	Italian
Car	Carro	Macchina
Cake	Checca	Torta
Market	Marchetta	Mercato
Farm	Farma	Fattoria
Factory	Fattoria	Fabbrica
Fence	Fensa	Recinto
To Park	Parcare	Parcheggiare
To Push	Pusciare	Spingere
To Stop	Stoppare	Fermare
To Start	Stardare	Cominciare
Lollies	Loli	Caramelle
Jeans	Ginsi	I Jeans
Shed	Scedda (Scella)	Capanno
Shower	Scea	Doccia
Refrigerator	Friggia	Frigorifero
Chips	Cipi	Patate Fritte
Washing Machine	Guasci Mascina	Lavatrice
Spray	Spraia	Spruzzo
To Smash	Smesciare	Sfasciare
To scream	Scrimare	Gridare
Bag	Begga	Borsa

See Also

• Italian Australians