In the words of Diana Eades, a sociolinguist, Aboriginal English "is the name given to dialects of English which are spoken by Aboriginal people and which differ from Standard Australian English in systematic ways". They have a lot in common with other varieties of Australian English, but have developed their own distinct features such as accents, vocabulary and grammar. Aboriginal groups make up about 2% of the Australian population and the English they speak can be considered their "first language".
Development of Aboriginal English
Before the British began their colonization of Australia there were about 250 different Aboriginal languages with 600 dialects. Once established, they reluctant to learn any of the languages, leaving the Aboriginal people to learn what little English they could. This kind of limited language is termed "Pidgin English". Considering many of the Aboriginal groups had no understanding of each others languages, this pidgin English helped ease the strain of communication between indigenous peoples and over the years has developed into a completely different dialect of English used all over the island.
Today, Aboriginal English has many dialects and the variation comes from the cultures and traditions of the different groups. Aboriginal English has it's own grammatical and semantic systems, helping the user express anything that is possible in Standard English as well as helping communicate something that is not possible with the use of Standard English.
Aboriginal English and Indigenous Identity
The Aboriginal people have always used language as a means to bind a group together. The use of Aboriginal English gives the indigenous people of Australia a sense of identity and community. The accent, vocabulary and grammar systems of Aboriginal English enables them to continue holding onto the sense of identity and belonging they had before imperialism and have enabled them to keep their traditions and cultures alive. It allows them to find a sense of comfort in each others company.
Not only is the spoken word a marker for identity, a large system of non-verbal communication also binds the indigenous groups. Hand gestures and eye movements play an important role in Aboriginal English. They have their roots in the traditional languages that were used throughout Australia. Direct eye contact in Aboriginal society is considered rude, disrespectful and may even mean aggression, unless communicating with one's peers. Long periods of silence are common during a conversation, especially if information is being shared.
Some Grammatical Features of Aboriginal English
One of the most common grammatical features of Aboriginal English is the structure of questions. Speakers of this form of English ask a question using the structure of a statement but changing the intonation to suit that of a question. Moreover, the end of the question usually has a tag. For example, "They were sitting outside the bank, eh?" In most of Australia, "eh" is a common end tag, in South Australia, they use "inna" and in Western Australia, the common tag is "unna".
Another common feature of Aboriginal English is the in the expression of descriptive and locational sentences. Two or more phrases are joined without the addition of endings or extra words like "to be". For example, "E my cousin brother", E big" for the standard usage of "He's my cousin" and "He's big". The use of noun phrases followed by a "there" is usually how existential sentences are conveyed. For example, "when the river go down, this little island there" for the standard English sentence of "when the river goes down, there's a little island".
The Sounds in Aboriginal English
The phonetics of Aboriginal English have been influenced by traditional languages. The most distinctive feature is the use of "h". The traditional languages do not have a sound for "h" and Aboriginal English evolved with this in mind. But when words start with a vowel, the "h" does sometimes get pronounced, a tendency linguists term hypercorrection. There are some consonants that are pronounced differently as well. The initial "d" in Aboriginal English usually compares to the initial "th" in standard English, as in "dere" corresponding to "there". Also words that begin with "b" and "p" in Aboriginal English compares to words that begin with "v" and "f" in standard English. For example, "We 'ad a bight" corresponds to "We had a fight".
There are many other aspects of Aboriginal English that make it stand apart from Standard English. Pragmatism (use of language in socio-cultural contexts) is one of them. The use of language to obtain information is different and and the references to relatives is a little different from standard usage of English.
It is important to note that the use of the term "pidgin English" is considered rude and politically incorrect.
Sources
Diane Eades. 1995. Aboriginal English. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
Joyzine. 1996-2009. Aboriginal English: Linguistic Features. Retrieved 29 April 2010.
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