We may not hear it but to a foreign ear, we sound the same.
It may be sacrilege to say, but the South African and Australian accents do in fact have similarities.
Partly due to our persistent sports rivalries, South Africans and Australians despise being likened to one another. However, to a foreign ear (particularly American ears), we sound the same.
Before these similarities can be explained, first we must establish what is meant by the South African accent.
Essentially, the South African accent in reference here is collectively known as’ White South African English’.
It is the inherited language of British colonisers who introduced English to the Cape region in 1795 when they established a military holding.
Of course, South Africa being an incredibly diverse country it has a variation of English language dialects. These dialects all have a unique history and have developed in infrequent stages due to systems of segregation.
White South African English has its variants too. The influence of the Afrikaans language on the English dialect is evident in the adoption of Dutch-origin words and phrases into the English vocabulary.
Unfortunately, White South African English has a history of being a tool of exclusion and is often accompanied by varying levels of perceived social prestige.
These levels of assumed social prestige have been pre-determined by a classification system known as “The Great Trichotomy”.
This system categorises South African English into three sub-varieties – Cultivated, General and Broad English varieties.
‘Cultivated’ South African English is closest in pronunciation to the standard received pronunciation practised in upper-class England.
‘General’ South African English is the common man’s language and indicates a middle-class education.
The ‘Broad’ variety has been stigmatised as a vernacular English used by second language speakers like the Afrikaans and other indigenous peoples.
It should be noted that “The Great Trichotomy” was first used to classify Australian English varieties.
The accent similarities
Although the vocabulary set of South African and Australian English differs greatly, the two accents are often mistaken for the other.
This factors down to our shared vowel pronunciation which differs so greatly from the American. The science behind this vowel pronunciation is complex.
Basically, South African and Australian English shares the pronunciation of short vowels which spell words such as trap, bath and dress.
American English speakers often find it difficult to understand these pronunciations as they produce different vowel qualities when speaking. As a result, Americans confound South African and Australian English accents.
Nevertheless, there are many differences between the South African and Australian accents. As long as we can identify our idiosyncrasies from theirs, we should be able to hold onto our national integrity.
