Aboriginal English

Aboriginal English is one of the three major varieties of restructured English currently spoken by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. Aboriginal English, with some regional variation, is spoken in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities throughout Australia. It developed in different parts of the country from pre-existing pidgins of which one, New South Wales Pidgin, was dominant. It also underwent ongoing influence from standard and non-standard varieties of English spoken in Australia and in some places from creoles, some of which are still spoken in northern areas. In Aboriginal English there are traces of innovative processes in the morphology and syntax which are a part of the developmental continuum away from English, but also evidence of the restructuring continuum under the influence of Standard English.

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