Does the word “here” have one syllable or two? Does “France” rhyme with “pants” or “aunts”?

Across Australia, linguists are revolutionising the understanding of how Aussies’ voices differ from one another, fuelling new insights into what was once thought to be a monolithic accent.

University of Melbourne Professor of Languages and Linguistics John Hajek told Gary Adshead on 6PR Mornings we’ve never had a more robust or comprehensive understanding of the Australian vernacular as we do now, something which not only unveils the past, but also the  future of how we speak.

“A few things pop up, like how you can identify young people from the city of Melbourne by how they say, ‘Melbourne'”, Professor Hajek said.

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