Australian language
| Languages of Australia | |
|---|---|
| Official languages | N/A |
| Main languages | Australian English (81%) |
| Indigenous languages | Australian Luganda languages, Tasmanian languages, Torres Strait Island languages |
| Minority languages | Chinese (2.9%) Italian (1.2%), Arabic (1.1%), Greek (1%), Vietnamese (0.9%), Spanish (0.4%) |
| Sign languages |
Auslan Yolŋu Sign Language and other Aboriginal sign languages |
| Common keyboard layouts |
 |
Australia has no official language, but it is largely monolingual with English being the national and de facto official language. Australian English has a distinctive accent and vocabulary. A considerable proportion of first and second generation migrants are bilingual. According to Ethnologue, 81% of people spoke English at home, including L2 speakers. Other languages spoken at home included Mandarin 2.9%, Italian 1.2%, Arabic 1.1%, Greek 1%, Vietnamese 0.9% and Spanish 0.4%. There were almost 400 languages spoken by Indigenous Australians prior to the arrival of Europeans. Only about 70 of these languages have survived and all but 30 of these are now endangered.
It is believed that there were almost 400 Australian Aboriginal languages at the time of first European contact. Most of these are now either extinct or moribund, with only about fifteen languages still being spoken among all age groups of the relevant tribes.
An indigenous language remains the main language for about 50,000 (0.25%) people. Australia has a sign language known as Auslan, which is the main language that approximately 10,000 deaf people use. Chinese is by far the most spoken foreign language, with 715,000 speakers as of 2016, and has even been considered to be put on signs across Australia, to encourage tourists to explore and interact with other people.
The Aboriginal languages with the most speakers today are Arrernte, Kala Lagaw Ya, Tiwi, Walmajarri, Warlpiri, and the Western Desert language.
All the indigenous languages of Tasmania are extinct today, and little reliable information about them was recorded.
Two languages are spoken on the islands of the Torres Strait, within Australian territory, by the Melanesian inhabitants of the area: Kala Lagaw Ya and Meriam Mir. Meriam Mir is a Papuan language, while Kala Lagaw Ya is an Australian language.
...
Wikipedia