ABSTRACT
Australia, often called a nation of migrants, is home to people whose heritage can be traced all over the world - respondents to the 2016 Census attested over 300 different ethnicities. This chapter focuses on the linguistic variation found in speakers of Australian English whose ethnicity is not considered part of the dominant, Anglo-Celtic majority. I provide a survey of research conducted prior to 2010, which typically focuses on established migrant groups. I then provide a discussion of research conducted in the 2010s, which is marked by two changes in focus. This more recent research considers established migrant groups, including Australians with Lebanese, Italian, and Greek ethnic heritage, alongside groups who have seen marked increases in the 30-year period between the 1986 and 2016 censuses. Research conducted post-2010 also takes a different analytical approach, refocusing beyond ethnic heritage and centring ethnic identity (as variable and socially constructed) as the sociological unit of analysis alongside the linguistic variable. Ethnolectal variability is discussed in discourse-pragmatic features, in the use of address terms, and the distinctive use of accent features. This current research reflects the diversity of ways Australian English is deployed to index ethnic identities in urban centres across the nation.
