New edition of Australian National Dictionary gifted to the nation
Photo by Bradley Cummings Photography.
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has accepted a specially bound set of the new edition of the Australian National Dictionary, the primary repository of Australian English.
The Dictionary was presented as a 'gift to the nation' at the Prime Minister's Parliament House office.
The Australian National Dictionary Centre at ANU compiled the Dictionary, which was published by Oxford University Press Australia and New Zealand.
The Dictionary has been 28 years in the making with the first edition published in 1988. The second edition includes more than 6,000 new words, including words from more than 100 Indigenous languages.
New words and phrases include Sorry Day, trackie daks, schmick, chardy, straight to the pool room, mugachino, firie, rello, Welcome to Country, bunji (a mate), yidaki (didgeridoo), drop bear, shirtfront and not happy Jan.
There are more than 16,000 Australian words and phrases in the new Dictionary.
The new two-volume set was presented to the Prime Minister by Oxford University Press Managing Director Peter van Noorden, Chief Editor Dr Bruce Moore, the Australian National Dictionary Centre Director and Managing Editor Dr Amanda Laugesen and ANU Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Marnie Hughes-Warrington.
Mr van Noorden said the second edition provided a crucial record of Australian culture and identity.
"It illustrates what it means, in words, to be Australian. These words belong to all Australians and so it is fitting that the Dictionary be gifted to the nation," he said.
The Dictionary is the custodian of words and phrases unique to Australian history and culture.
"Australian words tell us so much about Australian history and about Australian values and attitudes," Dr Moore said.
"Australian English is a marker of our national identity.
"The Australian National Dictionary is the essential cultural and historical document which maps the words that define who we are, where we have come from and what we value."
The Dictionary is on sale in Australian bookstores and is available in public and academic libraries.