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In: Rudolf Muhr (ed.) (2012): Non-dominant Varieties of pluricentric Languages. Getting the Picture. In memory of Michael Clyne. Wien et. al., Peter Lang Verlag. p. 129-142. Heinz L. KRETZENBACHER (The University of Melbourne, Australia) heinz@unimelb.edu.au The emancipation of Strine1: Australian English as an established post-colonial national standard of English Abstract Among the diverse national varieties of Postcolonial English (Schneider 2007), Australian English is an interesting example of the potential a non-dominant variety of English can have nationally and inter- nationally. After only having achieved general acceptance and linguistic attention as a national standard in the 1970s, Australian English is now codified and well researched. On the one hand, its development has been (and continues to be) influenced by two different dominant varieties of English, British English as well as United States English, on the other hand, Australian English has become a semi-dominant standard regionally, influencing other South West Pacific Englishes, in particular the Papua New Guinean and New Zealand standards. It is argued that in many cases of pluricentric languages, dominance or non-dominance is not a binary opposition but must be determined for each standard variety within its individual framework of dominance. Australian accents can be explained by the substitution of the standard human thought organ, the brain, with its Australian equivalent, the brine – a small reservoir of salt water... fish optional. Mattias “Miles” Allard, Facebook status update 22/03/11 1. Introduction: Antiseptic folk linguistics When the broadsheet Sydney Morning Herald published a review of Hugh Lunn’s book of Australian...