Talk:Name of Australia

Has use of "Commonwealth of" changed?


AGREEMENT BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT OF AUSTRALIA AND THE GOVERNMENT OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDONESIA RELATING TO AIR SERVICES...2017

Upon the entry into force of this Agreement, the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Indonesia and the Government of the Commonwealth of Australia for Air Services Between and Beyond Their Respective Territory, signed in Sydney on 7 March 1969, shall cease to be in force.

It seems Australia used to call itself the Commonwealth of Australia in international agreements but no longer does so, would anyone like to write about that in the article? Frenchmalawi (talk) 14:17, 1 April 2017 (UTC)


 * It's still officially the Commonwealth of Australia.--Jack Upland (talk) 22:56, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

Southern-Austrian Land of the Holy Spirit

 * The earliest recorded use of the word Australia in English was in 1625 in "A note of Australia del Espíritu Santo, written by Sir Richard Hakluyt", published by Samuel Purchas in Hakluytus Posthumus, a corruption of the original Spanish name "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo" (Southern-Austrian Land of the Holy Spirit) coined by Pedro Fernandes de Queirós for an island in Vanuatu, in a rare combination of terms "Austral" and "Austria", the last in honour of Habsburg dynasty that reigned in Spain at those times.

None of the sources cited translate "Austrialia del Espiritu Santo" as "Southern-Austrian Land of the Holy Spirit". The normal translation is South Land. Barber says there is a "punning reference" to the House of Austria. This appears to be a minority view. It seems unlikely because the Habsburgs in Spain had formed their own house separate from the Austrians. I'm not aware of any other Spanish explorers making reference to Austria in this way, though there are several place names with Spanish references, such as Hispaniola, Grenada etc. But if it is true, there is still no reason to use the term "Southern-Austrian" which in no way is a translation of "Austrialia". There are a few sources which use this term, but this appears to be derived from Wikipedia. It is certainly not common.--Jack Upland (talk) 23:19, 29 June 2017 (UTC)

Exceedingly rare for Australians to use "Oz"?
The article now states that it is "exceedingly rare to see it referred to in this manner by Australians (they tend to prefer the term Aus)".

This is unsourced and appears to be a bald statement of opinion by the contributor (note the use of "exceedingly"). My opinion is that the opposite is true, but instead of labouring over citations to prove that, I've added a "citation needed" to the existing statement.

I'm baffled by "the term Aus" which Australians are supposed to prefer. In speech it would probably be indistinguishable from the pronunciation of "Oz" anyway, just as "Aussie" sounds like "Ozzie".

Lyn50 (talk) 01:49, 24 May 2018 (UTC)


 * On reflection, the original author may have been referring to written English ("rare to see it"), but even so it would be easy to establish the opposite, probably easier than for everyday speech. Lyn50 (talk) 01:55, 24 May 2018 (UTC)

Pronunciation of Australia
With all due respect to the Macquarie, I have been speaking Australian English for almost 60 years and I do not think I have ever pronounced the first syllable as |ə|. I have always pronounced it as |ɒ|. Indeed this is why we are 'ozzies' and not 'ussies' .... I think it should be changed .... Aoziwe (talk) 14:56, 1 August 2021 (UTC)
 * Actually it might be part way between the two pronunciations but still more |ɒ| than |ə| .... Aoziwe (talk) 15:03, 1 August 2021 (UTC)