Cape Barren English is clearly the most aberrant dialect of English spoken in Australia. Descended from English sealers, whalers and ex-convicts and their Aboriginal wives, the inhabitants of Cape Barren Island, Tasmania, have lived in relative isolation for the last 150 years or more. Their dialect is not a creolized pidgin; it has a number of lexical and phonological elements traceable to the rural dialects of southwest England, which are not found elsewhere in Australia. There are also strong traces of Aboriginal "foreign accent" at a phonological level. The specialized terminology of whaling and sealing has been adapted to the insular environment, especially in the exploitation of mutton-bird rookeries. (Author)