Comparative research indicates that almost without exception, late eighteenth century non-standard English pronunciation was very close to what is called Broad Australian. Present Australian English is closely akin to the blended, popular colloquial London English, spoken by the largest group of Australia's first settlers. This pronunciation differed greatly from the more restricted standard form which was growing in importance in England at the same time for social reasons. British English and Australian English now appear to be drawing closer together because in the former more and more "low-class" forms of colloquial eighteenth century speech are filtering through to respectability; such forms already exist in Australian pronunciation. (VM)