The Address Term Mate in Australian English: Is it Still a Masculine Term?

Abstract

The concepts of mate and mateship have been held up as quintessentially Australian, encapsulating all that it might mean to be Australian, including such ideas as having a fair go, camaraderie, working together. Although the address term mate (as in How ya going mate?) is generally included in discussions of mate and mateship, very little analysis of how it is actually used in Australian English has been carried out. This preliminary study focuses on the vocative use of mate through a survey of 698 respondents in which they were asked whether they use mate when addressing other people, whether they are addressed by mate, who they predominantly address as mate and whether they like mate as a term of address. The results show that there seems to be a shift in terms of how mate, as an address term, is used and understood. Whereas mate has traditionally been understood as a male solidarity term used ‘by males and for males’, this preliminary survey shows that more young women, aged between 18 and 29 years, are reporting their use of the address term mate compared to women aged over 50 years. The preliminary study seems to suggest that instead of mate being characterized as a neutral term used by men to show equality and egalitarianism, young women now see mate as a friendly and fun term that, along with many other address forms, is available to show intimacy.