Norf’k is spoken by about 800 speakers, mainly residents of Norfolk Island with a growing diaspora in Sydney and Brisbane (Australia). Norf’k is not a standardized language and there is a great deal of variation. Family differences play an important part and, although the island occupies fewer than 40 square kilometres there are some regional differences between Cascade, Steels Point and Anson Bay varieties.
The principal differences, however, are determined by the proximity of the language to English. Speakers of the older generation (50+) grew up in a stable diglossic situation. For most speakers under 50 the domains and functions of English and Norf’k are no longer clearly separated and traditional Broad Norf’k is increasingly replaced by a more anglicized Norf’k. Many of the youngest generation do not acquire Norf’k at home but through formal teaching at the school or deliberate relearning in later life. Some speakers employ an instant Norf’k by adding a small number of Norf’k words, vowel pronunciations and idiomatic expressions to their English. The examples in the APiCS dataset (default lect) were obtained from conservative older speakers wherever possible.