Phonetic features of english languages in australia

table of contents

 

introduction

Part 1. The problem of the existence of different varieties of English

1.1 The increase in the influence of English in the world

1.2 Regional variations of English

1.2.1 Types of English in the world

1.2.2 Australian Language Peculiarities

Part 2. Australian English

2.1 Separation of Australian English

2.2 Main characteristics of Australian

2.2.1 Phonetic features of Australian English

2.2.2 Vowels

2.2.3 Consonants

2.2.4 Australian to English languages comparison

Conclusion

References

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

introduction

 

This course work is devoted to varieties of the English language, namely its Australian version. The theme is the Australian version of the English language. In the 60 -ies of XX century. the spread of English has become very broad. Some countries initially used it as a means of inter-ethnic communication , then the language is gradually mutated and became a mother for the population. For example, British English started the American version , and then the Australian and South African . In the XX century . developed Nigerian , Indian , Singaporean options and numerous new varieties of English (New Englishes).

Australian English has only recently , with the beginning of the colonization of the Australian continent by the British in the XVIII century : once in 1788 there was established penal colony of New South Wales (state in the eastern part of Australia). Then return to Australia and other groups : residents Cockney from London and other major cities , military families , miners . As a result of economic instability 1850s about 2 per cent of the UK population have emigrated to Australia (encyclopedia Wikipedia). With the gradual destruction of the indigenous English took the leading position on the continent. However, due to the remoteness of the metropolis it began to appear different from standard English , which we will discuss in this paper .

On the relevance of the topic shows a wide interest of researchers in varieties of English language or language variation . Interest in the language variants can be explained by heterogeneity and complexity of their application. Today, the need for theoretical research and practical study of the language , combined with the development of society, in-depth study of people's culture - a native speaker is well recognized. There is no doubt the fact that today it is impossible to teach certain " averaged language " , without regard to its variation. In this regard, of particular importance to the study of a complex system of forms of existence of language - from the literary language to dialect. Each regional version of the English language is not only a spatial projection of the language, as well as the projection of the social, cultural and historical . Therefore, a correct assessment of all these factors may shed light on the complexity and uniqueness of the linguistic situation in Australia . And of course, we are particularly important study of Australian English , because the relations between Russia and Australia are becoming increasingly important : in Australia, the days pass Russia , there are opened branches Russian universities for the past 200 years, developing economic relations .

The objectives of this study :

1. Highlight the problem of the existence of different variants of the English language, consider their main features ;

2 . Consider , examine and describe the territorial version of the English language in Australia, taking into account the socio-linguistic and extra-linguistic factors;

3 . Specify the features of Australian English ;

In accordance with the objectives of the main objectives are:

1. Identify the prerequisites of language options;

2 . Description of the main characteristics of the varieties of English

3 . Analysis and description of Australian English ;

4 . Identification of the main prerequisites for the creation of the modern Australian English .

In the work we used encyclopedias , lingvostranovedcheskie and bilingual English- Russian dictionaries in Australia. We reviewed the work of linguists such as Ginsburg, SS, Arnold I. and many others. Considerable interest was the work Oshchepkovo VV : its analysis of Australian English has caused us a special interest.

Research technique defined goals and objectives of the work .

The main methods of the study, which served as a tool for the selection of factual material and were a necessary condition for achieving the goal of the paper are the following :

- Descriptive method ;

- comparative comparative method ;

method of linguistic description ;

The results of the study have theoretical and practical importance. In theoretical terms , this course work contributes to the study of Australian English , complements and generalizes existing in the linguistic literature data concerning the Australian version of the English language and its distinctive features.

The practical value of the course work is the ability to use the findings and the actual research material for students in the study of lexicology , geography, language typology , as well as for further research .

The structure of the work is determined posed in her research tasks . Course work consists of an introduction , theoretical and practical part , conclusions, and references and dictionaries. The introduction reveals the relevance of the theme , identifies goals and objectives , describes the material and methods of research substantiates the practical value of foreign exchange .

In the first and second part describes the basic theoretical principles and concepts relating to the varieties of English , the main features of the regional options and features of the language situation and language relations in Australia.

In conclusion, contains the main conclusions from the study and formed some directions for further development of the idea of the course .

Of course , we can not cover all aspects within the same course work , but this work can be a good basis for further theoretical and practical studies.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 1. The problem of the existence of different varieties of English

 

1.1 The increase in the influence of English in the world

australia lexical English

One of the peculiarities of the English language - is its use as a national, state and official literary language of not one but many nations.

Along with some other languages ​​of the world , the English language in the UK , USA, Canada , Australia, New Zealand, a number of developing countries in Asia and Africa , the former colonies of the United Kingdom refers to polinatsionalnym and multiethnic languages, belongs to not one, but several nations , not just one and several ethnic groups . Such a wide spread of English is due to the expansive policy of Britain in the Middle Ages . The small kingdom of Albion was able to expand their holdings by winning or by opening a huge , often unexplored territories around the world. English-speakers settled in these areas either voluntarily , as representatives of the ruling circles, as researchers , missionaries , simple farmers , who at home could never even get a piece of land , and in the New Territories have become owners of large plots of land. Or the Royal Government colonize new lands undesirable elements : to Australia 's convict in the New World ( America ) ran to the legitimate Protestant.

In the history of the spread of English is divided into three periods , during which time it has undergone significant changes. These changes were not so many choices of English as standard English , but they later spread to the options that we will consider later. Therefore, a short list of those periods.

First period - the early Middle Ages, when as a result of the Norman conquest of influence of the French language and some other languages ​​into English was so significant that it is a relatively short time has become more romance than the German . In the English language came to words such as : state, government, parliament,, justice, crime, prison, pupil, lesson, library, science, pen and many others.

Second period - the Renaissance and subsequent years , when the English borrowed a large amount of vocabulary of classical languages ​​( Latin and Greek ) and a number of creative playwrights , especially Shakespeare, greatly enriched him . There are these words : moderate, intelligent, permanent, to elect, to create, atom, cycle, ethics, philosophy, method, music ( Atrushina , GB , 1999 , pp. 47-49) .

The third period - the end of the second millennium - the beginning of the new millennium .

According to estimates O. Jespersen , the number of speaking in English in 1500 was about 4 million. By 1900, it rose sharply to 123 million by the end of the XX century. this figure had increased almost 10 -fold compared with 1900 Today, researchers suggest that the number of English speakers varies between 1.2 and 1.5 billion people . These figures include those for whom English is their native language (native language), second (ESL) and foreign language (EFL). For comparison: in Chinese spoken in his eight variants with a common writing system , says some 1.1 billion people .

In the 60 -ies of XX century. the spread of English has become very broad. Some countries initially used it as a means of inter-ethnic communication , then the language is gradually mutated and became a mother for the population. For example, British English started the American version , and then the Australian and South African . In the XX century . developed Nigerian , Indian , Singaporean options and numerous new varieties of English (New Englishes). Some linguists have suggested that this may indicate the development of a new family of languages. ( Oshchepkova VV , 2004, p16 -18 )

Of course, English is used differently in the British Isles and in Australia, the U.S. and New Zealand , Canada and India. English also has some features in Wales, Scotland , other parts of the British Isles and America. The various features of the English language, we now consider.

Standard English - the official language of the United Kingdom being taught in schools and universities , is used in the press, on radio and television, and is recognized wherever speak English . His vocabulary is contrasted with the vocabulary of the dialects. Local dialects - English language options that are specific to certain areas and lead to normal non-literary forms of the language . Regional variants possessing a literary form called the language variants . Only in the UK , there are two options , a Scottish English and Irish English and the five main groups of dialects : Northern, midland, East, West and South . Each group in turn contains up to ten dialects.

One of the most famous of Southern dialects - Cockney , a regional dialect of London , characterized by a large number of variations in pronunciation, and small differences in vocabulary and syntax. "Encyclopedia Britannica" examines how a Cockney accent, not recognizing its status dialect.

Currently dialects are mainly stored in the rural communities in the speech of elderly people. Their distinctive features tend to disappear due to the migration of people in search of work and the growing influence of urban life in the countryside. Dialects are subject to rapid change under the influence of Standard English (SE), taught in schools, is heard in the speech of speakers radio , television and in the movies. (Arnold IV , 1986, pp. 262 - 265)

After a brief review of dialects turn to a discussion of options

 

1.2 Regional variations of English

 

As we said earlier, there are several variants of the English language : British, American , Australian, New Zealand , South African , Nigerian , Indian , Singaporean options and many new varieties of English (New Englishes). In this article we look at some of them. Detailed consideration within the same course work , unfortunately, is impossible, so we present only the main features.

The differences between the English language in the UK, U.S. , Australia and Canada are particularly noticeable in terms of phonetics. However, these differences are limited articulatory - acoustic characteristics of some phonemes , some differences in the use of others, and the differences in the rhythm and intonation of speech. Some characteristics of phonemes in the embodiment of the American pronunciation are alien to the British literary norms , but may be acceptable for some British dialects.

The differences in vocabulary are not numerous. Most of them - the difference in the semantic structure of words and their use.

The differences in grammar mainly lie in the fact that the grammatical category or form is replaced by another. For example , the preference Past Indefinite in American form Present Prefect in the UK , or creating forms Future Tense with an auxiliary verb conjugations will to all . Recent studies have also shown that the form Present Continuous in the value of the future tense is used twice as often as in the British version than in the U.S. , Canada and Australia ; infinitive constructions are used less frequently in American (AmE) and more frequently in the British (BrE) and Australian ( AuE), a passive design , however, often used in the United States than in the UK and Australia. (R. 3 . Ginsburg , 1979 . , Pp. 200 - 205 )

Since BrE, AmE and AuE have a similar system in general, grammar, phonetic system and vocabulary of a language , they can not be regarded as a variety of languages ​​. And while they may not be related to the dialects .

 

1.2.1 Types of English in the world

Different types of English Language (American / British /Australian etc)

 

English the lingua franca of the world exists in different varieties. The people of a particular geographical location add their own regional spice to the English language making it a specific type. The most popular types of English are the:

 

(1) American

(2) British

(3) Australian

 

Not just these there are New Zealand, Indian and Canadian types of English too. And each of these types is internationally recognized. No specific English type is superior in Status. Certain spelling types and usage demarcate these languages from one another. Also that these language styles are rampant in their own geographical area is a significant point to be considered.

 

To begin with English is spoken as a first language in many countries-- England, Scotland, Ireland, America, Canada, South Africa and New Zealand. There is a lot of fundamental difference between English spoken in England and the English spoken in the USA. The difference could be primarily attributed to pronunciation. Even considering country itself there is a regional variation in the English language spoken. Even within the British Isles there are many varieties of English spoken. The English of England is different from the English of Scotland. Even within England there are many regional dialects of the English language. With so many dialects found in a language it’s going to be increasingly difficult for the language analysts.

 

In India owing to history the natives speak more of British English than the American English. But the ushering in of the IT era and the concept of multinationals and immigration playing widely there is a lot of variety of English used in India now. Indians precisely follow the Southern British dialect also called as the RP or the Received Pronunciation. Received suggests that the variety of English spoken is more social in context than regional.

 

The important point that this rather detailed description shows is, that though at first the dialectical forms sound wrong if you are used to Standard English, they can be explained in linguistic terms in exactly the same way as Standard English forms. It is simply that different choices were made among the varied speech communities forming the speakers of English in the past. These choices are not conscious or deliberate, but pronunciation is always changing, and leads in time to changes in word forms. All the authenticated forms of English are accepted and acceptable. One need not worry too much about the varieties of English. You may be wondering about these varieties but having some basic insight into the above information might be good to you and help you deal with problems that you might encounter owing to ignorance of English language varieties. English is no longer a monolithic entity and has been modified according to need and purpose. The primary purpose of such a thing could be ascribed to the need of simplicity. There are not just dialects now in English but idiolects, slang, vernacular, jargon and many more. All these emerge out of purpose, if some dialects are for the layman some are for the professional community. A number of changes are constantly being made to English grammar, syntax, vocabulary, spelling and pronunciation, making the changes in the language a continuous and dynamic process.

 

1.4 Australian Language Peculiarities

 

As a result of social conflict in Australia, the Australian version of English has some peculiarities that differentiate it from other versions of English around the world.

One of the peculiarities is that there are three, rather than one, accents. About ten per cent of Australian men speak like Paul Hogan with what is known as a broad accent. Although only a small minority of Australians actually use broad accents, it has a great deal of cultural credibility. For example, it is used by a disproportionately large number of newsreaders. It is also used in a disproportionately large number of television commercials. Around 80 per cent of Australians speak like Nicole Kidman with what is known as a British received accent or general Australian English. A final ten per cent speak with a cultivated accent, which sounds like someone educated at Oxford University in England. Although it is not very popular today, in past eras, the cultivated accent had the kind of cultural credibility that the broad accent has today. For example, newsreaders on the government funded ABC had to speak with the cultivated accent. Since there was a shortage of Australian men able to speak in the accent, male newsreaders were imported from England.

A second cultural peculiarity of Australia is that there is a significant difference between how men speak, and how women speak. It is quite rare to find a woman speaking with a broad Australian accent, and quite rare to find a man speaking with the cultivated accent. A woman speaking with a broad accent would be like a woman wearing a blue bonds singlet and talking about pig shooting. Likewise, a man with a cultivated accent would be like a man wearing a skirt and talking about make-up. No other English speaking country has the same gender difference in pronunciation.

A third peculiarity is that there is no regional variance in the accent. Despite the vast distances between Australian cities, and the very different migrant histories in the cities, all Australians speak with one of the three accents, with roughly the same proportion of speakers in each region. The lack of regional variance suggests that regional identities have not as strong in Australia as they have been in different parts of Britain and America. Instead, most of the Australian identities have related revolved around a pro-Australia anti-Australia social dynamic that has existed Australia wide. Alternatively, Australians may have had different conceptions about gender identities. Men have been expected to be more of the roguish side while women more on the refined side. If compared to New Zealanders, Australian men are definitely more masculine while Australian women are more feminine.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Findings

In the first part of our course work , we briefly discuss some variants of English and their features. We found that each version of the English language is unique in its composition and even the base of each of the options is a single standard , to deny the existence of these options is not possible. Each of the variants of the English language is the only local option, and not a separate language . As shown in these versions of English do not have any of their special vocabulary or grammatical structure of their special .

In general, these variants of the English language is characterized by a simplified spelling ( eg , elimination of redundant signs , an example of eliminating exceptions to the rule , the use of less common image for word more common ) . At the same time, all these processes are carried out on the material is English.

English - the most widely used language in the world. It is used as a native , second and foreign language. In most countries it is taught in schools as the primary foreign language, displacing other languages ​​. It is no wonder that over time, there are new versions of it , because in every single country on the tongue affect different social and geographical factors .

In the second part of our work , we take a closer look Australian English .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Part 2 . Australian English

 

2.1 Separation of Australian English

 

Since the early 1970s , the world situation has changed: England ceased to dominate their overseas colonies , as agreed to join the European Union and in the consciousness of Australians have been significant changes : Australia ceased to be perceived by them as part of Britain in the Pacific - now it became an independent country with its own characteristics . Only in the Australian culture and languages ​​of people who came from all corners of the world , take its rightful place - it is a phenomenon not repeated in any other country as well as here. Australians have become more aware of belonging to the Asia -Pacific part of the world . Researchers identify a number of factors that contributed to this change , among them:

- Multilingual composition of the Australian population : the population census in 1991 showed that 14.5 % of the population do not use English when communicating at home, in the big cities , this percentage is much higher ( 26% in Melbourne , Sydney 24.9 %) and Northern Territory , near the greatest concentration of aboriginal people - 23.7 % ;

- The weakening of ties with Britain , in particular, after the withdrawal of the UK from the east the Suez Canal and the abolition of the traditional privileges of the inhabitants of the British Commonwealth of Nations in Great Britain after its accession to the European Union ;

- A global movement for the rights of ethnic groups , the principles of which was proclaimed reformist government, led by Whitlam , elected in 1972 ;

- The growing demand of white Australians maintain good neighborly relations with Aboriginal Australians ( Oshchepkova VV , 2004 . , With 69).

Changing the national consciousness has two implications for the language - change the status of Australian English , it is more rigid codification, and change the status of other languages, admitted to communion in Australia.

Modern language policy in Australia provides government support , not only in English, but other languages ​​, operating in the country.

The country has a telephone translation service , multicultural state TV - channels showing films in foreign languages ​​with English subtitles , news broadcasts in foreign languages. Australia has a multilingual public radio station. In public elementary and secondary schools teach more than twenty foreign languages, GCSE and equivalent also for the entrance exam to university (Matriculation examination), shall be deposited by 38 foreign languages. Local public libraries are staffed literature published in the languages ​​spoken in some areas of the country.

Australia - one of the countries in which the process of nation building is not held by the scrapping of all crops except for the dominant , and in the principle of the equality of cultures and languages ​​of all peoples inhabiting the continent . Australian English (Australian English) is a linguistic marker of identity in Australia and its liberation from British colonialism.

Undoubtedly , a variety of dialects and their expression in Australia are not as bright and clear as in the UK , Australia, although the area is 30 times more than the UK. In dialects no major grammatical differences , and differences in word usage is not so great: so called buggy stroller in the state of New South Wales and the pusher in South Australia. It is difficult to judge what is the area of this or that person by the way he talks (though some of localism , words and expressions can sometimes indicate where people come from ) .

 

2.2 Main characteristics of Australian

 

2.2.1 Phonetic features of Australian English

Most linguists divides Australian English into three groups according to the phonological characteristics : "Cultivated" ( cultured dialect , which is spoken by about 10 % of the population , it still has a huge impact normative pronunciation - RP), "General" ( a common dialect spoken by the majority of the population) and "Broad" (" a " dialect of uneducated part of the population with significant deviations from the standard of English in phonetics, vocabulary and grammar ) . These variations of pronunciation do not have a specific geographical location, they do not clearly identified cultural restrictions between the layers of the population , all of these variations in pronunciation can be observed within the same city or even the same family. For the first time this distinction was introduced by Mitchell and Delbridge (Mitchell and Delbridge, 1965). Often , but not always, these dialects reflect the social class or level of education of the speaker.

On the first of these groups writes in his book Viktoria Oschepkova4 : As in other languages ​​plyuritsentricheskih , features options recognized standard , basically the same and there are anywhere in the country . Thus, the " cultured " Australian English (Cultivated Australian) closest to the British variant ( VrE ), and is often mistaken for it, and a "broad " Australian (Broad Australian) differs from it as much as possible .

We are some people who speak Cultivated Australian, is seen as it imitates the educated population of the southern regions of the UK. In its most extreme form of this dialect is perceived speak other dialects as " artificial ," unnatural , cutesy . It is currently say less than 10 % of the population . Obvious examples are the actors Judy Davis and Geoffrey Rush (encyclopedia Wikipedia).

Broad (" a ", " pronounced " ) dialect - is the opposite extreme , it says in Australia about 30 % of the population , and that it is perceived as "Australian twang" (" nasal Australian accent " ) . It is spoken by more than half of the population , including members of parliament, and teachers of schools and other educational institutions. This accent sounds from the mouth of the heroes of such actors as Paul Hogan ( " Crocodile Dundee " ) and Barry Humphries , depicting typical Australians wilderness , men of the people , uneducated and rude . It is commonly used in movies and TV programs about Australia , created abroad. It is this dialect was the informal name " strayn " (English strine). And people speak it , Australians call Okere (born "Ocker"). Below, we present its distinctive features :

In the diphthong [ei] the first sound is cut almost to a neutral vowel .

Glide [a] to [ai] is somewhat broader than in the British version .

There phoneme [ae], absent in the British version . It replaces the sometimes vowel number 4 in the shock position .

[ai] and [ei] little different and distinctive feature does not perform.

[a] is ​​also a broader and somewhat pushed forward .

Vowel number 10 and [a] - almost no difference in all dialects.

Neutral vowel replaces [i] at the end of words "arches", "horses" etc.

[i] is not found in almost pure form in any of the dialects dialect is generally most diftongoizirovanny [Ii], a wide - in conjunction with a neutral , as in the " cultured ." So "feel" can be heard in the speech carrier broad dialect as [ fzil ] . A centering diphthong [ Ig ] becomes triphthong [ ziz ] - "beer" [ bziz ] .

General ( common dialect) brings together a group of dialects and has no sharply defined features. It is spoken by the majority of the population. A striking example is the speech of such actors as Nicole Kidman, Cate Blanchett and Russell Crowe.

Some scholars have identified " a modified form of Australian English ." It is defined in the dictionary of Australian English makkvori (Macquarie Dictionary, 1981:1119) as " a pronunciation in Australian English, in which Australians seek to imitate the speech of British high society , and which is regarded as the mincing and unacceptable (" that pronunciation of A (Australian) E (English) which seeks to imitate British upper class speech, usu (ally) considered affected and unacceptable ") ( Oshchepkova VV, 2004, p 73-74 ) .

Research shows that an increasing number of people are "average" Australian English varieties and reduce the number of users, " cultivated " and " wide " variety . " Cultivate " variety is associated with the British colonial tradition , and " broad " is identified with the old myth that the real Aussie living close to nature, and Australia - a country of open spaces, despite the fact that it is the most urbanized country in the world. It is believed , however, that rural flavor " broad" Australian English (Rural Australian English) " broader " than the city (Urban Australian English). Than a " broader " variety , the more it deviates from the standard.

Oshchepkova also speaks of a separate version of the language , calling it ethnolect . This is a special version of the speech of people for whom English is not their native language. He has appeared due to the large influx of immigrants coming from different countries for the development of Australia all the time . Sometimes this speech is perceived as foreign or "too British ." Ethnolect common in the Greek and Jewish communities through the influence of the Greek language and the Yiddish language . Similar phenomena are observed in the Dutch , German and Hungarian communities. The most studied is the aboriginal ethnolect Australian English . A lot of work has devoted his research A. Wierzbicka .

 

2.2.2 Vowels

Australian English is a non-rhotic variety of English spoken by most native-born Australians. Phonologically, it is one of the most regionally homogeneous language varieties in the world. As with most dialects of English, it is distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology.

The vowels of Australian English can be divided according to length. The long vowels, which include monophthongs and diphthongs, mostly correspond to the tense vowels used in analyses of Received Pronunciation (RP) as well as its centring diphthongs. The short vowels, consisting only of monophthongs, correspond to the RP lax vowels. There exist pairs of long and short vowels with overlapping vowel quality giving Australian English phonemic length distinction, which is unusual amongst the various dialects of English.[1] As with General American and New Zealand English, the weak-vowel merger is nearly complete in Australian English: unstressed /ɪ/ (sometimes transcribed as /ɨ/) is merged with /ə/ (schwa) except before a following velar.[2]

There are two families of phonemic transcriptions of Australian English: revised ones, which attempt to more accurately represent the phonetic sounds of Australian English; and the Mitchell-Delbridge system, which is minimally distinct from Jones’ original transcription of RP. This page uses a revised transcription based on Durie and Hajek (1994) and Harrington, Cox and Evans (1997) but also shows the Mitchell-Delbridge equivalents as this system is commonly used for example in the Macquarie Dictionary and much literature, even recent.

Diphthongs                                         Monophthongs

 

Long monophthongs                                       Short monophthongs

Front Central Back                                      Front   Central  Back

Close iː ʉː                                         Close  ɪ  ʊ

Mid eː ɜː~ɵː oː                           Mid e ə ɔ

Open æː aː                                         Open æ a

                                                         

  

Direction of second target	to unrounded	to rounded
Starting close	iː
Starting mid	oɪ	əʉ
Starting open	æɪ  ɑe	æɔ

 

 

 

 

 

 

Notes and examples

/a/

for example strut, bud, hud. (M.-D. /ʌ/.)

/aː/ 

for example bath, palm, start, bard, hard. (M.-D. /a/.). The trap-bath split largely in effect.

/ɑe/, /ɑi/

for example price, bite, hide. (M.-D. /aɪ/.) The first element may be raised and rounded in broad accents. The vowel in "high" may be [ɑɪ] for those with the Broad accent, so "buy" might sound like "boy" in the foreign ear. This is a direct influence from the Cockney accent.[citation needed] This feature is also present in the New York accent.

/æ/ 

for example trap, lad, had. (M.-D. /æ/.) The trap-bath split and bad-lad split both largely in effect.

/æː/

for example bad, tan. (M.-D. /æ/.) This sound is traditionally transcribed and analysed the same as the short /æ/, but minimal pairs exist in at least some Australians’ speech (Blake, 1985; Durie & Hajek, 1994). It is found in the adjectives bad, mad, glad and sad, before the /ɡ/ sound (for example, hag, rag, bag) and also in content words before /m/ and /n/ in the same syllable (for example, ham, tan, plant).[3] In some speakers, especially those with the Broad accent, /æː/ and /æ/ will be shifted toward [ɛ].[4] There is æ-tensing before a nasal consonant. The nasal sounds create changes in preceding vowels because air can flow into the nose during the vowel. Nasal consonants can also affect the articulation of a vowel. So for several speakers, the /æː/ vowel in words like "jam", "man", "dam" and "hand" will be shifted towards [e].[5]

/æɪ/

for example face, bait, hade. (M.-D. /eɪ/.) Includes a significantly lower first element [a̠ɪ] than in many other dialects of English.

/æɔ/

for example mouth, bowed, how’d. (M.-D. /aʊ/.) The first element may be raised in broad accents. For many speakers, the vowel in words like "town" and "now" is [æʊ].

/e/

for example dress, bed, head. (M.-D. /ɛ/.) For some Victorian speakers this phoneme has merged with /æ/ in pre-lateral environments, and thus the words celery and salary are pronounced alike (Cox & Palethorpe, 2003). See salary-celery merger.

/eː/ 

for example square, bared, haired. (M.-D. /ɛə/.)

/ɜː/

for example nurse, bird, heard. (M.-D. /ɜ/.) This sound is pronounced at least as high as /eː/, and is often pronounced rounded (Cox, 2006; Durie & Hajek, 1994). This glyph is used — rather than /ɘː/ or /ɵː/ — as most revisions of the phonemic orthography for Australian English predate the 1996 modifications to the International Phonetic Alphabet. At the time, [ɜ] was suitable for any mid-central vowel, rounded or unrounded.

/ə/ 

for example about, winter. (M.-D. /ə/.) As in most varieties of English, this phoneme is used only in unstressed syllables.

/əʉ/

for example goat, bode, hoed. (M.-D. /oʊ/.) The onset factually begins somewhere between /ə/ and /a/: [ɜʉ̯~ɐʉ̯]. There is significant allophonic variation in this vowel, particularly a backed one [ɔʊ] before /l/.

/ɪ/ 

for example kit, bid, hid. (M.-D. /ɪ/.) The target for this vowel tends to be tenser than in other varieties of English—[ɪ̝]—and may sometimes sound like it has shifted to /i/ to speakers of other dialects or languages.[6] Thus, words like bin and sin may sound almost the same as bean and seen to non-English speakers. The final vowel in words like happy and city, which is typically /i/, is lengthened to an /iː/ sound, so that these words sound like happee and citee, respectively.[7] Some of these aforementioned features are present in Chicano English.

/ɪə/

for example near, beard, hear. (M.-D. /ɪə/.) This sound is traditionally transcribed with a diphthongal glyph; however, it is usually pronounced as a diphthong (or disyllabically) only in open syllables; in closed syllables, it is distinguished from /ɪ/ primarily by length (Cox, 2006; Durie & Hajek, 1994). It is primarily distinguished from /iː/ by the significant onset in the latter.

/iː/

for example fleece, bead, heat. (M.-D. /i/.) Includes an onset to the high front vowel [ɪi̯], except before laterals (Palethorpe & Cox, 2003). /iː/ may be [əi~ɐi], so that beat is [bəiʔ] for some speakers.

/oː/ 

for example thought, north, sure, board, hoard, poor. (M.-D. /ɔ/.) Many cases of RP /ʊə/ correspond to this phoneme in Australian English, but unlike in some British accents there is no general merger between /oː/ and /ʊə/.

/oɪ/

for example choice, boy. (M-D. /ɔɪ/.)

/ɔ/ 

for example lot, cloth, body, hot. (M-D. /ɒ/.) This vowel is in the same position as the first part of the diphthong [ɔʊ] (gold, hold, pole, etc.), though remains distinct from [ɔ] before l in words such as [pɔɫ] "poll" (dehorned cattle) and so on.

/ʉː/

for example goose, boo, who’d. (M.-D. /u/.) In some parts of Australia, a fully backed allophone, transcribed [ʊː] is common before /l/ (Durie & Hajek, 1994). The usual allophone is further forward in New South Wales than Victoria. It is moving further forwards, however, in both regions at a similar rate (Cox & Palethorpe, 2003). Many cases of RP /ʊə/ correspond to the sequence /ʉː.ə/ in Australian English.

/ʊ/ 

for example foot, hood. (M.-D. /ʊ/.)

/ʊə/

for example tour. (M.-D. /ʊə/). A rare, almost extinct phoneme. Most speakers consistently use [ʉː.ə] or [ʉː] (before /r/) instead.

 

2.2.3 Consonant

Australian English consonants are similar to those of other non-rhotic varieties of English. A table containing the consonant phonemes is given below.

Consonant phonemes of Australian English

  Bilabial Labio-

dental Dental Alveolar Post-

alveolar Palatal Velar Glottal

Nasal   m           n           ŋ   

Plosive p b         t d         k ɡ   

Affricate                 tʃ dʒ           

Fricative     f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ         h 

Approximant               r       j   w   

Lateral               l               

Non-rhoticity

Australian English is non-rhotic; in other words, the r sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant. A final -er is pronounced as lowered [ɐ] in most speakers, or [ə] for some. So the words butter [bɐɾə], here [hɪɐ] and park [paːk] will not contain the /r/ sound.[9]

Linking and intrusive /r/

The /r/ sound can occur when a word that has a final <r> in the spelling comes before another word that starts with a vowel. For example, in car alarm the sound /r/ can occur in car because here it comes before another word beginning with a vowel. The words far, far more and farm do not contain an /r/ but far out will contain the linking /r/ sound because the next word starts with a vowel sound.

An intrusive /r/ may be inserted before a vowel in words that do not have <r> in the spelling. For example, drawing will sound like "draw-ring", saw it will sound like "sore it", the tuner is and the tuna is will both be [ðətʃʉːnərɪz].

Intervocalic alveolar flapping

Intervocalic /t/ (and for some speakers /d/) undergo voicing and flapping to the alveolar tap [ɾ] after the stressed syllable and before unstressed vowels (as in butter, party) and syllabic /l/, though not before syllabic /n/ (bottle vs button [batn]), as well as at the end of a word or morpheme before any vowel (what else, whatever). For those speakers where /d/ also undergoes the change, there will be homophony, for example, metal and petal will sound like medal and pedal. In formal speech /t/ is retained. When coating becomes coatin' , the t remains voiceless, thus [ˈkəʉtn]. [t] in the cluster [nt] can elide. As a result, in quick speech, words like winner and winter can become homophonous. This is a quality that Australian English shares most notably with North American English.

T glottalisation

Some speakers use a glottal stop as an allophone of /t/ in final position, for example trait, habit; or in medial position, such as a /t/ followed by a syllabic /n/ is often replaced by a glottal stop, for example button or fatten. Alveolar pronunciations nevertheless predominate.

Velarised alveolar lateral approximant

The velarised alveolar lateral approximant, or "dark L", may appear in all Australian English pronunciations of /l/.

Yod-dropping and coalescence

Many speakers have coalesced /tj/ and /dj/ into /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ respectively. Pronunciations such as /tʃʉːn/ and /dʒʉːn/ (exactly like June) for tune and dune respectively being standard. This palatalisation can lead to additional homophony where dew, due and Jew come to be pronounced identically. /t/ and /d/ in the clusters /tr/-/tw/ and /dr/-/dw/ are similarly palatalised.

Word initial /sj/ and /zj/ have merged with /s/ and /z/ respectively. Other cases of /sj/ and /zj/ are often pronounced respectively [ʃ] and [ʒ].

Similarly /lj/ has merged with /l/ word initially. Remaining cases of /lj/ are often pronounced simply as [j] in colloquial speech, though this is stigmatised particularly in the case of the word Australia,[citation needed] so it is often pronounced as four syllables to avoid the /lj/.

/rj/ has merged with /r/.[citation needed]

/nj/ and other common sequences of consonant plus /j/, are retained.

 

2.2.4 Australian to English languages comparison

 

As well as being distinguished in pronunciation, the Australian version of English is also differentiated in regards to function and usage. One difference is in regards to informality. In America and England, the use of informal English is often interpreted as a sign of rudeness. Consequently, titles and family names are used to maintain a degree of social distance between people. In Australia, however, formality is more typically used by professional that don’t like each other. The difference is most clearly seen in greetings used in business letters. Whereas Americans usually greet with Dear Ms/Mrs/Mr (family name), Australians are more like Dear (first name.) Likewise, boss and workers get on first name basis far more quickly than they do in other English speaking countries.

The American strain of the English language is simple and easily understood by most English speakers the world over. Its simplicity can be traced to the country’s puritan foundations. As religious fanatics wanting to expand their flock, puritans desired a language of persuasion. To ensure clarity, they used generic words that were understood by the majority of the population. To increase the persuasive power of their words, they used a lot of analogies.