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AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH AND BRITISH ENGLISH

 Main article: Australian English phonology

The primary way in which Australian English is distinctive from other varieties of English is

through its unique pronunciation. It shares most similarity with other  Southern

Hemisphereaccents, in particular  New Zealand English.[8] Like most dialects of English it is

distinguished primarily by its vowel phonology.[9] 

Vowels[edit] 

Australian English monophthongs[10] 

Australian English diphthongs[10] 

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, though notunknown elsewhere, such as in regional south-eastern dialects of the UK and eastern

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seaboard dialects in the US.[11] As with General American and New Zealand English,

the weak-vowel merger is complete in Australian English: unstressed /ɪ/ (sometimes written

as /ɨ/ or /ᵻ/) is merged into /ə/ (schwa).

short vowels long vowels

Monophthongs diphthongs

IPA Examples

ʊ   f oo t , hoo d , choo k  

ɪ  k i t , bi d , hi d ,

e dr e  ss, l e d , hea d  

ə  comma , a bout , wint er  

æ tr a  p, l a d , ha d  

a  str u t , bu d , hu d  

ɔ  l o t , cl o th, ho t  

IPA examples

ʉː   g oo  se, boo , who ’d  

iː   fl ee ce, bea d , hea t  

eː   square , bare d , haire d  

ɜː  nur  se, bir d , hear d  

æː  ba  g , t a n, ba d [nb 1] 

aː   st ar t , pal m, ba th[nb 2] 

oː  thou  ght , nor th, f or ce[nb 3] 

IPA examples

ʊə  cur e , l ur e , t ou r [nb 4] 

ɪə  near , bear d , hea r [nb 5] 

æɔ  mou th, bowe d , how ’d  

əʉ   g oa t , bo d e , hoe d [nb 6] 

æɪ   f a ce, bai t , ha de 

ɑe   pr i ce, bi te, hi de 

oɪ  choi ce, boy , oi l  

1.  Jump up^ Historical /æ/ has split into two phonemes, one long and one short, so

that, for example, in some parts of Australia bad  does not rhyme withlad , while in

others it does, that is to say, lad  has the long vowel. However, all Australian regions

distinguish can  [kæn] "know how to, be able to" from can [kæːn]  "(tin)can, to can

[vegetables, etc.]".

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2.  Jump up^ Many words historically containing /æ/ have /aː/ instead, however the

extent to which this development has taken hold varies regionally. 

3.  Jump up^ oː  tongue position in oː  is back, and therefore Australian oː  has a very

different quality from Scots and Irish oː.[clarification needed ]

 

4.  Jump up^ The phoneme /ʊə/ is almost extinct with most speakers consistently

using /ʉː.ə/ or /ʉː/ (before /r/) instead.

5.  Jump up^ The boundary between monophthongs and diphthongs is somewhat

fluid, /ɪə/, for example, is commonly realised as [ɪː], particularly in closed syllables,

though also found in open syllables such as we're, here, and so on. In open syllables

 particularly the pronunciation varies from the bisyllabic [ɪːa] though the

diphthong [ɪə] to the long vowel [ɪː]. 6.  Jump

Consonants[edit] 

There is little variation with respect to the sets of  consonants used in various English dialects.

There are, however, variations in how these consonants are used. Australian English is no

exception.

Consonant phonemes of Australian English[12] 

BilabialLabio-

dental  

Dental   Alveolar 

Post-

alveolarPalatal   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

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Approximant r j w

Lateral 

l

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. However, a linking /r/ can occur when a word

that has a final <r> in the spelling comes before another word that starts with a vowel.

An intrusive /r/ may similarly be inserted before a vowel in words that do not have <r> in the

spelling in certain environments, namely after the long vowel /oː/ and after word final /ə/. 

There is some degree of allophonic variation in the alveolar stops. As with North AmericanEnglish, Intervocalic alveolar flapping is a feature of Australian English:

 prevocalic /t/ and /d/surface as the alveolar tap [ɾ] after  sonorants other than /ŋ/, /m/as well as

at the end of a word or morpheme before any vowel in the same breath group. For some

speakers /t/ in final or in medial position is glottalised to [ʔ]. For many speakers, /t/ and /d/ in

the combinations /tr/-/tw/ and /dr/-/dw/ are also palatalised, thus /tʃr/-/tʃw/ and /dʒr/-/dʒw/, as

Australian /r/ is only very slightly retroflex, the tip remaining below the level of the bottom

teeth in the same position as for /w/; it is also somewhat rounded ("to say 'r' the wayAustralians do you need to say 'w' at the same time"), where older English /wr/ and /r/ have

fallen together as /ʷr/. The wine – whine merger is complete in Australian English.

Yod -dropping occurs after /r/, /l/, /s/, /z/, /θ/, /tʃ/, /dʒ/, /j/ and /ɹ/, . Other cases of  /sj/ and /zj/,

along with /tj/ and /dj/, have coalesced to /ʃ/, /ʒ/, /tʃ/ and /dʒ/ respectively for many

speakers. /j/ is generally retained in other  consonant clusters. 

Pronunciation[edit] 

Differences in stress, weak forms and standard pronunciation of isolated words occur

 between Australian English and other forms of English, which while noticeable do not impair

intelligibility.

The affixes -ary, -ery, -ory, -bury, -berry and -mony (seen in words such as necessary,

mulberry and matrimony) can be pronounced either with a full vowel or a schwa. Although

some words like necessary are almost universally pronounced with the full vowel, older

generations of Australians are relatively likely to pronounce these affixes with a schwa while

younger generations are relatively likely to use a full vowel.

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Words ending in unstressed -ile derived from Latin adjectives ending in -ilis are pronounced

with a full vowel (/ɑel/), so that  fertile rhymes with fur tile rather than turtle.

Variation in the place of articulation of /k/ and /ɡ/ 

(i) Before fronted monophthongs such as /iː/,/ɪ/,/e/,/eː/ and /æ/, diphthongs with fronted first

targets such as /æɪ/,/æɔ/ and /ɪə/, as well as the consonants /j/ and /r/, the velar stop

consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ are fronted to a pre-velar (between palatal and velar) or even a palatal

 place of articulation. The pre-velar forms are indicated by placing a under (or over) the

appropriate symbol, ie. [k   ] and [ɡ  ]. The less common palatals are [c] and [] respectively. 

/kiːn/  [k   iːn] (or [ciːn])  keen

/kjʉːt/  [k    ʉːt] (or  [c ʉːt])  cute

/ɡiːs/  [ɡ  iːs] (or [iːs])  geese

/ɡrʉːp/ [ɡ  ɹʉːp] (or [ɹʉːp])  group

(ii) Before back vowels such as /oː/,/ʊ/,/ɔ/,/ɔɪ/, and /ʊə/, as well as the semi -vowel /w/, the

velar stop consonants /k/ and /ɡ/ are realised as post-velar stops. The post-velar for ms are

indicated by placing a - under (or over) the appropriate symbol, ie. [] and [ɡ ]. 

/koːt/  [oːt]  caught

/kwɑet/ [w  ɑet] quite

/ɡoːdiː/  [ɡ oːdiː] gaudy

 Note that if consonants intervene between /k/ or /ɡ/ and the following vowel then the effect of

that vowel is neutralised and the place of articulation is not changed. However, if /w/, /j/ or /ɹ/

occur after /k/ or /ɡ/ then they affect the place of articulation of these velar stops, not the

vowel.

Clear and Dark realisations of /l/

(i) Before vowels, diphthongs and /j/, /l/ is realised as [l] ( clear  'l'). [ɫ] is also usually found at

the end of a word even when the following word starts with a vowel. This articulation clearly

marks the /l/ as belonging to the end of the first word rather than the beginning of the second

word. The following words should be transcribed as follows:

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/liːf/  [liːf]  leaf

/loː/  [loː]  law

/blɪŋk/  [blɪŋk]  blink

/væljʉː/ [væljʉː] value

/mɪljən/ [mɪljən] million

/fiːlɪŋ/  [fiːlɪŋ]  feeling

/selæɔt/ [selæɔt] sellout

(ii) Before consonants (except /j/) or a pause (eg. the end of a sentence or utterance), the

allophone is dark  (velarised), ie. [ɫ], (this is an l with a ~ through it ): 

/fiːl/  [fiːɫ]  feel

/fiːld/  [fiːɫd  ]  field

/fiːl fɑen/ [fiːɫ fɑen] feel fine

(iii) Syllabic realisations of /l/ are usually dark:

/tæɪbl/ [tæɪbɫ ] table

/mɐdl/ [mɐ  dɫ  ]  muddle

(iv) Note however, that the choice of clear or dark /l/ is often dialect specific. For example,

many Australians do use dark /l/ before /j/ in words like value /væljʉː/ and million

/mɪljən/ and also before morpheme boundaries like control-able" or "fol-ate". Some even use

it in words like "slowly" and it is almost obligatory in "holy".

Here is a list of the most important types of British English. While this is not a complete list

 by any means, it will give you an overview of the accents and dialects most often discussed

on this site and elsewhere.

Received Pronunciation

Received Pronunciation is the closest to a ―standard accent‖ that has ever existed in the UK.

Although it originally derives from London English, it is non-regional. You’ve probably

heard this accent countless times in Jane Austen adaptations, Merchant Ivory films, and

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Oscar Wilde plays. It emerged from the 18th- and 19th-Century aristocracy, and has

remained the ―gold standard‖ ever since. 

 Features: 

   Non-rhoticity, meaning the r  at the ends of words isn’t prounounced (mother  sounds

like ―muhthuh‖). 

  Trap-bath split , meaning that certain a  words, like bath,  can’t,  and dance  are

 pronounced with the broad-a in father. (This differs from most American accents, in

which these words are pronounced with the short-a in cat. 

The vowels tend to be a bit more conservative than other accents in Southern England, which

have undergone significant vowel shifting over the past century.

Lexical Items

Vocabulary

Australian English is the form of the English language used in Australia. 

Australian English is similar in many respects to British English, but there are a few cases

where Australian English is closer to American English.  For example: Australian English

uses the American English truck  instead of the British English lorry and the American

English freeway instead of British English motorway.

Australian English also incorporates several uniquely Australian terms, such as outback  to

refer to remote regional areas, walkabout  to refer to a long journey of uncertain length

and bush to refer to native forested areas, but also to regional areas as well.  Fair dinkum can

mean are you telling me the truth? this is the truth!, or this is ridiculous! depending on

context.

A substantial collection of unique or unusual words are in common spoken usage - e.g.

"dacks" (trousers), "dag" (unfashionable person), "bludge" (to shirk), "ute" (a utility vehicle

or pickup truck). Another well-known Australianism, "wowser" (a killjoy), has now fallen

out of use. An even larger vocabulary is derived from recognisable words with entirely new

meanings - "to bag" (to criticise), "blue" (either a fight or heated argument, or an

embarrassing mistake), "crook" (unwell, also unfair), "to wag" (to play truant), "cactus" (non-

functional)

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Many words used by Australians were at one time used in England but have since fallen out

of usage or changed in meaning there.

For example, creek  in Australia, as in North America, means a stream or small river, whereas

in the UK it means a small watercourse flowing into the sea; paddock   in Australia means

field, whereas in the UK it means a small enclosure for livestock; bush or scrub in Australia,

as in North America, means a wooded area, whereas in England they are commonly used

only in proper names.

There are words diminutives which commonly used and are often used to indicate familiarity.

Some common examples are arvo (afternoon), barbie (barbecue),  smoko (cigarette

 break), Aussie (Australian) and pressie(present/gift). This may also be done with people's

names to create nic.knames (other English speaking countries create similar diminutives). For

example, "Gazza" from Gary, or "Smitty" from John Smith.

In informal speech, incomplete comparisons are sometimes used, such as "sweet as" (as in

"That car is sweet as."). "Full", "fully" or "heaps" may precede a word to act as an intensifier.

This was more common in regional Australia and South Australia but has been in common

usage in urban Australia for decades. The suffix "-ly" is sometimes omitted in broader

Australian English. For instance "real good" instead of "really good".

In addition, a number of words in Australian English have different meanings to those

ascribed in other varieties of English. For instance : Pants  in Australian English refer to

British English trousers but in British English refer to Australian English underpants; vest  in

Australian English refers to British English waistcoat  but in British English refers to

Australian English singlet.

Spelling

Australian spelling is closer to British than American spelling.  As with British spelling,

the u  is retained in words such as colour , honour , labour  and favour . While the -our  ending

and follows it with the -or  ending as an acceptable variant, the latter are rarely found in usage

today. Consistent with British spellings, -re, rather than -er , is the only listed variant in

Australian dictionaries in words such as theatre, centre and manoeuvre. Unlike British

English, which is split between -ise and -ize  in words such as organise and realise, with -

ize  and -ise listed as a variant, -ize is rare in Australian English. Ae and oe are often

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maintained in words such as manoeuvre, paedophilia and foetus (excepting those listed

 below).

The DD/MM/YYYY date format is used with Monday as the first day of the week (as with

British practice), however the 12-hour clock is used almost universally (as in the United

States).

Spelling Australian Style

We've put together a sample of English words that are spelled differently by different

countries. Australian and British English are generally identical in the way they spell

words.

These lists are not exact because language is always changing. Although an Australian

word is shown with the British spelling, Australians may use its American version

depending on personal preference or how they were taught in school.

The part of an Australian word that differs from the American version is in red.

Australian

& British  American 

Australian

& British  American 

Australian

& British  American 

ageing

aero plane

aerofoil

aluminium

arbour

ardour

armour

 behaviour

 belabour

calibre 

centre 

cheque 

aging

airplane

airfoil

aluminum

arbor

ardor

armor

 behavior

 belabor

caliber

center

check

gram

harbour

honour

humour

inflexion

 jemmy

kerb

labour

licence

gramme

harbor

honor

humor

inflection

 jimmy

curb

labor

license

neighbour

nitre 

odour

offence

 paralyse

 parlour

 pedlar

 potter

 practise

 pretence

 programme 

 py jama

neighbor

niter

odor

offense

 paralyze

 parlor

 peddler

 putter

 practice

 pretense

 program

 pajama

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chequer 

clamour

colour

defence

deflexion

dolour

draught

enamour

endeavour

favour

fervour

fibre 

flavour

fount

furore 

checker

clamor

color

defense

deflection

dolor

draft

enamor

endeavor

favor

fervor

fiber

flavor

font

furor

liquorice

litre 

lustre 

manoeuvre 

maths 

medallist

metre 

millilitre 

millimetre 

misdemeanourmitre 

mould

moulder

moulding

mouldy

moult

licorice

liter

luster

maneuver

math

medalist

meter

milliliter

millimeter

misdemeanormiter

mold

molder

molding

moldy

molt

rancour

reflexion

rumour

sabre 

sceptre 

sepulchre 

succour

tyre 

vapour

vigour

vocalise

whir r 

rancor

reflection

rumor

saber

scepter

sepulcher

succor

tire

vapor

vigor

vocalize

whir

Grammar

Subject-verb agreement

In British English, collective nouns (referring to groups of people) are often followed by a

 plural verb even when the noun is singular. This does not occur in Australian English. For

example:

 British English:  The football team are  rather weak this year. 

 Australian English: The football team is  very weak this year. 

Other common collective nouns that often take a plural verb in British English are: army,

company, jury, audience, crowd , majority, class, enemy, staff , committee, government  and

union.

SOME GRAMMATICAL FEATURES 

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Question structure 

Perhaps one of the most persistent and widespread grammatical features of Aboriginal

English involves the structure of questions. It is common for Aboriginal English speakers to

ask a question using the structure of a statement with rising (question) intonation. This

structure is also used sometimes in colloquial Standard English. It is common for Aboriginal

English questions like this to be finished with a question tag. In much of Australia this tag is

eh?, in South Australia it is inna, and in the south west of Western Australia, it is unna.

Aboriginal English  standard English 

You still sitting there that time?You were still sitting there then?

Were you still sitting there then?

They bite, eh? They bite, don't they?

Sentences formed by joining two phrases 

One of the most persistent features of Aboriginal English is the expression of equational,

descriptive and locational sentences with the joining of two phrases without adding any

endings or extra words (like the verb 'to be'). This characteristic feature of Aboriginal English

is one which appears not to be shared with other nonstandard varieties of English in

Australia. It also parallels the grammatical structure of Aboriginal languages.

Aboriginal English  standard English 

E my cousin brother. He's my cousin.

They just normal, but they steel. They're just normal, but they're steel.

My uncle back there. My uncle's back there.

E big. He's big.

Noun Phrase + there

Existential sentences are sometimes expressed with the structure Noun Phrase followed by

there, which translates to standard English 'It's a ... ' (followed by Noun Phrase) or 'there

is/are...' (followed by Noun Phrase).

Aboriginal English  standard English 

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Three pies there, eh? Are there three pies?

When the river go down,

this little island there.

When the river goes down,

there's a little island

Shan't  and the use of  should  as in  I should be happy if..., common in upper-register British

English, are almost never encountered in Australian (or North American) English.

While prepositions before days may be omitted in American English, i.e. She resigned

Thursday, they must be retained in Australian English, as in British English: She resigned on

Thursday. Ranges of dates use to, i.e. Monday to Friday, as with British English, rather than

 Monday through Friday in American English.

 River  generally follows the name of the river in question as in North America, i.e.  Darling

 River , rather than the British convention of coming before the name, e.g. River Thames. Note

in South Australia however, the British convention applies — for example, the River Murray 

or the River Torrens.

When saying or writing out numbers, and   is inserted before the tens and units, i.e. one

hundred and sixty-two, as with British practice. However Australians, like Americans, aremore likely to pronounce numbers such as 1200 as twelve hundred , rather than one thousand

two hundred .

In American and Australian English, for example, "sunk" and "shrunk" as past tense forms of

"sink" and "shrink" are beginning to become acceptable as standard forms, whereas standard

British English still insists on "sank" and "shrank".

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RESOURCES 

Malcolm, I., Haig, Y., Konigsberg, P., Rochecouste, J, Collard, G., Hill, A., & Cahill,R. (1999a). Two-Way English: Towards More User-Friendly Education for Speakersof Aboriginal English. Perth: Edith Cowan University. 

Malcolm, I., Haig, Y., Konigsberg, P., Rochecouste, J, Collard, G., Hill, A., & Cahill,R. (1999b). Towards More User-Friendly Education for Speakers of AboriginalEnglish. Perth: Edith Cowan University. 

Western Australia, Department of Education (1999). Solid English. 

[These three Western Australian books report on research on Aboriginal English,and provide guidelines and practical suggestions for teachers.] 

Deadly eh, Cuz: Teaching Speakers of Koorie English. Goulburn Valley AboriginalEducation Consultative Group Incorporated. Shepparton, Victoria. 

[A kit for teachers of Aboriginal English speaking students in Victoria.] 

NSW Early Childhood Aboriginal Literacy Resource Kit. Sydney: Board of Studies 

[A kit for teachers of young Aboriginal English speaking students in New SouthWales.]