AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH:

PHONOLOGY Antía Varela Ávila

Group B2

20/ 11/ 2013

DIVISION OF THE WORK

Introduction

The vowel system of AusE:

the three perspectives

The social distribution of

Broad, General and

Cultivated varieties of AusE

Intonation: High Rising

Tone

Phonological change in

AusE

Outstanding issues

Introduction

RP ≠ AusE vowels

Consonants

Social Varieties

High Rising Tone

Personal Opinions

Article My Presentation

INTRODUCTION AusE = official language

and first language (of

the majority)

Some Australians speak

creaole languages:

Australian Kriol, Torres

Strait Creole and Norfuk

Varieties in AusE (Affect

vocabulary, accent,

pronunciation, register,

gramar and spelling)

Regional variations

(vocabulary and

phonology)

bathers

Cossies or

swimmers

togs

PHONOLOGICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN RP

AND AUSE

Receive Pronunciation Australian English

PHONOLOGICAL DIFFERENCES IN

VOWELS

AusE /ɪ/ /e/ /æ/ /ɜ:/ /ə/ /o:/ closer

than RP equivalents =

centering diphthongs /eɪ/, /aʊ/

/ɔɪ/

British accents /ɑː/ ≠ AusE/aː/

Division of vowels according to

lenght:

Tense = long (monophthongs

and diphthongs)

Lax = short monophthongs

http://clas.mq.edu.au/voices/re

gional-accents

Monophthongs

RP Australian Examples

/ɪ/ /ɪ/ bid, pit

/iː/ /iː/ bead, peat

/ɛ/ /e/ bed, pet

/æ/ /æ, æː/ pat, bad

/ɑː/ /aː, ɐː/ balm, father, pa

/ɒ/ /ɔ/ bod, pot, cot

/ɔː/ /oː/ bawd, paw, caught

/ʊ/ /ʊ/ good, foot, put

/uː/ /ʉː/ booed, food

/ʌ/ /a/ bud, putt

Diphthongs

/aɪ/ /ɑe/ buy, high, ride, write

/eɪ/ /æɪ/ bay, hey, fate

/aʊ/ /æɔ/ bough, how, pout

/oʊ/ /əʉ/ beau, hoe, poke

/ɔɪ/ /oɪ/ boy, hoy

/juː/ /jʉː/ beauty, hue, pew, new

PHONOLOGICAL CONSONANTS

Differs from one English variety to

another

Similar to non-rhotic varieties of

English “first”

Linking and intrusive /r/

car alarm = begins with a vowel so it

can occur

saw it = “sore it” words without <r> in

spelling

Some use glottal stop

/h/ deletion + Broad – Cultivated

Use of “dark L” = /miʊk/

And other changes

Vowels followed by <r>

/ɪr/ /ɪr/ mirror

/ɪər/ /ɪə/ beer, mere

/ɛr/ /er/ berry,

merry

/ɛər/ /eː/ bear, mare

/ær/ /ær/ barrow,

marry

/ɑr/ /aː/ bar, mar

/ɒr/ /ɔr/ moral,

forage

/ɔr/

/oː/

born, for

/ɔər/ boar, four,

more, moor

/ʊər/ /ʊə/ tour

/ʌr/ /ar/ hurry,

Murray

/ɜr/ (ɝ) /ɜː/ bird, herd,

furry

SOCIAL VARIETIES OF AUSE G

en

era

l •Most common

•Prominent urban Australia

•Standard language for Australian media

•Growth and dominance

Bro

ad

•Working class and men

•Recognisable and familiar to English speakers

•Common rural areas

•Dialect named Strine (Strayan) = Ocker

•Syllable assimilation and consonant elision

•Speak slowly

Cu

ltiv

ate

d

•Middle class and women

•Similarities with RP

•Fallen recent generations – almost extinct

•Past – social class indicator

HIGH RISING TONE

HRT “High Rising Terminal” or

AQI “Australian Question

Intonation”

Declarative clauses where no

question is intended

Equivalent to English yes/no

questions, “you know?”, “right?”or

“OK?”

Use depends on the complexity of

the text – check understanding

Characteristic of young people

(usually females)

Not only in Australian =

American

Positive and negative opinions

and connotations

HIGH RISING TONE

Negative Positive

Politeness

Seeks verification of comprehension

Friendly and attentive users

Evokes a response (verbal or not)

Lack of self-confidence

Uncertainity

Low status

Hesitancy

Couldn’t it mean

that men are less

approachable?

Easier since you avoid

“you know?”

Not a positive

characteristic if used in

every sentence

OPINIONS Shares phonological

features with Cockney

Why do you think that Cultivated English was more related to women?

Broad AusE may not have a negative connotation because it is related to men and working class ≠ HRT

How would you consider the HRT? Lack of knowledge or attempt of involvement?

SOURCES

http://www.cambridge.org/other_files/cms/PeterRoach/PeterRoach_Glossary.html

http://clas.mq.edu.au/phonetics/index.html

http://www.lexilogos.com/english/australian_english_dictionary.htm

http://www.linguisticsnet.com/home/index.php/resources/glossary

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australian_English_phonology

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Received_Pronunciation

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High_rising_terminal

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Variation_in_Australian_English

Books

oGuy, Gregory and Julia Vonwiller. “The High Rising Tone in

Australian English”. Australian English: the Language of Society.

Australia: University of Queensland Press, 1989. 21 – 34. Print.

o Horvath, Barbara M. “Australian English: Phonology” A Handbook

of Varieties of English: a Multimedia Reference Tool. New York:

Mouton de Gruyter, 2004. 625 – 643. Print.

Web Pages

THANK YOU FOR THE

ATTENTION