A presentation for Varieties of English, specifically AusE.

1. AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH:
PHONOLOGY
Antía Varela Ávila
Group B2
20/ 11/ 2013

2. 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

3. 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

4. PHONOLOGICAL COMPARISON BETWEEN RP
AND AUSE
Receive Pronunciation Australian English

5. 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

6. 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

7. SOCIAL VARIETIES OF AUSEGeneral
•Most
common
•Prominent
urban
Australia
•Standard
language for
Australian
media
•Growth and
dominance
Broad
•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
Cultivated
•Middle class
and women
•Similarities
with RP
•Fallen recent
generations –
almost
extinct
•Past – social
class
indicator

8. 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

9. 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

10. 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?

11. 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.ht
m
 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

12. THANK YOU FOR THE
ATTENTION