Australian English Phonology
Contents
Vowel System
/ɔ ɔː/ in the table below are in two different places. This is because they could be considered in either position. /ɔ/ is open-mid rather than close-mid like the other mid vowels, and it is very laxly rounded, if rounded at all. /ɔː/ is used only in the word "gone" [gɔːn]. It's not an allophonic variation of /ɔ/ or /oː/. It's worth noting that if we consider /ɔ(:)/ unrounded, then all unrounded vowels have long/short pairs, and rounded vowels are long, aside from /u/, which doesn't contrast with a unrounded vowel.
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | |
| High | i iː | yː | u uː | |
| Mid | e eː | øː | ɔ (ɔː) | oː |
| Low | æ æː | a aː | ɔ (ɔː) | |
| Start front | Start back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Start high | Start low | End unround | End round | |
| End high | ɪi | æi | oi | ɔy |
| Mid | æɔ | ɑe | ||
| End high | End mid | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start high | Start low | ||
| Start front | ɪi | æi | æɔ |
| Start back | oi | ɔy | ɑe |
Proposed Vowel orthography
Jonathan's proposal, №1
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | |
| High | i ei | eu | u ou | |
| Mid | e ee | eo | o (oa) | oo |
| Low | a ea | a aa | o (oa) | |
| End high | End mid | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start high | Start low | ||
| Start front | ii | ai | ao |
| Start back | ui | oi | ae |
Jonathan's proposal, №2
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | |
| High | i ei | eu | u ou | |
| Mid | e ee | eo | o (oa) | oo |
| Low | ae ea | a aa | o (oa) | |
| End high | End mid | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start high | Start low | ||
| Start front | ii | ai | ao |
| Start back | ui | oi | oe |
Jonathan's proposal, №3
| Front | Back | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| rounded | unrounded | rounded | unrounded | |
| High | i ii | iu | u uu | |
| Mid | e ie | io | o (uo) | uo |
| Low | a ia | au ua | o (uo) | |
| End high | End mid | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| Start high | Start low | ||
| Start front | ei | ai | ao |
| Start back | oi | ou | oe |
Hiatus
Like many languages, Australian English forbids hiatus. Here is how it resolves the problem obtained when two vowels collide:
If the ffirst vowel is in set (1), then [ɹ] is added:
(1) ɪː eː aː oː øː ə uə~uː
If the fist vowel is in set (2), then [j] is added:
(2) æi ɪi ɑe oi
If the first vowel is in set (3), then [w] is added:
(3) æɔ ʉː ɔʉ
If the first vowel is in set (4), then it can’t end a word:
(4) ɪ e æ æː a ɔ u
Examples:
Here is a fair amount of far and away the poorest examples of Australian hiatus. These’re only on display if you can see ’em. I always saw the boy in the window, until a cow interfered with you over there. Keep low or you might be hit.
hɪː-ɹ-ɪz ə feː-ɹ-əmæɔnt əv faː-ɹ-ən ewæi ðə poː-ɹ-əst ɪgzæːmpəlz əv əstʃɹæɪliən hɑe-j-æɪtəs. ðɪizə-ɹ-ɔʉnli ɔn dəsplæi-j-ɪf jə kən sɪi-j-əm ɑe-j-oːwæiz soː ðə boi-j-ɪn ðə windɔʉ, antɪl ə kæɔ-w-intəfɪːd wɪθ jʉː-w-ɔʉvɐ ðeː. kɪip lɔʉ-w-ə jə mɑet bi hit
Pronouns and Clitics
This page illustrates some (synchronic) irregularities in English pronoun+clitic combinations. This focusses mainly on cliticised forms of "to be" and "to have" in Australian English. The IPA scheme used is Wikipedia's.
(Diachronically, most of these irregularities are expected, particularly when the expected forms are not ever found.)
An E in the Actual column means the Expected forms are also found. When unstressed, one expects to find vowels shortened or merged with /ə/. Such forms aren't shown unless they occur too when stressed.
| Orthography | Pronoun | Clitic | Expected | Actual |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| we're | wiː | ə | 'wiːjə, wɪə | weː |
| we've | wiː | əv | 'wiː(jə)v, wɪv | E, wev |
| you're | jʉː | ə | 'jʉːwə | joː |
| you've | jʉː | əv | 'jʉː(wə)v | E, jɔv |
| they're | ðæi | ə | ðæijə | ðeː |
