AUSTRALIAN ENGLISH PART
2
Morphology and Phonology
Morphological Features

Diminutives: The 
system by where
we shorten
words. This is
particularly
evident in
Australian Slang
where people
tend to shorten
common nouns
and proper
nouns.
servo
bowlo
ambo
arvo
rego
garbo
tele
video
I videoed the tele
last night
he drives a semi
I live in a semi
sunnies
cossies
swimmers
munchies
nibblies
rellies
rels
prezzies
drinkies
Have a read of this article:

http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/journal/a
ussie-slang-why-we-shorten-barbie-gday-andfooty.htm
Phonological Features: consonants


Australian English is non-rhotic (do not pronounce the
letter r after vowels in words like world. They do
pronounce it before a vowel). The vowel has to follow
the r for us to pronounce it. Ie intrusive, crucial, frivolous
The vocalisation of l is pronounced towards the back of
the mouth rather than the front. MILK, PICKLE, FICKLE,
PULL, FULL. These words do not roll off of the toungue
yet sit toward the back of the mouth. MELBOURNE,
GOULBURN. You will notice that with these Proper nouns
the pronunciation of the preceding vowel sound is
rounded subsequently.
Phonological features: consonants
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Weakening of stopped consonants. Lets take a look at the
pronunciation of t.
You will find that there are a fewEW different ways that Australians
pronounce it.
1. Between Vowels: tends to be flapped (rapid contact between two
speech organs ie teeth and tongue) and also syllabic
(PRONOUNCING IN SYLLABLE). Pronounced fast and rapid.
Thirteen, city, get it, petal, mitten
2. Final stops tend to be unreleased. Meaning unlike a stopped
consonant the speech organs don’t part to create impact on the
sound. Ie BIT, FIT, SIT
3. Tendency to glottalise: Emphasis on the glottal stops (made by
rapidly closing vocal chords). This is most commonly seen in the use
of cockney accents, and has perhaps derived from here. Ie WHAT?
FAT, MAT (emphasis on the stop)
Phonological Features: consonants
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
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Increasingly affricated tr and str sounds. Rather than ST
or T being in focus, the pronunciation is more indicative
of CH or SH. Ie TREE would most likely be pronounced
CHREE, STUDENT is pronounced SHTUDENT.
Substitution of f and v for th. Mother, smother, think
(fink)
Seeing the ending of the four quantifying pronouns:
something, everything, anything, nothing for ink. Ie
somethink, everythink etc. This is not distinctly Australian
though other varieties use this.
Phonological features
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
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VOWELS:
Using the SHWA vowels in an unstressed context. Ie
boxes (AS), CommA, RabbIT
Monophthongal pronunciation: In these accents, your,
sure, poor, tour, cure (not as common) and pure (not
as common) all rhyme with bore and law, during
rhymes with boring and jury with story.
Phonological features
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Sounds in connected speech: Lets quickly recap over these
concepts found in AE
Assimilation: sounds changing shape to become more alike ie
HANDBAG changes shape to sound like HAMBAG
Vowel reduction: vowels that are in unstressed positions are
reduced to schwa or dropped out entirely. Ie POLICE (reduction
of o), BASIN (loss of i), TERIFFIC (loss of e)
Elision: slurring or ommission of certain sounds in a phonologcal
context, ol (old), haman eggs (and) socksn shoes (socks and)
Insertion: addition of vowel sounds where they previously didn’t
exist. AthElete (athlete), FilLUm (film)
Conclusion

Australian English is quite complicated in terms of
phonology. Some variations are not indicative of AE
only and are derived in fact from British and
American varieties. Phonological features are also
dependant on ethnicity, socio cultural and regional
dialects.