Re: USAGE: S. Australian (was: Re: Gz^rod|in)

John Cowan wrote, quoting Vasiliy Chernov:

> > _part_, _father_, _grant_, _half_, _palm_, _ask_
> > (same phoneme in all, just as in RP)
> > - strongly backed, tends to become labialized;
>
> Not so.  Australian speech is notable for the
> use of a low central vowel in these words, IPA
> [a:].   In addition, the vowel of "cup" is the
> same but shorter, IPA [a].  This is reflected by
> Adrian's use of double and single lambda
> respectively.  I believe there are no low back
> vowels at all in Australian English.
Sorry, Vasiliy, that I'm unable to answer your
query directly, because there's no common standard
that we're both familiar with (I don't know RP).

I do know that RP pronunciation guides render
the diphthong in 'bite' as the vowel in 'bat'
followed by the vowel in 'beat', and that they
also render the diphthong in 'bait' is the vowel
in 'bet' followed by the vowel in 'beat'.

In contrast, I would render the diphthong in
'bite' as beginning with something near a schwa
but perhaps slightly modified in the direction
of the 'u' in 'but', and the diphthong in 'bait'
as beginning with the 'a' in 'bat'.

I think the RP 'bet' is similar to mine, and that
their 'bat' is somewhere between my 'bat' and
'but'. This is confirmed above by John, where he
states (correctly, I'd say) that my vowel in 'cup'
(same as in 'but') is the one IPA'ers render [a].
He is also correct about Australian use of [a:]
(although it's different over East).

Another thing: according to RP dictionaries, the
'au' in 'Australia' is the same as the 'au' in
'Austria'. Americans do the same. However, in
Australia, the 'au' in 'Austria' is pronounced
as in RP, whereas the 'au' in Australia is schwa.

That's basically all I can do, apart from sending
you a cassette of my speech :-) :-)

Adrian.
--
http://www.netyp.com/member/dragon
http://www.flinders.edu.au