Australian/British/American pronunciation differences

Question

What are the differences between Australian, British and American pronunciation?I am particularly interested in the Australian one.Thank you beforehand.

Nona the brit · Accepted Answer

That's a very wide question I'm afraid. I'm not sure we could sum it up very clearly for you here - especially as there aren't single Australian, American or British accents.

Kooyeen · Answer

Hi,
I'm going to tell you the most noticeable differences I notice between British English (the only variety of BrE I know), and American English (the variety of AmE I hear most often).

CAR ------ American R's are always pronounced, British R's are not.
NO -------- British is /??/, American is /o?/
NOT ------ British is /?/, American is /?/
NOT ------ British final T's are released, American final T's are not.
LAW ----- In BrE it's /o/, in AmE it's either /?/ or /?/
CLASS --- Some vowels that are /?/ in BrE, in AmE are /æ/
BETTY --- In BrE there are no tapped T's, in AmE there are.
NOW ----- In BrE it's more like /??/, in AmE it's more like /æ?/

Those are the differences I notice. There are a lot of regional variations of course. It would be interesting to know if some American features are present regionally in some other places (for example tapped T's, unreleased final T's, etc.)

Blue-eyed Smiler · Answer

OK,

let's put it this way///

how does the Australian pronunciation sound like, the traditional one, if there is one, or probably the most common one?While I know something about the American and British pronunciation, the Australian one is a mystery for me

Anyone from Australia?How do u sound like?

Thank you beforehand.

Kooyeen · Answer

Yes, I don't know much about Australian English either.
I just know it is similar to British English, and they when they say "Kate", it sounds like "kite". But I think there are some British accents with that feature too.
And another variety I know very little about is Jamaican English. I just know that "how" sounds like "hoe", if I'm not mistaken.

Nona the brit · Answer

There are lots of Australian TV programmes and soap operas. It's probably easiest if you watch one to get an idea of the accent.

Conchita57 · Answer

For more information on Australian English, you can also have a look at this interesting Wikipedia entry:

Anonymous · Answer

Here are my comments. The parentheses indicate that something is not part of General American-like dialects or RP, but is found in certain regional dialects..
CAR ------ American R's are always pronounced, British R's are not.
In General American vs. RP, yes, (but there are non-rhotic American dialects on the East coast, and rhotic British dialects.)
NO -------- British is /??/, American is /o?/
Some British dialects have /o/. Some American dialects have /o/. (Some American dialects have /??/.)
NOT ------ British is /?/, American is /?/
Actually in about 40% of the country "not" can have /?/ or /?/ used interchangeably.
NOT ------ British final T's are released, American final T's are not.
yeah
LAW ----- In BrE it's /o/, in AmE it's either /?/ or /?/
Actually I belive RP has /O:/ rather than /o/. (In the Boston Brahmin accent it can also be /O:/)
CLASS --- Some vowels that are /?/ in BrE, in AmE are /æ/
Some people in the West can shift /æ/ to /a/. (Some dialects in Boston have a similar trap-bath split.)
BETTY --- In BrE there are no tapped T's, in AmE there are.
From what I've heard, occasionally BrE speakers use tapped t's.
NOW ----- In BrE it's more like /??/, in AmE it's more like /æ?/
Actually General American has /a?/. Some regional dialects have /æ?/.

Octoberman · Answer

generally the pronunciation is sort of british in a way.

just a few things i´d like to mention:

1. you won´t hear much of an "r" ( in the middle or end of a word). "air", e.g. there is no "r" the way aussies say it.

2. very strong "ai", like in they, sake, make, ... even: smoke, cake ("smaik" on the water

)

3. strong "oi" in many words like: "I", like, fight, night...

4. very sublte and soft endigs for words like: tomorrow, know, no (hard to copy for foreigners...)

I just love their english

. actually among women you won´t hear it so obvious than among the male set.

for the "westies" among them no. 1-3 is really strong.

Anonymous · Answer

0Being an australian... i can tell u02br
02br
00that we dont pronounce our Ts eg. shut up would be shud up or mate is ma e (like saying eight with out the t) 02br
02br
00 when finishing a sentence we end it like a question like. my head hurts! but instead of sying the end of hurts, in a low vioce we say it high!02br
02br
00 How are you going? would be how you goin'? etc 02br
02br
00I've always noticed how we have a very lazy tongue, we dont really use it to pronounce words...a speach therapists said to talk like an australian imagine there is a brick sitting on your tongue and you try to talk...0-

Bldudas · Answer

0 01blockquote

01cite10Anonymous12cite11b10Here are my comments. The parentheses indicate that something is not part of General American-like dialects or RP, but is found in certain regional dialects..12br
10CA11font11u10R12u12font12b10 ------ American R's are always pronounced, British R's are not.12br
10In General American vs. RP, yes, (but there are non-rhotic American dialects on the East coast, and rhotic British dialects.)12br
11b10N11font11u10O12u12font12b10 -------- British is /əʊ/, American is /oʊ/12br
10Some British dialects have /o/. Some American dialects have /o/. (Some American dialects have /əʊ/.)12br
11b10N11font11u10O12u12font10T12b10 ------ British is /ɒ/, American is /ɑ/12br
10Actually in about 40% of the country "not" can have /ɒ/ or /ɑ/ used interchangeably.12br
11b10NO11font11u10T12u12font10 12b10------ British final T's are released, American final T's are not.12br
10yeah12br
11b10L11font11u10AW12u12font12b10 ----- In BrE it's /o/, in AmE it's either /ɒ/ or /ɑ/12br
10Actually I belive RP has /O:/ rather than /o/. (In the Boston Brahmin accent it can also be /O:/)12br
11b10CL11font11u10A12u12font10SS12b10 --- Some vowels that are /ɑ/ in BrE, in AmE are /æ/12br
10Some people in the West can shift /æ/ to /a/. (Some dialects in Boston have a similar trap-bath split.)12br
11b10BE11font11u10TT12u12font10Y12b10 --- In BrE there are no tapped T's, in AmE there are.12br
10From what I've heard, occasionally BrE speakers use tapped t's.12br
11b10N11font11u10OW12u12font10 12b10----- In BrE it's more like /ɑʊ/, in AmE it's more like /æʊ/12br
10Actually General American has /aʊ/. Some regional dialects have /æʊ/.12blockquote

10I agree with you. Where I am from we have /əʊ/ and L01font00AW 00sounds to me as /ɔ/ though.02font02br
00From what I heard from Austrailians, they sound sort of like a mix of British accents. I don't know. Maybe it is me. 0-

Australian/British/American pronunciation differences

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