The Aussie R Part 1: Where Are You R?

One of the most common pronunciation questions I get asked is, “How do you pronounce the Australian R?”.

I’m guessing you’ve noticed the way we use R in Australian English is different from how it’s used in American English, and you’re dead on!

You’ve probably noticed that sometimes it’s pronounced and sometimes it isn’t.

Sometimes the R is said when it’s in the spelling of a word and sometimes it isn’t.

And sometimes it’s even pronounced despite not appearing in the spelling at all!

What the…?

Have a listen to how I pronounce the following words and phrases and whether or not you hear the R /ɹ/ sound.

• Right – /ɹɑet/
• Beard – /bɪəd/
• Broken – /ˈbɹəʉkən/
• Law‿r‿and order – /loː‿ɹ‿ænd‿ˈoːɾɐ/
• Australia‿r‿is big – /əˈsʧɹæɪliːə‿ɹ‿ɪz bɪg/

So, the tricky aspect to using the Australian R naturally is learning when and when not to pronounce it, despite what the spelling may suggest.

 

For the linguistic nerds: Rhoticity in English is the pronunciation of the historical rhotic consonant /ɹ/ in all contexts by speakers of specific varieties (accents) of English. The presence or absence of rhoticity is one of the biggest distinctions between different varieties of English. General American English and Scottish English accents are rhotic, whereas the Received Pronunciation British and all Australian accents are non-rhotic.

What’s the rule?

Australian English is non-rhotic, which just means that we only pronounce the /ɹ/ sound when it’s followed by a vowel sound straight after it.

That can be within the same word or at the start of a word that comes after a word ending in R /ɹ/ sound.

Here are some examples:

• Feral – /ˈfeɹəl/
• Red – /ɹed/
• Draw – /ʤɹoː/
• For everyone – /foːɹ‿ˈevɹɪˌwɐn/
• The bear is here? – /ðə beːɹ‿ɪz hɪə/

Therefore, if an R is followed by a consonant sound or no sound at all (i.e. the word appears at the end of a phrase), it’s not pronounced. It’s silent.

For example:

• Beer – /bɪə/
• World – /wɜːld/
• Store – /stoː/
• In summer – /ɪnˈsɐmɐ/
• Is that a deer? – /ɪz ðæɾ‿ə dɪə/

Note: don’t let spelling trick you. Many words are spelt with a vowel letter after the R, usually E, despite it not being pronounced (e.g. where, were, fire, tyre). That means the R isn’t pronounced.

When R appears after a vowel letter (i.e. A, I, U, O, E, Y) in the spelling of a word it usually indicates the presence of a long vowel or a diphthong in that word.

For example:

• Lord – /loːd/
• Turn – /tɜːn/
• Card – /kɐːd/
• Hair – /heː/
• Beard – /bɪəd/

Let’s test what you’ve just learnt. In the following exercise, we’ll go through a series of words with R in them and I want you to pay attention to whether or not the R is pronounced.

Place a tick or X next to each word to show whether or not you heard the R being pronounced.

Let’s go!

Exercise 1.0: The Aussie R Part 1 Pronunciation Exercise

1. Real
2. Far
3. Feral
4. Were
5. Water
6. Robber
7. Bird
8. Drop
9. Daring
10. Army
11. Boring
12. Editorial
13. Wire
14. Carer
15. Form
16. Your
17. Rental
18. Crime
19. Entry
20. River
21. Order
22. Press
23. Short
24. Garden
25. Spread

How’d you go?

Some of those were trick questions and had both a pronounced and unpronounced R in them.

Did you spot them all?

They were the following: Robber, Carer, River.

Answers – Exercise 1.0: The Aussie R Part 1 Pronunciation Exercise

1. Real – /ɹɪəl/
2. Far – /fɐː/
3. Feral – /ˈfeɹəl/
4. Were – /wɜː/
5. Water – /ˈwoːɾɐ/
6. Robber – /ˈɹɔbɐ/
7. Bird – /bɜːd/
8. Drop – / ʤɹɔp/
9. Daring – /ˈdeːɹɪŋ/
10. Army – /ˈɐːmi/
11. Boring – /ˈboːɹɪŋ/
12. Editorial – /ˌedɪˈtoːɹɪəl/
13. Wire – /ˈwaɪɐ/
14. Carer – /ˈkeəɹɐ/
15. Form – /foːm/
16. Your – /joː/
17. Rental – /ˈɹen[t]l/
18. Crime – /kɹɑem/
19. Entry – /ˈenʧɹi/
20. River – /ˈɹɪvɐ/
21. Order – /ˈoːɾɐ/
22. Press – /pɹes/
23. Short – /ʃoːt/
24. Garden – /ˈgɐː[d]n/
25. Spread – /spɹed/

Drilling exercises!

The topics below include drilling exercises for each of the pronunciation points you just learnt.

If you want to “drill down” and practice any or all of these pronunciation points, you can do so with these video exercises in order to solidify your pronunciation of these sounds.

If you can already pronounce these sounds with confidence, skip ahead to the next lesson.

But if you still have a little trouble either remembering the rules or making the sounds themselves, complete these exercises on a regular basis until you’ve nailed the pronunciation.

Tip: shorter and more frequent drilling sessions (e.g. 5 minutes per day) are more effective than longer infrequent sessions (e.g. 1 hour per week).