The Aussie /ɐ/ Sound: The Jaguar at the Theatre

The Aussie /ɐ/ vowel sound is one of the most common vowel sounds in Australian English and it’s often associated with the Australian R which you learnt about in the previous lessons.

All of the following word endings are pronounced as the vowel sound /ɐ/ when they’re not followed by any other sound, i.e. they appear at the end of a sentence or on their own.

• -er – /ɐ/
• -re – /ɐ/
• -or – /ɐ/
• -ar – /ɐ/
• -a – /ɐ/
• -ure – /ɐ/
• -eur – /ɐ/
• -our – /ɐ/

Let’s go through a quick list of words with each of these endings so you can hear the /ɐ/ sound clearly. We’ll call these ‘/ɐ/ word endings.’

1. -er – Lever – /ˈliːvɐ/
2. -re – metre – /ˈmiːɾɐ/
3. -or – instructor – /ɪnˈsʧɹɐktɐ/
4. -ar – jaguar – /ˈʤægjʉɐ/
5. -a – Australia – /əˈsʧɹæɪljɐ/
6. -ure – adventure – /ədˈvenʧɐ/
7. -eur – amateur – /ˈæməʧɐ/
8. -our – colour – /ˈkɐlɐ/

Note: there are some exceptions to this rule, but they’re rare. E.g. radar.

For the linguistic nerds: Remember, Australian English is non-rhotic and so the /ɹ/ sound does not appear at the end of a syllable or immediately before a consonant. In other non-rhotic English dialects, such as Received Pronunciation in British English, you’ll hear a final /ə/. Whereas, in Australian English, this a final /ə/ sound is pronounced as a lowered /ɐ/ sound by most speakers.

In those examples, you’ll notice that all the word endings are pronounced as an /ɐ/ vowel sound where the R sound is silent.

But what happens when these endings are within words or sentences where they’re followed by a consonant or vowel sound?

For example:

• Peter asks. (-er + vowel) – /ˈpiːɾəɹ‿ɐːsks/
• Peter laughs. (-er + consonant) – /ˈpiːɾə lɐːfs/

There’re two things to notice here.

Firstly, in both those sentences that the vowel sound /ɐ/ is now pronounced as schwa /ə/ sound, this is because it’s a weakened syllable within a phrase now.

Secondly, the R /ɹ/ sound is pronounced after the /ə/ in only one of these examples.

Let’s have another listen to each example again and see if you can spot which one it is:

• Peter asks. (-er + vowel) – /ˈpiːɾəɹ‿ɐːsks/
• Peter laughs. (-er + consonant) – /ˈpiːɾə lɐːfs/

It was the first one where the ‘/a/ word ending’ was followed by a vowel.

Now, let’s break down each of these situations.

1. /ɐ/ + vowel sound

When these /ɐ/ word endings are followed by any word or syllable starting with a vowel sound, they link to it using the Australian R /ɹ/ sound. Thus, this can happen both within words, e.g. colouring, and between words when they’re linked in connected speech, e.g. the colour‿orange.

This is called the ‘linking R’ when the letter R is in the spelling of the word, e.g. “Peter‿asks why”, and it’s called the ‘intrusive R’ when there’s no letter R in the spelling of the word, but the R /ɹ/ sound is used to link two vowels, e.g. “Australia‿ɹ‿is big”.

So, when the Australian /ɐ/ sound is followed by a vowel sound, two things happen.

1. It will turn into the standard weakened syllable with the /ə/ vowel sound, and
2. It will link to the following vowel sound with an R /ɹ/ sound.

Let’s go over some sentences that will include either the linking R or the intrusive R. Remember to pay attention to how the /ɐ/ sound is now pronounced as a schwa /ə/ sound because it’s now in a reduced syllable and followed by other syllables and words.

Let’s go!

Exercise 1.1: Phrases with /ɐ/ + Vowel Sound

1. Peter‿asks why.
2. Australia‿ɹ‿is big.
3. The lever‿isn’t budging.
4. Is the jaguar‿angry?
5. It’s a metre‿away.
6. It’s an adventure‿on her property.
7. He’s an amateur‿engineer.
8. The colour‿orange is my favourite.
9. The professor‿already left.
10. The fire‿always burns hot.

Note: this will also happen with any other words ending in R even if it’s a different vowel sound from /ɐ/, i.e. hair, spear, tour. 

Note: the intrusive R also appears in any words ending with the vowel sound /oː/ when an R isn’t in the spelling, e.g. claw, draw, law.

2. /ɐ/ + consonant sound

When the Australian /ɐ/ sound is followed by a consonant sound, two things happen.

1. The Australian R /ɹ/ sound remains silent, and
2. The Australian /ɐ/ sound will turn into the standard weakened syllable /ə/ vowel sound.

The most common situations is when a /z/ sound is added on to the ends of /ɐ/ word endings.

This happens when:

1. Words are pluralised. For example:
   • Fires – /ˈfɑeəz/
   • Colours – /ˈkɐləz/
   • Jaguars – /ˈʤægjʊəz/

2. Words have ‘is’ or ‘has’ contracted onto them. For example:
   • Peter is – /piːɾɐ ɪz/ = Peter’s – /piːɾəz/
   • The sofa has – /ðə səʉfɐ hæz/ = the sofa’s – /ðə səʉfəz/

3. Words have the possessive ‘’s’ added on the end. For example:
   • The Professor’s – /ðə prəˈfesəz/
   • Taylor’s – /ˈtæɪləz/

Note: there’re always exceptions. Words like ‘radar’ and ‘cigar’ don’t follow this pattern as the ‘-ar’ ending isn’t weakened.

Let’s compare a series of words first without the /z/ sound and then with it.

Exercise 1.2: The Aussie /ɐ/ Sound + S Comparison Exercise

1. Lever – /ˈliːvɐ/
2. Levers – /ˈliːvəz/
3. Metre – /ˈmiːɾɐ/
4. Metres – /ˈmiːɾəz/
5. Instructor – /ɪnˈsʧɹɐktɐ/
6. Instructor’s – /ɪnˈsʧɹɐktəz/
7. Jaguar – /ˈʤægjʉɐ/
8. Jaguars – /ˈʤægjʉəz/
9. Australia – /əˈsʧɹæɪljɐ/
10. Australia’s – /əˈsʧɹæɪljəz/
11. Adventure – /ədˈvenʧɐ/
12. Adventures – /ədˈvenʧəz/
13. Amateur – /ˈæməʧɐ/
14. Amateurs – /ˈæməʧəz/
15. Colour – /ˈkɐlɐ/
16. Colours – /ˈkɐləz/

Did you hear how when the /z/ sound is added to the end of these words, the /ɐ/ sound changes into a schwa /ə/ sound?

This is a unique aspect to Australian pronunciation and therefore it’s important to master it if you want to speak English with an Australian accent.

Note: this vowel change doesn’t happen with other words like spear -> spears, hair -> hairs. The vowel sound in these words stays the same.

Guess what? It happens when the ‘/ɐ/ word endings’ are followed by any other consonant sound as well.

Most commonly, these will be consonants at the start of the following words:

For Example:

• Taylor left – /ˈtæɪlə left/
• Australia won – /əˈsʧɹæɪljə wɐn/

But it can also happen within words.

For example:

• Measuring – /ˈmeʒəɹɪŋ/
• Coloured – /ˈkʌləd/

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).