Sonorants /r/ and /l/

Australian and New Zealand English show the different allophones of /l/ that occur in RP; namely, a slightly velarized lateral in onset positions and a considerably darker version in coda position. There is also evidence of increasing vocalization of /l/ in both dialects (thought not uniformly throughout) – the variant is a back vowel [u] that may or may not be rounded or labialized. The contexts that promote vocalized /l/ are: final cluster (as in milk), end position (as in pill) and syllabic environments (such as buckle).

These varieties are non-rhotic; in other words, /r/ is not pronounced in post-vocalic position. Most striking, therefore, is the variable rhoticity found in the Southern part of the South Island of New Zealand. In this variety the pronunciation of /r/ is most consistently maintained in the NURSE lexical set, and there is considerable variation in other contexts.

Australian and New Zealand English have a liaison feature known as linking R, whereby /r/ is pronounced in final position if there is a following vowel, as in phrases such as far off. Both varieties also show the so-called intrusive R whereby /r/ is inserted to link adjacent vowels, as in phrases such as idea(r) of and law(r) and order. There is also evidence of intrusive R in word-internal environments such as drawing and however. This liaison rule has also extended to laterals. In other words, the vocalization of /l/ has triggered a linking L (or, in some cases, a linking W) where a following word begins with a vowel, as in the phrase feel it.

Throughout NZ and Australia there is evidence of American English influence, particularly in the realm of vocabulary. Borrowed expressions and catchphrases are often pronounced with a kind of pseudo-American /r/. Many popular singers also adopt an American rhotic pronunciation.

The substitution of [n] for [ŋ] in words ending in -ing and [ŋk] for final [ŋ] in the group of indefinite pronouns something, anything and nothing are features these Antipodean varieties share with many others, most notably those of South East England. The latter feature, however, is still stigmatized and is typically confined to the broad varieties. It continues to attract fierce criticism.