G'day guys.
Welcome to this episode of Aussie English.
Today I want to talk to you about 1 simple trick to sound more like an Aussie when you
speak English.
Let's go.
So, this one simple trick is words that end with -er, -or, -ar, -ure, -our, and -a (and -re*),
all have the same pronunciation in Australian English, at least the majority
of the time.
And this is the short /ɑ/ sound.
So, we make this sound by just lowering our jaw, quite a way, and literally just saying
the sound /ɑ:/, but short, /ɑ/.
So, as opposed to words like "bar" and "car", which have the long ɑ sound, this sound is
a very short sound.
/ɑ/.
So, let's go through a couple of words for each one of these endings so you can practice
sounding more like an Aussie.
And I will admit there are exceptions.
Like everything in English, the rule is that there is always an exception.
But, the majority of the time these words are going to end with the sound /ɑ/.
So it's a good place to start.
So, words that end with -a.
Area
Cobra
Coma
Flora
Words that end with -ar.
Polar
Cheddar
Linear
Jaguar
Words that end with -er.
Water
Laser
Maker
Beer
Words that end with -re.
Centre
Theatre
Tyre
Fire
Words that end with -or.
Mirror
Actor
Alligator
Doctor
Words that end with -ure.
Treasure
Cure
Nature
Structure
Words that end with -our.
Favour
Neighbour
Humour
Hour
And then, as a little bonus here at the end, guys, sometimes words with -ur at the end
are pronounced as /ɑ/ as well.
Although, a lot of the time they're going to sound like /ɜ/.
And one example I could think of was "amateur".
So, that's it for this episode guys.
I really recommend trying to make these pronunciation changes IF you want to sound like an Australian.
Otherwise, you're going to have somewhat of an American accent if you're pronouncing that
/r/ sound at the ends of words like "water", "anchor", "treasure", "neighbour".
That is a very American sound with that /r/ sound.
In Australian English we don't curl the tongue up to make the /r/ sound.
We drop the jaw and we keep our tongue flat.
/ɑ/
"Neighbour", "treasure", "hour", "actor".
Anyway, good luck guys.
Keep at it.
Keep improving your Aussie English, and I'll chat to you soon.
Peace out. All the best!