Key to pronunciation: Australian English
View the pronunciation model for Australian English here.
The pronunciations given are those in use among educated urban speakers of standard English in Australia. While avoiding strongly regionally or socially marked forms, they are intended to include the most common variants for each word. The keywords given in this key are to be understood as pronounced in such speech.
All words indicated as being associated with Australia are also given British and American pronunciations alongside the Australian pronunciation(s). Where a word is associated with an additional part of the English-speaking world, further pronunciations in the appropriate global variety of English are also given.
To hear the pronunciation spoken aloud, click the blue play icon to the left of each transcription.
Vowels
| Australian English | As in… |
| iː | fleece |
| i | happy |
| ɪ | kit |
| e | dress |
| æ | trap |
| ʌː | father, start |
| ɔ | lot, cloth |
| ɔː | hawk, force |
| ʌ | cup |
| ʊ | foot |
| uː | goose |
| ə | alpha |
| ɜː | nurse |
| ɪə | here |
| eə | square |
| ʊə | cure |
| æe | face |
| ɑe | price |
| æɔ | mouth |
| oʊ | goat |
| oɪ | choice |
Consonants
| Australian English | As in… |
| b | big /bɪɡ/ |
| d | dig /dɪɡ/ |
| dʒ | jet /dʒet/ |
| ð | then /ðen/ |
| f | fig /fɪɡ/ |
| ɡ | get /ɡet/ |
| h | head /hed/ |
| j | yes /jes/ |
| k | kit /kɪt/ |
| l | leg /leɡ/ |
| m | mud /mʌd/ |
| n | net /net/ |
| ŋ | thing /θɪŋ/ |
| p | pit /pɪt/ |
| r | red /red/ |
| s | sit /sɪt/ |
| ʃ | ship /ʃɪp/ |
| t | tip /tɪp/ |
| tʃ | chip /tʃɪp/ |
| θ | thin /θɪn/ |
| v | vet /vet/ |
| w | win /wɪn/ |
| z | zip /zɪp/ |
| ʒ | vision /ˈvɪʒ(ə)n/ |
The consonants l, m, and n can take on the function of a vowel in some unstressed syllables. It should generally be clear when this interpretation is intended, but in cases of potential ambiguity, the consonant symbol may appear with a diacritic, as in the British and U.S. pronunciations. A bracketed /(ə)/ indicates that some speakers may not pronounce the /ə/; in some cases this means the following consonant would take on the function of the vowel (e.g. U.S. saddle /ˈsæd(ə)l/).
After a vowel, Australian English only has /r/ when it is also followed by a vowel, e.g. mar /mʌː/ but marring /ˈmʌːrɪŋ/.
Between vowels, except at the start of a stressed syllable, U.S. English speakers have /d/ where British English has /t/, in words such as pitting /ˈpɪdɪŋ/ (rather than British /ˈpɪtɪŋ/). In Australian English both /t/ and /d/ variants are commonplace, so both pronunciations are given. In each case, the /t/ variant is given first.
Stress
The symbol ˈ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with primary stress. The symbol ˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable is pronounced with secondary stress. The symbol ˈˌ at the beginning of a syllable indicates that that syllable may be pronounced with either primary or secondary stress.