Your Accent!

Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 7:38 pm GMT
<<No, South Australia (Adelaide). I get asked that all the time as does any South Australian not in South Australia. I think we tend to schwa our vowels a bit more than other Australian states.>>

Frances,

What exactly do you mean by ''schwaing your vowels''?
Lazar   Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:38 pm GMT
Schwaing vowels means reducing vowels from a full sound (like [A] or [u]) to a schwa sound ([@]).

An example would be pronouncing the first syllable of "authority" (originally [O]) as a schwa. You would have schwaed that vowel.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:53 pm GMT
<<Schwaing vowels means reducing vowels from a full sound (like [A] or [u]) to a schwa sound ([@]).>>

If that's what was meant, then all dialects do that. It's in no way unique to Australian English. I guess Frances must have meant that Australians reduce vowels in certain words to a schwa sound that other dialects wouldn't reduce.
Uriel   Sat Sep 17, 2005 8:55 pm GMT
Or, Frances just talks funny. ;)
Frances   Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:38 pm GMT
Mannix - I refer in particular to South Australians. I think you are right with your description that maybe South Australians schwa vowels that normally aren't schwaed in other parts of Australia. Hence everyone asking me if I am a Kiwi, they tend to schwa more than other accents I think.

Uriel - shut up ;)
Uriel   Sat Sep 17, 2005 9:49 pm GMT
Heeheeheeheehee. Just had to!
melissa   Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:06 pm GMT
"Candy Wed Sep 14, 2005 6:21 pm GMT
Actually, Ulverston! :-)"

No way... Ulverston is my family's ancestral home! Well at least on my dad's side. His grandparents were from there and then moved to canada.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:55 pm GMT
<<Hence everyone asking me if I am a Kiwi, they tend to schwa more than other accents I think.>>

Frances,

Yeah, New Zealands tend to schwa their i's. Do you pronounce the ''i'' in ''fish'' and ''chip'' as a schwa sound? The New Zealand pronunciation is often written as ''fush and chups'', but that's an exaggeration, because it's not /fVS @n tSVps/, but /f@s @n tS@ps/.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 10:57 pm GMT
<<Yeah, New Zealands tend to schwa their i's.>>

New Zealanders.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:02 pm GMT
Frances,

What about ''serious'' and ''Sirius''? Do you Australians pronounce those the same way? I've heard many Australians say ''serious'' and it sounded close to my pronunciation of ''Sirius''.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:05 pm GMT
<<Or, Frances just talks funny. ;)>>

What makes you think Frances talks funny, Uriel?
Uriel   Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:09 pm GMT
I was kidding, Mannix! I have a hard time staying Sirius. Or serious, as the case may be -- those words are identical for me.
Frances   Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:17 pm GMT
I say for serious - seerious and sirius - sirius (much more longer for serious). I wish I could record it for you but I have a bad cold at the moment. I can record it for you in a few days times when I'm better if you would like it.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:19 pm GMT
<<I say for serious - seerious and sirius - sirius (much more longer for serious). I wish I could record it for you but I have a bad cold at the moment. I can record it for you in a few days times when I'm better if you would like it.>>

Yeah, I would like a recording in a few days when you're better.
Mannix   Sat Sep 17, 2005 11:43 pm GMT
<<I was kidding, Mannix! I have a hard time staying Sirius. Or serious, as the case may be -- those words are identical for me.>>

Interesting! For me, ''Sirius'' and ''serious'' are pronounced differently. ''Sirius'' has the vowel in ''sit'' and ''serious'' has the vowel in ''seed'' for me.

Sirius - /sIr\_Gi@s/
serious - /sir\_G@s/