Rising diphthongs

The rising diphthongs are often cited as a feature of AusE that distinguishes it from many other dialects of English. FACE has a low first target; MOUTH has a fronted first target which is also raised for Broad speakers; and the first target of the PRICE vowel for Broad speakers is raised and backed, extending into the boundary between the /a/ and /æ/ vowel spaces. The second target for the frontrising diphthongs FACE and CHOICE point toward the /ɪ/ vowel space but is much lower for PRICE. The two back-rising diphthongs, GOAT and MOUTH, point toward the /ʊ/ space but fall well short of it.

When Harrington, Cox and Evans (1997) compared the rising diphthongs across the three varieties of AusE, they found that the first targets of these vowels, unlike the monophthongs, were important differentiators within AusE, particularly so for the PRICE and MOUTH vowels. The first target for PRICE is higher and more retracted for Broad speakers than for either General or Cultivated speakers and for MOUTH, the Broad speakers’ first target is considerably fronted and raised compared to the others. For both PRICE and MOUTH, the Cultivated speakers have the lowest first target and General falls between the two. The GOAT vowel indicates that women classified as Broad speakers have a more fronted first target. The CHOICE vowel shows the least amount of differentiation.