Help:IPA/Australian languages

|+Consonants

| spy, byThe sounds {{IPA|[b̥ d̪̥ d̥ ɖ̥ ɟ̊ ɡ̊]}} are often pronounced tenuis, like spy, sty, stew/chew, sky (like French or Spanish p, t, tch/ch, k) at the beginnings of words, and voiced, like buy, die, dew/Jew, guy between vowels, but that is variable, and the distinction is not meaningful in almost all Australian languages.

|stool, doThe plain consonants {{IPA|[d̥ l n]}} are like English sty, noose, lose, with the tip of the tongue touching the gums, and the consonants with the 'bridge' under them, {{IPA|[d̪̥ l̪ n̪]}}, are like t n l in French or Spanish, with the tip of the tongue touching the teeth and its upper surface touching the gums, giving them a light sound. The alveolar–dental distinction is very important in most Australian languages.

|width

|strudle, drewThe consonants with a 'tail', {{IPA|[ɖ̥ ɭ ɳ ɽ]}}, are pronounced with the tonɡue curled back, which gives them a dark "r"-like retroflex quality

|sky, guy

|skew, argueThe consonants {{IPA|[ɟ̊ ʎ ɲ]}} are pronounced with a y-like quality. English dy, ly, ny are similar.

| yes

|heirloom

|million, (UK) lewd

|mother

|Arnold

|canyon, (UK) new

|sing

|Spanish Río

|atom (US)

|red

|barter (US)

|red (some Irish or West Country dialects; pronounced with rounded lips)

|water

|+Vowels

! IPA

! English approximation

| father

| badeThe vowels i and u typically vary across {{IPA|[i] ~ [ɪ] ~ [e]}} and {{IPA|[u] ~ [ʊ] ~ [o]}}, respectively. However, a few Australian languages distinguish both sounds.

| sofa

| see, sit

| bore

| fool, full

| (long vowel); influence (short) vs. food (long)