Transcription of Australian Aboriginal languages

Most Australian languages distinguish just three vowels, which are written ⟨i⟩, ⟨a⟩ and ⟨u⟩. Even though they may sound like ⟨e⟩ or ⟨o⟩ at times, they are not written ⟨e⟩ or ⟨o⟩, e.g. the Martuthunira word wirrirri "flame" is pronounced as [weɾeɾɪ]. Long vowels are represented by double letters, i.e. ⟨ii⟩ /iː/, ⟨aa⟩ /aː/, ⟨uu⟩ /uː/.

The semivowels ⟨w⟩ and ⟨y⟩ are usually pronounced as in English. In some languages, ⟨w⟩ may not be pronounced next to ⟨u⟩, and ⟨y⟩ next to ⟨i⟩, but for various reasons a linguist may still choose to write them, so that e.g. Gamilaraay yinarr "woman" is actually pronounced [inar].

A handful of languages have a dental semivowel, which is written ⟨yh⟩ (see Place of articulation below).

Most Australian languages have two rhotics or r-like sounds: a retroflex approximant, as in American English, written ⟨r⟩; and a trill or flap (both of which are found in Spanish), written ⟨rr⟩.

In languages that have only one of the two r's, it is simply written ⟨r⟩.

The bilabial, velar and alveolar consonants are usually written the same as in English, i.e. ⟨p⟩ /p/, ⟨b⟩ /b/, ⟨m⟩ /m/, ⟨k⟩ /k/, ⟨g⟩ /ɡ/, ⟨ng⟩ /ŋ/, ⟨t⟩ /t/, ⟨d⟩ /d/, ⟨n⟩ /n/, ⟨l⟩ /l/. ⟨ng⟩ may also be written using the non-English letter ⟨ŋ⟩, called eng. Note that ⟨ŋ⟩ sounds like the ng in singer, not as in finger; the latter would be written ⟨ŋg⟩.

Palatal consonants are often represented by a digraph made of an alveolar consonant + ⟨j⟩ or ⟨y⟩, i.e. ⟨tj⟩ /c ɟ ɲ ʎ/ can be written ⟨tj⟩/⟨ty⟩, ⟨dj⟩/⟨dy⟩, ⟨nj⟩/⟨ny⟩, and ⟨lj⟩/⟨ly⟩. ⟨c⟩ and ⟨j⟩ are other possible ways of writing the palatal stops.

Dental consonants are represented by a digraph made of an alveolar consonant + ⟨h⟩, i.e. ⟨th⟩ /t̪/, ⟨dh⟩ /d̪/, ⟨nh⟩ /n̪/, ⟨lh⟩ /l̪/. Note that ⟨th⟩ is not a fricative as in Australian English, but a stop as in Irish English.

Retroflex consonants are usually represented by a digraph made of ⟨r⟩ + an alveolar consonant, i.e. ⟨rt⟩ /ʈ/, ⟨rd⟩ /ɖ/, ⟨rn⟩ /ɳ/, ⟨rl⟩ /ɭ/, as in Swedish. In some varieties, such as Pitjantjatjara, a digraph is not used and instead the alveolar consonant is underlined to indicate that it is retroflex thus: ⟨ṯ⟩, ⟨ṉ⟩ and ⟨ḻ⟩.

A handful of languages have palato-velar consonants, between palatal and velar. For Yanyuwa, these are written ⟨yk⟩ /ɡ̟/, ⟨nyk⟩ /ⁿɡ̟/ (a prenasalised stop—see Prenasalisation below), ⟨nyng⟩ /ŋ̟/.[6]

Most Australian languages do not distinguish between voiced and voiceless stops, so that e.g. t and d both occur as variants of the same sound. Both the voiced and voiceless allophone will usually be written the same way, but whether to use the voiceless symbol or the voiced symbol varies depending on which occurs more frequently in the language. Some languages have been written using the voiced symbols by one linguist and the voiceless symbols by another. Moreover, some linguists choose to use voiceless symbols for some consonants in a language and voiced symbols for others.

Some languages do distinguish between voiced and voiceless stops, however.

Some languages have prenasalized consonants, a stop preceded by a nasal sound which is considered one consonant. In Yanyuwa these are written ⟨mb⟩ /ᵐb/, ⟨ngk⟩ /ᵑɡ/, ⟨nj⟩ /ᶮɟ/, ⟨nth⟩ /ⁿd̪/, ⟨nd⟩ /ⁿd/, ⟨rnd⟩ /ᶯɖ/.[6]