The phonology of Australian creoles

As Mühlhäusler (1991: 165) has indicated, the scholarly study of Australian pidgins and creoles is both scarce and recent in origin. There has been no extended study of the phonology of an Australian creole, although phonological features have been included in a number of descriptions, and what follows here will be drawn from these, with the focus being particularly on Kriol (as spoken in Bamyili [Barunga], Roper River and Fitzroy Valley) and Torres Strait Creole (Broken) and will focus particularly on their more basilectal or “heavy” varieties. The voices in the accompanying audio-material are those of Kriol speakers from the Kimberley Region of Western Australia.