Fricatives

Devoicing of voiced fricatives is a general feature of NZE, and is particularly evident in Maori English. In Aboriginal English there is a preference for stop over fricative articulation – labio-dental fricatives [f] and [v] are often replaced by stops.

One widespread feature that AusE shares with other English dialects is the substitution of /f/ and /v/ for dental fricatives /ð/ and /θ/. This is particularly evident in frequent words such as with and them. In NZE this is not a major tendency, although /f/ does occasionally substitute for /θ/. This feature is more common in casual conversation and is still very stigmatized in both dialects. In Aboriginal English these dental fricatives are often replaced by alveolar stops /t/ and /d/ (occasionally /s/ is substituted for /θ/) and in Maori English, surprisingly, by affricates /dð/ and /tθ/.

All these varieties share with many others the deletion of [h] in initial position, especially in unstressed contexts (as in the case of the pronouns him and her). When deleted in stressed positions it attracts censure. Aboriginal English shows evidence of hypercorrection; [h] often appears initially in words where it does not occur in standard English.

In Aboriginal English, sibilants are not always distinguished and affricates are frequently realized as /ʃ/.