Rhotic Articulation in Australian English: Insights from MRI

English rhotics are realized with rich allophony across speakers, contexts and varieties, but Australian English /ô/ has not previously been examined in detail. Rhotic approximants produced in three vowel contexts by four speakers of Australian English were captured using real-time and volumetric structural magnetic resonance imaging. /ô/ was articulated with bunched tongue postures by two speakers and more apical configurations by two speakers, but all rhotics were characterized by three coordinated gestures: tongue tip, tongue body and labial constrictions. These data shed new light on the complex goals of production of rhotic approximants beyond the midsagittal plane, and their realization and extent of variation in Australian English.