Australian English has a distinction in vowel length that does not occur in other varieties of English. The contrast is not qualitative but rather quantitative. The sole distinction is vowel length. Here are minimal pairs with the short vowel on the left and the long vowel on the right:
bid/beard
come/calm
cut/cart
ferry/fairy
hut/heart
In most varieties of English, vowel length is not distinctive. However, Australian English preserves phonemic vowel length in a number of word pairs. This serves to distinguish Australian English from other varieties of English.
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