Trap/Bath Split in Australian English

Australian English is often associated with the trap/bath split. However, the application of the trap/bath split varies significantly among speakers. A study by Crystal (1995) illustrated regional variation in the use of the trap/bath split.

Here is a table which illustrates the use of the back vowel in a word such as cart rather than the front vowel of a word such as cat.

	Hobart	Melbourne	Brisbane	Sydney	Adelaide
graph	0%	30%	56%	70%	86%
chance	0%	60%	25%	80%	86%
demand	10%	78%	78%	90%	100%
dance	10%	35%	11%	30%	86%
castle	60%	30%	33%	100%	86%

The chart reveals that the application of the trap/bath split in Australia varies from region to region. In Hobart, the back vowel was never realized in graph or chance. The city in which the back vowel was realized most often was Adelaide. In the word demand, speakers from Adelaide applied the back vowel in all cases. Speakers from Adelaide and Sydney applied the back vowel to the five words more than 50% of the time, but speakers from Hobart, Melbourne and Brisbane favoured the front vowel. 

With the exception of Hobart, the back vowel was favoured in the word demand. This was especially true in Sydney and Adelaide. With the exception of Adelaide, the front vowel was definitely favoured in the pronunciation of dance. The back vowel was applied far more frequently among speakers of Adelaide than among speakers of Hobart. However, more than half of the speakers from Hobart applied the back vowel in the word castle.

The table illustrates that the trap/bath split is not applied consistently in Australian English. It varies not only among speakers but also among regions. Based on the table, the city which applied the trap/bath split most consistently was Adelaide.