The Use of High Rising Terminals in First- and Second-Generation Mandarin-Background Australians

Abstract

This study investigated the use of High Rising Terminals (HRTs)—final rising pitch contours on declarative utterances—among three speaker groups in Australia: first-generation (Gen 1) Mandarin-background Australians, second-generation (Gen 2) Australians from Mandarin-speaking families, and Anglo-Celtic Australians. While HRTs have been widely studied in varieties such as Australian, New Zealand, and American English, their use for ethnolectal purposes remains underexplored. Drawing on spontaneous speech from sociolinguistic interviews, the study examined variation in HRT frequency across ethnic and generational lines, with preliminary analyses of phonetic realisation (rise excursion, rise alignment) and pragmatic function. Results showed that Gen 2 speakers exhibit the highest HRT frequency, followed by Gen 1 speakers, with Anglo speakers showing the lowest usage. A preliminary phonetic and pragmatic analysis revealed that while all groups deploy HRTs for similar discourse functions—such as engagement- and comprehension-checking, turn-holding, stance softening, and epistemic uncertainty—Gen 1 speakers showed greater variation in rise excursion. These findings suggested broad convergence in function but also underlined the role of migration history and identity in shaping suprasegmental patterns. In doing so, the study contributed to the understanding of how prosody, ethnicity, and migrant generation interact in the evolving soundscape of Australian English.