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Amy Hume, Lecturer In Theatre (Voice), Victorian College of the Arts, The University of Melbourne

Naur, yeah: Australia, you're performing linguistic magic when you pronounce the two-letter word 'no'. Here's why

Have you ever thought about your pronunciation of the word “no”? If you say it out loud now, can you sense the movement of your tongue and lips as you form the “o” sound? You may notice there’s a lot to the pronunciation of the word in an Australian accent.

Clips of Australians saying this short, two-letter word have been trending on TikTok over the last year, with listeners fascinated by its pronunciation.

Speakers from outside Australia are also having a go at pronouncing the word themselves. Interestingly, when they write it out, they spell the word “naur”.

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