Australian English /t/ has a fricative realisation in some contexts. The presence of an additional surface fricative in the language raises questions about potential merger and the maintenance of contrasts. An orthographic representation of fricated /t/ as sh suggests a similarity to the existing fricative /S/. This paper compares the acoustic characteristics of fricated realisations of /t/ in Australian English with those of /S/ and /s/, the fricatives judged most likely to be acoustically

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... lar. The findings suggest a great degree of similarity to /S/ in terms of spectral measures, with duration being the most likely perceptual means of distinguishing fricated /t/ from /S/.