The pronunciation of Brunei English

After briefly reviewing previous studies into the pronunciation of English in Brunei, this article provides an overview of the phonology of Brunei English. It considers rhoticity, the pronunciation of the TH sounds, the simplification of word-final consonant clusters, devoicing of syllable-final fricatives, the merging of vowels such as the trap and dress vowels as well as the absence of vowel length distinctions, the use of spelling pronunciation, the occurrence of full vowels instead of reduced vowels, and the role of rising intonation at the end of a statement. These features are then compared with the phonology that has been reported for other Englishes in the region, and finally the status of Brunei English as an emergent variety is considered.