Kit–bit split

The kit-bit split (known by Wells as the kit split) is a split of EME /ɪ/ found in South African English, where kit [kɪt] and bit [bət] do not rhyme. It is not clear whether this is a true phonemic split, since the distribution of the two sounds is predictable: [ɪ] is used adjacent to velars (kiss, gift, lick, big, sing, kit), after /h/ (hit), word-initially (inn), generally before /ʃ/ (fish), and by some speakers before /tʃ, dʒ/; [ə] is used elsewhere (limb, dinner, limited, bit). Nevertheless because of the phonetic similarity of the two vowels in a word like dinner [ˈdənə], Wells argues that they belong to the same phoneme /ə/, while the vowel of kiss, big, hit, inn etc. belongs to the phoneme /ɪ/.

Realization of the vowel in bit as /@/ is also found in New Zealand English. Unlike in South African English, that phoneme is always realized as /@/ and so there is no split and kit and bit rhyme in New Zealand English as /k@t/ and /b@t/. Some Australians commonly claim that New Zealanders say fush and chups for fish and chips, but that is an exaggeration, because the pronunciation for New Zealanders is actually like /f@S @n tS@ps/ (with a stressed schwa sound), not */fVS @n tSVps/.

New Zealanders conversely often claim that Australians pronounce fish and chips as feesh and cheeps, because /i/ is the closest equivalent New Zealanders have to the Australian /I/.

References

^ http://www.hi.is/~peturk/KENNSLA/87/VARS/KITetc.htm
^ Wells, op.cit., pp. 612–13