Open back unrounded vowel

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ɨ • ʉ
ɯ • u
ɪ • ʏ
• ʊ
e • ø
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ɤ • o
ɛ • œ
ɜ • ɞ
ʌ • ɔ
a • ɶ
ɑ • ɒ
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Mid
Open‑mid
Near‑open
Open
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right
represents a rounded vowel.
IPA – number 305
IPA – text ɑ
IPA – image {{{imagesize}}}
Entity ɑ
X-SAMPA A
Kirshenbaum A
Sound sample 

The open back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɑ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is A. The symbol ɑ is called script a because it lacks the extra hook on top of a printed letter 'a', which corresponds to a different vowel, the open front unrounded vowel. Script a, which has its linear stroke on the bottom right, should not be confused with turned script a ɒ, which has its linear stroke on the top left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.

Contents

[edit] Features

  • Its vowel height is open, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth.
  • Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant
  • Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

[edit] Occurrence

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Angor ape [ɑpe] 'father'
Arabic Standard[1] طويل [tˤɑˈwiːl] 'tall' Allophone of long and short /a/ near emphatic consonants. See Arabic phonology
Dutch bad [bɑt] 'bath' Backness varies among dialects. See Dutch phonology
English GA spa [spɑː] 'spa'
RP
Finnish kana [kɑnɑ] 'hen' See Finnish phonology
French[2] pâte [pɑt] 'dough' Only in dialects that distinguish pâte from patte. See French phonology
Georgian[3] გუდ [gudɑ] 'leather bag'
Hungarian bal [bɑ̽l] 'left' See Hungarian phonology
Navajo ashkii [ɑʃkɪː] 'boy'
Norwegian hat [hɑːt] 'hate' See Norwegian phonology
Plautdietsch Gott [gɑ̽t] 'God'
Russian[4] палка [ˈpɑɫkə] 'stick' Only occurs both before /ɫ/ and after an unpalatalized consonant. See Russian phonology
Swedish hаt [ˈhɑːt] 'hate' See Swedish phonology

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

  • Fougeron, Cecile & Caroline L Smith (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73-76
  • Jones, Daniel & Ward Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
  • Shosted, Ryan K. & Chikovani Vakhtang (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255-264
  • Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37-41
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