Back vowel

 v • d • e  IPA vowel chart (Chart image)

	Front	Near-​front	Central	Near-​back	Back
Close	i · y ɨ · ʉ ɯ · u ɪ · ʏ ɪ̈ · ʊ̈  · ʊ e · ø ɘ · ɵ ɤ · o ə ɛ · œ ɜ · ɞ ʌ · ɔ æ · ɐ a · ɶ ɑ · ɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
· Where vowels are paired, the one on the left is unrounded and the one on the right rounded.

A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark vowels because they are perceived as sounding darker than the front vowels.^[1] The back vowels identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

• close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]
• close back rounded vowel [u]
• close-mid back unrounded vowel [ɤ]
• close-mid back rounded vowel [o]
• open-mid back unrounded vowel [ʌ]
• open-mid back rounded vowel [ɔ]
• open back unrounded vowel [ɑ]
• open back rounded vowel [ɒ]

[edit] See also

• List of phonetics topics

[edit] References

v • d • e   International Phonetic Alphabet   IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association · History of the IPA · Kiel convention (1989) · Journal of the IPA (JIPA) · Naming conventions Special topics Extensions to the IPA · Obsolete and nonstandard symbols · IPA chart for English dialects Technical SAMPA · X-SAMPA · Conlang X-SAMPA · Kirshenbaum · TIPA · Phonetic symbols in Unicode   Consonants  v • d • e IPA Pulmonic consonants chart Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Radical Glottal ↓ Manner Bila​bial Labio​dental Den​tal Alve​olar Post​alv. Retro​flex Pal​a​tal Ve​lar Uvu​lar Pha​ryn​geal Epi​glot​tal Glot​tal Nasal m ɱ n̪ n ɳ ɲ ŋ ɴ Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Fricative ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ Trill ʙ r • * ʀ я * Flap or tap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̯ Lateral Fric. ɬ ɮ ɭ˔̊ ʎ̥˔ ʟ̝̊ Lateral Appr. l ɭ ʎ ʟ Lateral flap ɺ ɺ̢ * ʎ̯ Non-pulmonic consonants Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ Implosives ɓ ɗ ʄ ɠ ʛ Ejectives pʼ tʼ kʼ qʼ sʼ tsʼ tɬʼ tʃʼ kxʼ kʼ Affricates p̪f b̪v ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ ʈʂ ɖʐ t̪θ d̪ð tɬ dɮ cç ɟʝ kx qχ Co-articulated consonants Fricatives ɕ ʑ ɧ Approximants ʍ w ɥ ɫ Stops k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m These tables contain phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] Where symbols appear in pairs, left—right represent the voiceless—voiced consonants. Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible. * Symbol not defined in IPA. Chart image Pulmonics · Non-pulmonics  · Affricates · Co-articulated   Vowels  v • d • e  IPA vowel chart (Chart image) Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close i · y ɨ · ʉ ɯ · u ɪ · ʏ ɪ̈ · ʊ̈  · ʊ e · ø ɘ · ɵ ɤ · o ə ɛ · œ ɜ · ɞ ʌ · ɔ æ · ɐ a · ɶ ɑ · ɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open  · Where vowels are paired, the one on the left is unrounded and the one on the right rounded.