The close-mid central rounded vowel, or high-mid central rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a lowercase barred letter o. The value was specified only in 1993; until then, represented the mid central rounded vowel .

The character ɵ has been used in several Latin-derived alphabets such as the one for Yañalif but then denotes a sound that is different from that of the IPA. The character is homographic with Cyrillic Ө. The Unicode code point is .

This vowel occurs in Cantonese, French, Russian and Swedish as well as in a number of English dialects as a realization of (as in foot), (as in nurse) or (as in goat). It occurs in Dutch as a realisation of (as in bus).

Close-mid central protruded vowel The close-mid central protruded vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as , and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, the symbol for the close central rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, , can be used as an ad hoc symbol for the close central protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is or (a close central vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.

Features

Occurrence Because central rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Asturian Some Western dialects 'outside' Realization of in the diphthong . May also be realized as or . Azeri Tabriz 'eye' Typically transcribed as . Catalan Mallorcan 'dry' See Catalan phonology Chinese Cantonese / 'to go out' See Cantonese phonology Dutch Standard 'hut' See Dutch phonology English Cardiff foot 'foot' More often unrounded ; corresponds to in other dialects. See English phonology General South African Younger, especially female speakers. Other speakers have a less front vowel . May be transcribed in IPA with or . See South African English phonology Standard Southern British in more conservative varieties. See English phonology Hull goat 'goat' Corresponds to in other dialects. New Zealand bird 'bird' Corresponds to in other dialects. See New Zealand English phonology French 'I' May be transcribed in IPA with or . Also described as mid . May be more front for a number of speakers. See French phonology German Swabian 'becomes' Allophone of before . Upper Saxon 'wonder' The example word is from the Chemnitz dialect. Hiw 'forget' Irish Munster dúnadh 'closing' Allophone of adjacent to broad consonants, when the vowel in the preceding syllable is either or . See Irish phonology Kazakh كۆز 'eye' Typically transcribed in IPA with . Limburgish Most dialects 'bump' Typically transcribed in IPA with . The example word is from the Weert dialect. Maastrichtian 'books' Sometimes realized as a narrow diphthong ; typically transcribed in IPA with . Front in other dialects. Mongolian /ögökh 'to give' Allophone of short /o/. Norwegian Stavangersk 'gold' Near-close in other dialects that have this vowel. Typically transcribed in IPA with . See Norwegian phonology Urban East 'sweet' Also described as front ; typically transcribed in IPA with . See Norwegian phonology Ripuarian Kerkrade dialect. The source describes this vowel as the same as the short u in Standard Dutch lucht, which is close-mid central (). 'marksman' See Kerkrade dialect phonology Russian /tyotya 'aunt' Allophone of following a palatalized consonant. See Russian phonology Tajik Northern dialects /kūh كوه 'mountain' May be realized as mid , merged with /u/ in the central and southern dialects. See Tajik phonology Toda பர்/pȫr 'name' Uzbek /كۆز 'eye' Allophone of , especially near velar consonants and . May be realized as mid . See Uzbek phonology West Frisian Standard 'well' Typically transcribed in IPA with . See West Frisian phonology Southwestern dialects, citing 'feet' Corresponds to in other dialects. See West Frisian phonology Xumi Lower 'to filter tea' Typically transcribed in IPA with . Upper 'way to do things' Allophone of after alveolar consonants; may be realized as or instead.

Close-mid central compressed vowel

As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, it is sometimes approximated with the centralizing diacritic used on the front rounded vowel , which is normally compressed. Other possible transcriptions are ( modified with labial compression) and .

Features

Occurrence Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Swedish Central Standard 'full' Short form of . transcribes the pair as , placing the short vowel as mid . Later sources have contradicted this claim, describing the short vowel as close-mid or fully close . See Swedish phonologySiberian TatarBaraba

See also Index of phonetics articles

Notes

References

External links