The open central unrounded vowel, or low central unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in several spoken languages. While the International Phonetic Alphabet officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between front and back , it is normally written . If precision is required, it can be specified by using diacritics, typically centralized .
It is usual to use plain for an open central vowel and, if needed, for an open front vowel. Ad hoc barred has also been used. Sinologists may use the letter (small capital A). The IPA has repeatedly voted against officially adopting this symbol: in 1976, 1989, and 2012.
Features
This often subsumes open (low) front vowels, because the tongue does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does for the close (high) vowels; the difference between an open front vowel and an open back vowel is equal to the difference between a close front and a close central vowel, or a close central and a close back vowel.
Occurrence Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. Because the IPA uses for both front and central unrounded open vowels, it is not always clear whether a particular language uses the former or the latter. However, there may not actually be a difference. (See .)
Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Burmese (ma) 'hard' Oral allophone of in open syllables; realized as near-open in other environments. Catalan 'bag' General pronunciation of stressed , which might be more back () in some dialects. Subject to assimilation (to both front or back allophones). In most Eastern dialects it alternates with the reduced pronunciation or . See Catalan phonology Chinese Mandarin () 'collapse' See Standard Chinese phonology Czech 'dust' See Czech phonology Danish Standard 'child' Typically transcribed in IPA with . See Danish phonology Dutch 'hall' Ranges from front to central; in non-standard accents it may be back. See Dutch phonology English Australian bra 'bra' Realization of /ɐ/ and /ɐː/ (corresponding to /ʌ/ and /ɑː/ respectively in other dialects). Typically transcribed in IPA with . See Australian English phonology East Anglian Used mostly by middle-class speakers; can be front instead. General American In the Midwest. Can be back instead. New Zealand One realization of /a/ and /aː/ (corresponding to /ʌ/ and /ɑː/ respectively in other dialects). Can be more front and/or higher instead. It may be transcribed in IPA with . See New Zealand English phonologyMid-UlsterCan be more front instead.trap 'trap' Some Canadian and Californian speakers See Canadian Shift and English phonology Multicultural London More front in other Southern England English. Northern England More front in Scouse. French Parisian 'paw' Older speakers have two contrastive open vowels: front and back . See French phonology German 'cat' Can be more front or more back in regional Standard German. See Standard German phonology Hindustani Hindi जान(jaan) 'life','sweetheart', 'beloved' or 'darling' Allophone of . See Hindustani phonology. Urdu جان(jaan) Hungarian 'leg' See Hungarian phonology Italian 'home' See Italian phonology Japanese () 'mosquito' See Japanese phonology Limburgish Hamont-Achel dialect 'business' Front in other dialects. Lithuanian 'wheel' See Lithuanian phonologyMalay Standardرق (rak) 'shelf' Can be front . See Malay phonologyKedahکاتيل (katil)'bed'See Kedah MalayKelantan-Pattaniسست (sesat) 'lost' See Kelantan-Pattani Malay Malayalam വാൾ 'sword' See Malayalam phonology Polish 'executioner' See Polish phonology Portuguese 'go' See Portuguese phonology Romanian 'horse' See Romanian phonology Russian 'order' See Russian phonology Serbo-Croatian / 'dog' See Serbo-Croatian phonology Spanish 'rat' See Spanish phonology Swedish Central Standard 'bank' Also described as front . See Swedish phonology Thai 'Bangkok' See Thai phonology Turkish Standard 'horse' Also described as back . See Turkish phonologyWelsh 'talk' See Welsh phonology Yoruba 'idea' See Yoruba phonology
Notes
References
External links