View source for Open O

{{Short description|Letter of the Latin alphabet}}
{{redirect-distinguish|Ɔ|Ↄ|ാ|כ}}
{{refimprove|date=August 2017}}
{{Infobox grapheme
| name = Ɔ
| letter = Ɔ ɔ
| variations = 
| image = File:Latin letter open O.svg
| imageclass = skin-invert-image
| imagesize = 200px
| imagealt = Upper and lower case Open O
| script = [[Latin script]]
| type = [[Alphabet]]
| typedesc = ic and [[Logogram|Logographic]]
| language = [[Dagbani language]], [[Ewe language]], [[Latin language]], [[Lingala language]], [[Yucatec Maya language]]
| phonemes = {{flex list|[{{IPAlink|ɔ}}] [{{IPAlink|tsʼ}}]}}
| unicode = U+0186, U+0254
| alphanumber = 
| number = 
| fam1 = 
| fam2 = 
| usageperiod = 
| children = 
| sisters = 
| equivalents = [[Ꙡ]]
| associates = 
| direction = Left-to-Right
| Cyrillic form = [[Ꙡ ꙡ]]
}}

'''Open o''' or '''turned c''' ([[majuscule]]: '''Ɔ''', [[Lower case|minuscule]]: '''ɔ''') is a letter of the extended [[Latin alphabet]]. In the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]], it represents the [[open-mid back rounded vowel]]. It is used in the orthographies of many [[African languages]] using the [[African reference alphabet]].

The [[Yucatec Maya language]] used Ɔ to transcribe the [[alveolar ejective affricate]] {{IPA|[t͡sʼ]}} consonant in the orthography of the Colonial period. Now ''dz'' or ''tsʼ<!-- with ʼ -->'' is preferred.<ref> {{cite web|url=http://research.famsi.org/whos_who/orthography.htm|title=Who's who in the Classic Maya world: ''Orthography used in the Who's Who''|last=Mathews <!--it isn't a typo-->|first=Peter|website=Foundation for the Advancement of Mesoamerican Studies, Inc.|publisher=Los Angeles County Museum of Art|access-date=June 19, 2024}} </ref>

==Unicode==
{{charmap
|0186|name1=Latin Capital Letter Open O
|0254|name2=Latin Small Letter Open O
}}

On the [[macOS]] US Extended keyboard, ''ɔ'' and ''Ɔ''  can be typed with {{key press|Option|colon}} followed by {{key press|c}} or {{key press|C}}.{{fact|date=October 2021}}

==Related characters==
===Descendants and related characters in the Latin alphabet===
*Ɔ  with [[diacritic]]s: ɔ́ ɔ̀  ɔ̃ [[ᶗ]]<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2004/04132-n2740-phonetic.pdf|title=L2/04-132 Proposal to add additional phonetic characters to the UCS|date=2004-04-19|first=Peter|last=Constable}}</ref> 
*[[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]]-specific symbols related to Ɔ:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf|title=L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS|date=2002-03-20|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|authorlink1=Michael Everson|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
**{{Unichar|1D10|LATIN LETTER SMALL CAPITAL OPEN O}}
**{{Unichar|1D12|LATIN SMALL LETTER SIDEWAYS OPEN O}}
**{{Unichar|1D53|MODIFIER LETTER SMALL OPEN O}}

===Similar looking letters===
[[file:Claudian letters.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|The first of these Claudian letters is the ''antisigma''.]]
Open o looks like a reversed letter 'C'. [[Claudius]] [[Claudian letters|introduced]] a Ɔ  (the ''[[antisigma]]'') with the intention of replacing ''bs'' and ''ps''.

[[File:Ivar Aasen. (1873) Norsk ordbog med dansk forklaring. Christiania - p.175.png|thumb|400px|Definition from Aasen (1873), ''Norsk ordbog med dansk forklaring'', showing the Danish explanatory symbol “ɔ:”.]]
The [[Scandinavian languages|Scandinavian]] explanatory symbol (''forklaringstegnet'') can be typeset using the open o followed by a colon, thus: '''ɔ:'''. It is used to mean "namely", "id est", "scilicet" or similar.<ref>{{cite web
|url=http://www.typografi.org/forklaringstegn/forklaringstegn.html
|lang=no
|website=Typografi i Norge
|title=Forklaringstegnet: en savnet del av det typografiske repertoar?
|date=2006-08-02
|orig-date=last updated 2010-09-29
|url-status=live
|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201105130113/http://www.typografi.org/forklaringstegn/forklaringstegn.html
|archive-date=2020-11-05
}}</ref>

This letter is often used to refer to the [[Copyleft]] official sign, which looks like an open o with a circle around it.

==See also==
* [[Latin epsilon|Open E]]
* [[Writing systems of Africa#Latin|Writing systems of Africa § Latin script]]
* [[Omicron]]
{{Latin script|Ɔ}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

[[Category:Latin-script letters|Oz]]
[[Category:Phonetic transcription symbols|Oz]]
[[Category:Vowel letters]]


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