Open central unrounded vowel

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 Template:IPAblink and back Template:IPAblink, it is normally written Template:Angbr IPA. If precision is required, it can be specified by using diacritics, typically centralized Template:Angbr IPA.

It is usual to use plain Template:Angbr IPA for an open central vowel and, if needed, Template:Angbr IPA for an open front vowel. Sinologists may use the letter Template:Angbr IPA (small capital A). The IPA has voted against officially adopting this symbol in 1976, 1989, and 2012.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

Features

Template:Open vowel Template:Central vowel 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. Template:Unrounded vowel

Occurrence

Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. Because the IPA uses Template:Angbr 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 Template:Slink.)

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
BurmeseTemplate:Sfnp		(ma)		'hard'	Oral allophone of in open syllables; realized as near-open Template:IPAblink in other environments.Template:Sfnp
Catalan				'bag'	General pronunciation of stressed . See Catalan phonology
Chinese	MandarinTemplate:Sfnp	()	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'collapse'	See Standard Chinese phonology
CzechTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'dust'	See Czech phonology
Danish	StandardTemplate:Sfnp			'child'	Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Danish phonology
DutchTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'hall'	Ranges from front to central;Template:Sfnp in non-standard accents it may be back. See Dutch phonology
English	AustralianTemplate:Sfnp	bra		'bra'	Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Australian English phonology
	East AnglianTemplate:Sfnp				Used mostly by middle-class speakers; can be front Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp
	General AmericanTemplate:Sfnp				In the Midwest. Can be back Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp
	New ZealandTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				Can be more front Template:IPAblink and/or higher instead.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp It may be transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See New Zealand English phonology
	Mid-Ulster
					Can be more front Template:IPAblink instead.
		trap		'trap'
	Some Canadian and Californian speakersTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				See Canadian Shift and English phonology
	Multicultural LondonTemplate:Sfnp				More front Template:IPAblink in other Southern England English.
	Northern EnglandTemplate:Sfnp				More front Template:IPAblink in Scouse.
French	ParisianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'paw'	Older speakers have two contrastive open vowels: front Template:IPAslink and back Template:IPAslink.Template:Sfnp See French phonology
GermanTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'cat'	Can be more front or more back in regional Standard German.Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
Hindustani	Hindi	जान(jaan)		'life','sweetheart', 'beloved' or 'darling'	Allophone of . See Hindustani phonology.
	Urdu	جان(jaan)
HungarianTemplate:Sfnp				'leg'	See Hungarian phonology
ItalianTemplate:Sfnp				'home'	See Italian phonology
JapaneseTemplate:Sfnp		()	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'mosquito'	See Japanese phonology
Limburgish	Hamont-Achel dialectTemplate:Sfnp			'business'	Front Template:IPAblink in other dialects.
Lithuanian				'wheel'	See Lithuanian phonology
Malay	Standard	رق (rak)		'shelf'	Can be front Template:IPAblink. See Malay phonology
	Kedah	کاتيل (katil)		'bed'	See Kedah Malay
	Kelantan-Pattani	سست (sesat)		'lost'	See Kelantan-Pattani Malay
Malayalam		വാൾ		'sword'	See Malayalam phonology
PolishTemplate:Sfnp			Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'executioner'	See Polish phonology
PortugueseTemplate:Sfnp				'go'	See Portuguese phonology
RomanianTemplate:Sfnp				'horse'	See Romanian phonology
Serbo-CroatianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		/		'dog'	See Serbo-Croatian phonology
SpanishTemplate:Sfnp				'rat'	See Spanish phonology
Swedish	Central StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'bank'	Also described as front Template:IPAblink.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Swedish phonology
ThaiTemplate:Sfnp		(baang-gɔ̀ɔk)	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'Bangkok'	See Thai phonology
TurkishTemplate:Sfnp	Standard			'horse'	Also described as back Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Turkish phonology
Welsh				'talk'	See Welsh phonology
YorubaTemplate:Sfnp				'idea'	See Yoruba phonology

References

• Template:Accents of English

External links

• Template:Phoible
• Template:Phoible
• Template:Phoible