Near-open central vowel

The near-open central vowel, or near-low central vowel,<ref>Template:Vowel terminology</ref> is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is Template:Angbr IPA, a rotated lowercase double-story a.

In English this vowel is most typically transcribed with the symbol Template:Angbr IPA, i.e. as if it were open-mid back. That pronunciation is still found in some dialects, but many speakers use a central vowel like Template:IPA or Template:IPAblink. To avoid the trap–strut merger, Standard Southern British English is moving away from the Template:IPA quality towards Template:IPAblink found in RP spoken in the first half of the 20th century (e.g. in Daniel Jones's speech).Template:Sfnp

Much like Template:Angbr IPA, Template:Angbr IPA is a versatile symbol that is not defined for roundednessTemplate:Sfnp and that can be used for vowels that are near-open central,Template:Sfnp near-open near-front,Template:Sfnp near-open near-back,Template:Sfnp open-mid central,Template:Sfnp open centralTemplate:Sfnp or an (often unstressed) vowel with variable height, backness and/or roundedness that is produced in that general area.Template:Sfnp For open central unrounded vowels transcribed with Template:Angbr IPA, see open central unrounded vowel.

When the usual transcription of the near-open near-front and the near-open near-back variants is different from Template:Angbr IPA, they are listed in near-open front unrounded vowel and open back unrounded vowel or open back rounded vowel, respectively.

The near-open central unrounded vowel is sometimes the only open vowel in a languageTemplate:Sfnp and then is typically transcribed with Template:Angbr IPA.

Features

• It is undefined for roundedness, which means that it can be either rounded or unrounded. In practice however, the unrounded variant is more common.

Occurrence

Template:Infobox IPA In the following list, Template:Angbr IPA is assumed to be unrounded. The rounded variant is transcribed as Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA, though the latter may be misleading as like Template:IPAblink, roundedness is not specified for Template:IPA. Some instances of the rounded vowel may actually be fully open.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Adyghe		Template:Lang (să)	Template:IPA	'I'	Varies between near-open and open-mid Template:IPA. See Adyghe phonology
BengaliTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang (pa)	Template:IPA	'leg'	Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Bengali phonology
BulgarianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang (para)	Template:IPA	'coin'	Unstressed allophone of Template:IPA and Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp May be transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Bulgarian phonology
BurmeseTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang (maat)	Template:IPA	'vertical'	Allophone of Template:IPA in syllables closed by a glottal stop and when nasalized; realized as fully open Template:IPAblink in open oral syllables.Template:Sfnp
Catalan	Barcelona metropolitan areaTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'yet, still, even'	Corresponds to Template:IPAblink in other Eastern dialects. See Catalan phonology
	ValencianTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'table'	Usually represented as Template:Angbr IPA and slightly lower than the Barcelonan unstressed Template:IPA and Template:IPA (Template:IPA). It may vary with back and/or front allophones, especially when preceded by a stressed open vowel (in a process involving vowel harmony). See Catalan phonology
Chinese	CantoneseTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang (Template:Lang)	Template:IPA	'heart'	Open-mid.Template:Sfnp See Cantonese phonology
	ShanghaineseTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to cut'	Appears only in closed syllables; the exact height and backness is somewhat variable.Template:Sfnp
DanishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'understands'	Typically realized the same as Template:IPA, i.e. Template:IPAblink. Other possible realizations are Template:IPA and Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Danish phonology
Dinka	LuanyjangTemplate:Sfnp	laŋ	Template:IPA	'berry'	Short allophone of Template:IPA; varies between near-open Template:IPA and open-mid Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp
Emilian		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'Bologna'	Centralized Template:IPA.
English	CaliforniaTemplate:Sfnp	nut	Template:IPA	'nut'	See English phonology
	CockneyTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:IPA		Near-front.Template:Sfnp
	East AnglianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:IPA		Used in some places (e.g. Colchester) instead of the traditional Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
	New ZealandTemplate:Sfnp		Template:IPA		Varies between near-open near-front Template:IPA, near-open central Template:IPA, open near-front Template:IPAblink and open central Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See New Zealand English phonology
	Received PronunciationTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				Increasingly retracted to Template:IPAblink to avoid the trap-strut merger.Template:Sfnp See English phonology
	Inland Northern American<ref>Template:Citation</ref>	bet	Template:IPA	'bet'	Variation of Template:IPA used in some places whose accents have undergone the Northern cities vowel shift.
	Middle Class London<ref name="alt188">Template:Harvcoltxt. The authors differentiate between symbols Template:IPA and Template:IPA; the former denotes a more back vowel.</ref>	lot	Template:IPA	'lot'	Rounded; can be back Template:IPAblink instead.<ref name="alt188"/> See English phonology
	AustralianTemplate:Sfnp	comma	Template:IPA	'comma'	Alternatively lowered from word-final Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Australian English phonology
Galician		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'done'	Realization of final unstressed Template:IPA. See Galician phonology
German	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'opera'	The exact height, backness and roundedness is somewhere between Template:IPAblink and Template:IPAblink, depending on the environment. Sometimes, an opening diphthong of the Template:IPA-type is used instead.Template:Sfnp In Northern Standard German, the short Template:IPAblink is raised to Template:IPA when unstressed, rendering Template:Lang 'grandpa' homophonous with Template:Lang.Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
	Regional northern accentsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to come'	Varies between central Template:IPA and back Template:IPA; corresponds to an open-mid rounded Template:IPAblink in Standard German.Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
Greek	Modern StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Nowrap	Template:IPA	'acacia'	Most often transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Modern Greek phonology
HausaTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Example needed			Possible allophone of Template:IPA, which can be as close as Template:IPAblink and as open as Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
HindustaniTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang / Template:Uninastaliq (das)	Template:IPA	'ten'	Common realization of Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Hindustani phonology
KoreanTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang (Template:Lang)	Template:IPA	'one'	Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Korean phonology
KumzariTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Uninastaliq (Template:Lang)	Template:IPA	'large'	Near-front.Template:Sfnp
Limburgish	MaastrichtianTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'much'	Rounded; contrasts with the open-mid Template:IPAblink in words with Accent 2 (Template:IPA itself is always toneless).Template:Sfnp It may be transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA, as it is a phonological front vowel.
	Venlo dialectTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'on'	Corresponds to Template:IPAblink in other dialects.
Lithuanian		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'what'	See Lithuanian phonology
LuxembourgishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'children'	Near-back.Template:Sfnp See Luxembourgish phonology
Malayalam		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'ten'	See Malayalam phonology
MapudungunTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'green'	Open-mid;Template:Sfnp often transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA.
Norwegian	Østfold dialect<ref name="jahr">Template:Harvcoltxt</ref>	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'to bathe'	The example word illustrates both the rounded Template:IPA and the unrounded Template:IPA.
Ossetian	Iron	ӕвзаг (ævzag)	Template:IPA	'language'	Very common sound in the Ossetian language.
Piedmontese	Eastern Piedmont	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'mud'	Common realization of final unstressed Template:IPA.
PortugueseTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'act' (subj.)	Closer Template:IPA in European Portuguese than in Brazilian Portuguese (Template:IPA).Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi<ref name=":0">Template:Cite book</ref>		Template:Lang / Template:Uninastaliq	Template:IPA	'sugar'	Common realization of Template:IPA, the inherent vowel of Punjabi. See Punjabi phonology
		Template:Lang / Template:Uninastaliq	Template:IPA	'metric half pint'	Can occur as realization of tense Template:IPA or Template:IPA in some contexts followed by a geminate semi-vowel.
Romanian	Moldavian dialectsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'man'	Corresponds to Template:IPAblink in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Russian	Standard MoscowTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Nowrap	Template:Audio-IPA	'head'	Corresponds to Template:IPAblink in standard Saint Petersburg pronunciation;Template:Sfnp occurs mostly immediately before stressed syllables. See Russian phonology
Sabiny<ref name="sabiny1">Template:Cite web</ref>		Template:Example needed			Contrasts overshort unrounded and overshort rounded near-open central vowels.<ref name="sabiny2">Template:Cite web</ref>
UkrainianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang (slyva)	Template:IPA	'plum'	See Ukrainian phonology
VietnameseTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'slanted, oblique'	Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Vietnamese phonology
XumiTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:IPA		'salt'	Near-open Template:IPA in Lower Xumi, open-mid Template:IPA in Upper Xumi. The latter phone may be transcribed with Template:Angbr IPA. The example word is from Lower Xumi.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp

See also

• Turned a
• Index of phonetics articles

References

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External links

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