Open back unrounded vowel

The open back unrounded vowel, or low back unrounded 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. The letter Template:Angbr IPA is called script a or handwritten a because it lacks the extra hook on top of a printed letter a, which corresponds to a different vowel, the open front unrounded vowel. Script a, which has a full length linear stroke on its right, should not be confused with turned script a, Template:Angbr IPA, which has the linear stroke on its left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.

The open back unrounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the pharyngeal approximant Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp<ref>Template:Cite book</ref>

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Afrikaans	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'there'	The quality varies between open near-back unrounded Template:IPA, open back unrounded Template:IPA and even open back rounded Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Afrikaans phonology
Äiwoo		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'I want'
Arabic	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang (ṭawīl)	Template:Audio-IPA	'tall'	Allophone of long and short Template:IPA near emphatic consonants, depending on the speaker's accent. See Arabic phonology
	EssaouiraTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang (qāl)	Template:IPA	'he said'	One of the possible realisations of Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp
Armenian	EasternTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang (hacʿ)	Template:IPA	'bread'
Bashkir		Template:Lang (Template:Lang)	Template:Audio-IPA	'goose'
Catalan	Many dialectsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'stick'	Allophone of Template:IPA in contact with velar consonants.Template:Sfnp See Catalan phonology
	Some dialectsTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'hand'	More central (Template:IPAblink or Template:IPA) in other dialects; fully front Template:IPAblink in Majorcan Catalan.Template:Sfnp See Catalan phonology
	Majorcan and Valencian (some speakers)Template:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'place'	Unrounded allophone of Template:IPA in some accents.Template:Sfnp It can be centralized. See Catalan phonology
	Southern ValencianTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'bull'	Pronunciation of the vowel Template:IPA before Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp It can be centralized. See Catalan phonology
Chinese	MandarinTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang (Template:Lang)	Template:Audio-IPA	'stick'	Allophone of Template:IPA before Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Standard Chinese phonology
Dutch	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'bath'	Backness varies among dialects; in the Standard Northern accent it is fully back.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp In the Standard Belgian accent it is raised and fronted to Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
	AmsterdamTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'monkey'	Corresponds to Template:IPA in standard Dutch.
	AntwerpTemplate:Sfnp
	UtrechtTemplate:Sfnp
	The HagueTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'narrow'	Corresponds to Template:IPA in standard Dutch.
English	General AmericanTemplate:Sfnp	hot	Template:IPA	'hot'	May be more front [[[:Template:IPA]] ~ Template:IPA link], especially in accents without the cot-caught merger.Template:Clarification needed See English phonology
	CockneyTemplate:Sfnp	palm	Template:IPA	'palm'	Fully back. It can be more front Template:IPA instead.
	General South AfricanTemplate:Sfnp				Fully back. Broad varieties usually produce a rounded vowel [[[:Template:IPA link]] ~ Template:IPA link] instead, while Cultivated SAE prefers a more front vowel Template:IPA. See South African English phonology
	Cultivated South AfricanTemplate:Sfnp		Template:IPA		Typically more front than cardinal Template:IPA. It may be as front as Template:IPAblink in some Cultivated South African and southern English speakers. See English phonology and South African English phonology
	Received PronunciationTemplate:Sfnp
	Non-local Dublin<ref name="unidue">Template:Cite web</ref>	back	Template:IPA	'back'	Allophone of Template:IPA before velars for some speakers.<ref name="unidue"/>
Faroese	Some dialectsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'wet'	Corresponds to Template:IPA in standard language.Template:Sfnp See Faroese phonology
French	Conservative ParisianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'not'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink, but many speakers have only one open vowel Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See French phonology
	QuebecTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'paste'	Contrasts with Template:IPAslink.Template:Sfnp See Quebec French phonology
GalicianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'brother'	Allophone of Template:IPA in contact with velar consonants.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Galician phonology
GeorgianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Nowrap	Template:IPA	'leather bag'	Usually not fully back Template:IPA, typically Template:IPA to Template:IPA.<ref>Template:Citation</ref> Sometimes transcribed as Template:IPA.
German	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'gourmand'	Nasalized; often realized as rounded Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
	Many speakersTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'near'	Used by speakers in Northern Germany, East Central Germany, Franconia and Switzerland.Template:Sfnp Also a part of the Standard Austrian accent.Template:Sfnp More front in other accents. See Standard German phonology
Greek	SfakianTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang (býra)	Template:IPA	"beer"	Corresponds to central Template:IPA in Modern Standard Greek.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian	Some dialectsTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'Hungarian'	Weakly rounded Template:IPAblink in standard Hungarian.Template:Sfnp See Hungarian phonology
Inuit	West GreenlandicTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'he says'	Allophone of Template:IPA before and especially between uvulars.Template:Sfnp See Inuit phonology
Italian	Some Piedmont dialects	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'house'	Allophone of Template:IPA which in Italian is largely realised as central Template:IPA.
Irish	Munster Dialect	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'place'	See Irish phonology
KaingangTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'land, soil'	Varies between back Template:IPA and central Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
Khmer		Template:Lang (Template:Transliteration)	Template:IPA	'sugar'	See Khmer phonology
Low GermanTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang / Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'all'	Backness may vary among dialects.Template:Sfnp
Malay	KedahTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'eye'	See Malay phonology
	Kelantan-Pattani				Allophone of syllable-final /a/ in open-ended words and before /k/ and /h/ codas. See Kelantan-Pattani Malay
	Standard	qari	Template:IPA	'qari'	Found only in certain Arabic loanwords and used by speakers who know Arabic. Normally replaced by [[[:Template:IPA link]]]. See Malay phonology
NorwegianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'hate'	The example word is from Urban East Norwegian. Central Template:IPAblink in some other dialects.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Norwegian phonology
Portuguese	Some Azorean dialects	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'nothing'	See Portuguese phonology
	PaulistaTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'vegetable'	Only immediately before Template:IPA.Template:Sfnp
RussianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Nowrap	Template:IPA	'stick'	Occurs only before the hard Template:IPA, but not when a palatalized consonant precedes. See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic	LewisTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'boy'	Allophone of Template:IPAblink in proximity to broad sonorants.
SemaTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'lower back'	Possible realization of Template:IPA after uvular stops.Template:Sfnp
Swedish	Some dialects	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'I'	Weakly rounded Template:IPAblink in Central Standard Swedish.Template:Sfnp See Swedish phonology
TurkishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'horse'	Also described as central Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Turkish phonology
UkrainianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang (maty)	Template:IPA	'mother'	See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese	Some dialects in North Central and Central	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'chicken'	See Vietnamese phonology<ref>Template:Citation</ref><ref>Template:Citation</ref>
West Frisian	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'long'	Also described as central Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See West Frisian phonology
	AasterskTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'mate'	Contrasts with a front Template:IPAslink.Template:Sfnp See West Frisian phonology

Near-open back unrounded vowel

In some languages (such as Azerbaijani, Estonian, Luxembourgish and Toda)Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp there is the near-open back unrounded vowel (a sound between cardinal Template:Angbr IPA and Template:IPAalink), which can be transcribed in IPA with Template:IPA or Template:IPA.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
AzerbaijaniTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'brother'	Near-open.Template:Sfnp
Dutch	LeidenTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'bath'	Near-open fully back; can be rounded Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
	RotterdamTemplate:Sfnp
English	CardiffTemplate:Sfnp	hot	Template:IPA	'hot'	Somewhat raised and fronted.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
	NorfolkTemplate:Sfnp
EstonianTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'lie'	Near-open.Template:Sfnp See Estonian phonology
FinnishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:Audio-IPA	'hen'	Near-open,Template:Sfnp also described as open central Template:IPAblink.<ref>Template:Harvcoltxt, cited in Template:Harvcoltxt</ref> See Finnish phonology
Kazakh		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'apple'	Can be realised as near-open.Template:Citation needed
Limburgish	MaastrichtianTemplate:Sfnp	Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'buttock'	The quality varies between open back Template:IPA,Template:Sfnp open near-back Template:IPA,Template:Sfnp and near-open near-back Template:IPA,Template:Sfnp depending on the dialect.
LuxembourgishTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'head'	Near-open fully back.Template:Sfnp See Luxembourgish phonology
TodaTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Lang	Template:IPA	'elephant'	Near-open.Template:Sfnp

See also

• Index of phonetics articles
• Latin alpha

References

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External links

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