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Open central unrounded vowel

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Title: Open central unrounded vowel  
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Subject: Open front unrounded vowel, Open back unrounded vowel, International Phonetic Alphabet chart for English dialects, Hebrew diacritics, Near-open central vowel
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Open central unrounded vowel

Open central unrounded vowel
ä
a̠
ɑ̈
ɐ̞
IPA number 304 415
Encoding
Entity (decimal) a​̈
Unicode (hex) U+0061 U+0308
X-SAMPA a_" or a_- or A_" or 6_o
Sound
 ·

The open central unrounded vowel, or low central unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. While the International Phonetic Alphabet officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between front [a] and back [ɑ], it is normally written ⟨a⟩. If precision is required, it can be specified by using diacritics, such as centralized ⟨ä⟩ or retracted ⟨a̠⟩, but this is not common.

Acoustically, however, [a] is an extra-low central vowel.[1] It is more common to use plain [a] for an open central vowel and, if needed, [æ] (officially near-open front vowel) for an open front vowel. Alternatively, Sinologists may use the letter ⟨ᴀ⟩ (small capital A). The IPA voted against officially adopting this symbol in 2011–2012.[2]

The Hamont dialect of Limburgish has been reported to contrast long open front, central and back unrounded vowels,[3] which is extremely unusual.

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low".

Contents

  • Features 1
  • Occurrence 2
  • Notes 3
  • References 4
  • Further reading 5

Features

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
•iy
•ɨʉ
•ɯu
•ɪʏ
ʊ
•eø
•ɘɵ
•ɤo
•e̞ø̞
•əɵ̞
•ɤ̞o̞
•ɛœ
•ɜɞ
•ʌɔ
•æ
ɐ
•aɶ
•äɒ̈
•ɑɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
This table contains phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
 •  • chart •  chart with audio •
  • Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth – that is, as low as possible in the mouth.
  • Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back 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.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. Because the IPA uses ⟨a⟩ for both front and central unrounded open vowels, it is not always clear whether a particular language uses the former or the latter.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic kalu [kʰälu] 'bride' May be realized as [a] and [æ] in the Urmia, Nochiya and Jilu dialects. In the Tyari dialect, [ɑ] is usually used.
Bavarian Amstetten dialect[4]
Bengali পা/pa [pä] 'leg' See Bengali phonology
Catalan[5] sac [s̠äk] 'sack' See Catalan phonology
Chinese Cantonese 沙/saa1 [sä̝ː˥] 'sand' Somewhat raised. See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin 他/tā [tʰä˥] 'he' See Mandarin phonology
Czech[6] Amerika [ˈämɛrɪkä] 'America' See Czech phonology
Danish Standard[7][8][9][10][11] barn [ˈb̥äːˀn] 'child' Most often transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɑ⟩ - the way it is realized in the conservative variety.[12] See Danish phonology
Dutch Amsterdam[13] bad [bät] 'bath' Also present in many other non-Randstad accents.[13] It corresponds to [ɑ] in Standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology
Antwerp[13]
Brabant[13][14]
Standard[15][16] zaal [zäːɫ] 'hall' Ranges from front to central;[17] in non-standard accents it may be back. See Dutch phonology
English Australian[18] car [kʰäː] 'car' See Australian English phonology
Cultivated South African[19] Some speakers. For other speakers, it is less front [ɑ̟ː][19][20] or, in Estuary English, even more back [ɑː].[20]
Estuary[20]
Norfolk[21]
General
South African[22] 		time [tʰäːm] 'time' Corresponds to the diphthong /aɪ/ in most dialects. General South African speakers may also monophthongize /aʊ/. See English phonology
Southern American[23]
General American[24] cot [kʰäʔt̚] 'cot' It may be more back [ɑ̟ ~ ɑ], especially for speakers with the cot–caught merger. See English phonology
Southern Michigan[25] See English phonology
Northern England[26] trap [t̠ɹ̝̊äp] 'trap' Notably prevalent in Yorkshire, mainly around the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales. More front [æ ~ a] for some other speakers. See English phonology
Some speakers from Reading[20] More front [ɛ ~ æ ~ a] for other speakers. See English phonology
Vancouver[27] [t̠ɹ̝̊äp̚] See Canadian Shift and English phonology
Younger speakers from Ontario[28]
Finnish[29] kana [ˈkänä] 'hen' Typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɑ⟩; also described as near-open back [ɑ̝].[30] See Finnish phonology
French[31] patte [pät̪] 'paw' See French phonology
German Standard[32] Katze [ˈkʰät͡sə] 'cat' See German phonology
Hebrew[33] פח     'garbage can' Hebrew vowels are not shown in the script, see Niqqud and Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani माता / ماتا [mata] 'mother' See Hindustani phonology
Hungarian[34] láb [läːb] 'leg' See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic[35][36][37][38] fara [ˈfäːrä] 'go' See Icelandic phonology
Igbo[39] ákụ [ákú̙] 'kernal'
Italian[40] casa [ˈkäːzä] 'home' See Italian phonology
Japanese[41] 蚊 ka     'mosquito' See Japanese phonology
Limburgish Hamont dialect[3] zaak [zäːk²] 'business' Contrasts with front [aː] and back [ɑː].[3] See Hamont dialect phonology
Lithuanian namas [ˈnäːmäs] 'house'
Malay api [äpi] 'fire'
Norwegian Standard Eastern[42] hat [häːt̪] 'hate' May be transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɑː⟩, the way it is pronounced in some dialects. Some older speakers may use a front [aː] instead. See Norwegian phonology
Polish[43] kat     'executioner' See Polish phonology
Portuguese[44] vá [vä] 'go' See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi ਜਾ [d͡ʒäː] 'go!'
Romanian cal [käl] 'horse' See Romanian phonology
Russian там     'there' See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic slat [slät] 'yard' See Scottish Gaelic phonology
[45] патка / patka [pâ̠t̪ka̠] 'female duck' See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Shiwiar[46]
Spanish[47] rata [ˈrät̪ä] 'rat' See Spanish phonology
Swedish Central Standard[48] bank [bäŋk] 'bank' Also described as front [a].[49] See Swedish phonology
[50] at [ät̪] 'horse' See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese Hanoi xa [s̪äː] 'far' See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian laad [ɫäːt] 'drawer'
Yoruba[51]

Notes

  1. ^ Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
  2. ^ Keating (2012), p. 245.
  3. ^ a b c Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
  4. ^ Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:290)
  5. ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 54.
  6. ^ Dankovičová (1999), p. 72.
  7. ^ Grønnum (1998:100)
  8. ^ Grønnum (2005:268)
  9. ^ Grønnum (2003)
  10. ^ Basbøll (2005:46)
  11. ^ Allan, Holmes & Lundskær-Nielsen (2000:17)
  12. ^ Ladefoged & Johnson (2010:227)
  13. ^ a b c d Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  14. ^ Peters (2010), p. 241.
  15. ^ Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  16. ^ Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  17. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 104.
  18. ^ Cox & Palethorpe (2007), p. 344.
  19. ^ a b Lass (2002), pp. 116–117.
  20. ^ a b c d Altendorf & Watt (2004), p. 188.
  21. ^ Lodge (2009), p. 168.
  22. ^ Lass (2002), p. 117.
  23. ^ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), p. ?.
  24. ^ Wells (1982), p. 476.
  25. ^ Hillenbrand (2003), p. 122.
  26. ^ Boberg (2004), p. 361.
  27. ^ Esling & Warkentyne (1993), p. ?.
  28. ^ Boberg (2004), pp. 361–362.
  29. ^ Maddieson (1984), cited in Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008:21)
  30. ^ Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008), p. 21.
  31. ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
  32. ^ Mangold (2005), p. 37.
  33. ^ Laufer (1999), p. 98.
  34. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  35. ^ Árnason (2011:60)
  36. ^ Einarsson (1945:10), cited in Gussmann (2011:73)
  37. ^ Haugen (1958:65)
  38. ^ "Icelandic Phonetic Transcription.PDF - ptg_ice.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2015. 
  39. ^ Ikekeonwu (1999), p. 109.
  40. ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 119.
  41. ^ Okada (1991), p. 94.
  42. ^ Vanvik (1979), p. 13.
  43. ^ Jassem (2003), p. 105.
  44. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  45. ^ Landau et al. (1999), p. 67.
  46. ^ Fast Mowitz (1975:2)
  47. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 256.
  48. ^ Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
  49. ^ Thorén & Petterson (1992), p. 15.
  50. ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  51. ^ Bamgboṣe (1969:166)

References

  • Allan, Robin; Holmes, Philip; Lundskær-Nielsen, Tom (2000), Danish: An Essential Grammar, London: Routledge,  
  • Altendorf, Ulrike; Watt, Dominik (2004), "The dialects in the South of England: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive, A handbook of varieties of English, 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 181–196,  
  • Árnason, Kristján (2011), The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese, Oxford University Press,  
  • Bamgboṣe, Ayọ (1966), A Grammar of Yoruba, [West African Languages Survey / Institute of African Studies], Cambridge: Cambridge University Press 
  •  
  •  
  • Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1–2): 53–56,  
  • Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003), The Phonetics of English and Dutch, Fifth Revised Edition (PDF),  
  • Cox, Felicity; Palethorpe, Sallyanne (2007), "Australian English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 (3): 341–350,  
  • Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 (2): 90–94,  
  • Dankovičová, Jana (1999), "Czech", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 70–74 
  • Einarsson, Stefán (1945), Icelandic. Grammar texts glossary., Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins Press,  
  • Engstrand, Olle (1999), "Swedish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the usage of the International Phonetic Alphabet., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 140–142,  
  • Esling, John H.; Warkentyne, Henry J. (1993), "Retracting of /æ/ in Vancouver English", in Clarke, Sandra, Focus on Canada, Varieties of English Around the World,  
  • Fast Mowitz, Gerhard (1975), Sistema fonológico del idioma achual, Lima: Instituto Lingüístico de Verano 
  • Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73–76,  
  • Grønnum, Nina (1998), "Illustrations of the IPA: Danish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 28 (1 & 2): 99–105,  
  • Grønnum, Nina (2003), Why are the Danes so hard to understand? 
  • Grønnum, Nina (2005), Fonetik og fonologi, Almen og Dansk (3rd ed.), Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag,  
  • Gussenhoven, Carlos (1992), "Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (2): 45–47,  
  • Gussmann, Edmund (2011). "Getting your head around: the vowel system of Modern Icelandic" (PDF). Folia Scandinavica Posnaniensia 12: 71–90.  
  •  
  • Hillenbrand, James M. (2003), "American English: Southern Michigan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 121–126,  
  • Ikekeonwu, Clara (1999), "Igbo", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, pp. 108–110,  
  • Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107,  
  • Keating, Patricia A. (2012), "IPA Council votes against new IPA symbol", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 42 (2): 245,  
  •  
  •  
  •  
  • Landau, Ernestina; Lončarića, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (1999), "Croatian", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–69,  
  • Lass, Roger (2002), "South African English", in Mesthrie, Rajend, Language in South Africa, Cambridge University Press,  
  • Laufer, Asher (1999), "Hebrew", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, pp. 96–99 
  • Lodge, Ken (2009), A Critical Introduction to Phonetics, pp. 167–169,  
  • Maddieson, Ian (1984), Patterns of Sounds, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,  
  • Mangold, Max (2005), Das Aussprachewörterbuch, Duden, p. 37,  
  • Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259,  
  • Okada, Hideo (1991), "Japanese",  
  • Peters, Jörg (2010), "The Flemish–Brabant dialect of Orsmaal–Gussenhoven", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 40 (2): 239–246,  
  • Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121,  
  • Suomi, Kari; Toivanen, Juhani; Ylitalo, Riikka (2008), Finnish sound structure,  
  • Szende, Tamás (1994), "Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Alphabet 24 (2): 91–94,  
  • Thorén, Bosse; Petterson, Nils-Owe (1992), Svenska Utifrån Uttalsanvisningar,  
  • Traunmüller, Hartmut (1982), "Vokalismus in der westniederösterreichischen Mundart.", Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik 2: 289–333,  
  • Vanvik, Arne (1979), Norsk fonetik, Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo,  
  • Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 35 (2): 245,  
  • Verhoeven, Jo (2007), "The Belgian Limburg dialect of Hamont", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 (2): 219–225,  
  • Wells, John C. (1982), Accents of English 3, Cambridge University Press,  
  • Zimmer, Karl; Orgun, Orhan (1999), "Turkish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet (PDF), Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 154–158,  

Further reading

  • Barry, William; Trouvain, Jürgen (2008), "Do we need a symbol for a central open vowel?", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (3): 349–357,  
 
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