Open back unrounded vowel
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| Edit - 2× | Front | N.-front | Central | N.-back | Back |
| Close | |||||
| Near-close | |||||
| Close-mid | |||||
| Mid | |||||
| Open-mid | |||||
| Near-open | |||||
| Open | |||||
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right
represents a rounded vowel.
represents a rounded vowel.
| IPA – number | 305 |
| IPA – text | ɑ |
| IPA – image |  |
| Entity | ɑ |
| X-SAMPA | A |
| Kirshenbaum | A |
| Sound sample | |
|---|---|
The open back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɑ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is A. The symbol ɑ is called script 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 its linear stroke on the right, should not be confused with turned script a ɒ, which has its linear stroke on the left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.
[edit] Features
- Its vowel height is open, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth.
- Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant
- Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
[edit] Occurs in
- Dutch: bad [bɑt], "bath" (backness varies with dialect and generation of speaker)
- English: (RP and GA) spa [spɑː] father [fɑːðɚ]; (GA) hot [hɑt]; (CaE) ball [bɑːl]
- Finnish: kana [kɑnɑ], 'hen'; kaali [kɑːli], "cabbage"
- French: pâte [pɑt], "dough" (in varieties that distinguish pâte from patte)
- Hungarian: bal [bɑ̽l], "left"
- Navajo: ashkii [ɑʃkɪː], "boy"
- Russian: кал [kɑl], "feces"
- Vietnamese: tai [tɑ̄j], "ear"
