Open back rounded vowel

The open back rounded vowel, or low back rounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɒ⟩. It is called Latin turned alpha being a rotated version of Latin alpha. It seems a "turned script a", being a rotated version of "script (cursive) a", which is the variant of a that lacks the extra stroke on top of a "printed a". Latin turned alpha aɒ⟩ has its linear stroke on the left, whereas Latin alpha aɑ⟩ (for its unrounded counterpart) has its linear stroke on the right.

Open back rounded vowel
ɒ
IPA Number313
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɒ
Unicode (hex)U+0252
X-SAMPAQ
Braille⠲ (braille pattern dots-256)⠡ (braille pattern dots-16)

Features edit

  • Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned far from the roof of the mouth – that is, low in the mouth.
  • Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
  • It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.

Occurrence edit

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Afrikaans Standard[2] daar [dɒːr] 'there' Fully back. Used by some speakers, particularly young female speakers of northern accents. Other speakers use an unrounded vowel [ɑː ~ ɑ̟ː].[2] See Afrikaans phonology
Assamese / kor [kɒ̹ɹ] 'to do' An "over-rounded" [ɒ̹], with rounding as strong as that for [u].[3] May also be transcribed [ɔ].
Bulgarian Some Rhodopean dialects мъж/măž [ˈmɒʃʲ] 'man' Found as the unification of the Proto-Slavic *ǫ, *ę, *ъ and *ь. Standard Bulgarian has /ɤ̞/ for *ǫ and *ъ and /ɛ/ for *ę and *ь.
Catalan Majorcan[4][5] soc [ˈsɒk] 'clog' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See Catalan phonology
Menorcan[4][5]
Valencian[4][5]
Some Valencian speakers[6] taula [ˈt̪ɑ̟wɫɒ̝] 'table' Can be realized as unrounded [ɑ].
Dutch Leiden[7] bad [bɒ̝t] 'bath' Near-open fully back; may be unrounded [ɑ̝] instead.[7] It corresponds to [ɑ] in standard Dutch.
Rotterdam[7]
Some dialects[8] bot [bɒt] 'bone' Some non-Randstad dialects,[8] for example those of Den Bosch and Groningen. It is open-mid [ɔ] in standard Dutch.
English South African[9] not [nɒ̜̈t] 'not' Near-back and weakly rounded.[9] Some younger speakers of the General variety may actually have a higher and fully unrounded vowel [ʌ̈].[9] See South African English phonology
Conservative Received Pronunciation[10] [nɒt] Somewhat raised. Contemporary RP speakers pronounce a closer vowel [ɔ]. It is proposed that the /ɒ/ vowel of Conservative RP, which is normally described as a rounded vowel, is pronounced by some speakers without rounded lips for whom the characteristic quality is rather one of sulcality.[11] See English phonology
Northern English[12] May be somewhat raised and fronted.[12]
Canadian[13] Lot and thought have the same vowel in Canadian English; see cot–caught merger.
thought [θɒt] 'thought'
General American Vowel /ɔ(:)/ is lowered (phonetic realization of /ɔ(:)/ is much lower in GA than in RP). However, "Short o" before r before a vowel (a short o sound followed by r and then another vowel, as in orange, forest, moral, and warrant) is realized as [oɹ~ɔɹ].
Inland Northern American[14] See Northern cities vowel shift
Indian[15] [t̪ʰɒʈ] /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ differ entirely by length in Indian English.
Welsh[16][17] [θɒːt] Open-mid in Cardiff; may merge with // in northern dialects.
German Many speakers[18] Gourmand [ɡ̊ʊʁˈmɒ̃ː] 'gourmand' Nasalized; common phonetic realization of /ɑ̃ː/.[18] See Standard German phonology
Many Swiss dialects[19] maane [ˈmɒːnə] 'remind' The example word is from the Zurich dialect, in which [ɒː] is in free variation with the unrounded [ɑː].[20]
Hungarian Standard[21] magyar [ˈmɒ̜̽ɟɒ̜̽r] 'Hungarian' Somewhat fronted and raised, with only slight rounding; sometimes transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. Unrounded [ɑ] in some dialects.[22] See Hungarian phonology
Ibibio[23] d [dɒ̝́] 'marry' Near-open;[23] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩.
Irish Ulster[24] ólann [ɒ̝ːɫ̪ən̪ˠ] '(he) drinks' Near-open;[24] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩.
Istro-Romanian[25] cåp [kɒp] 'head' See Istro-Romanian pronunciation (in Romanian).
Jeju[26] ᄒᆞ/hawna [hɒna] "one" See Jeju phonology
Lehali[27] dö [ⁿdɒ̝ŋ] 'yam' Raised vowel, being the back rounded counterpart of /æ/ in a symmetrical vowel inventory.[27]
Lemerig[28] ān̄sār [ʔɒ̝ŋsɒ̝r] 'person' Raised vowel, being the back rounded counterpart of /æ/ in a symmetrical vowel inventory.[28]
Limburgish Maastrichtian[29] plaots [plɒ̝ːts] 'place' Near-open fully back; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩.[29] Corresponds to [ɔː] in other dialects.
Malay Kedah tua [tu.ɒ] 'old' Northern Kedah subdialect/dialect. Allophone of /a/ in word-final position in open-ended words and close-ended words that end with a glottal stop /ʔ/ or a glottal fricative /h/.
Neapolitan[30] Vastese uâʃtə [uˈwɒʃtə] 'Vasto'
Norwegian Urban East[31][32] topp [tʰɒ̝pː] 'top' Near-open,[31][32] also described as close-mid back [o].[33] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See Norwegian phonology
Dialects along the Swedish border[34] hat [hɒ̜ːt] 'hate' Weakly rounded and fully back.[34] See Norwegian phonology
Persian ف‍‍ارسی / fârsi [fɒːɾˈsiː] 'Persian'
Brazilian Portuguese Carioca ova ['ɒ'ː.va]
Slovak Some speakers[35] a [ɒ] 'and' Under Hungarian influence, some speakers realize the short /a/ as rounded.[35] See Slovak phonology
Swedish Central Standard[36][37] jаg [jɒ̝ːɡ] 'I' Near-open fully back weakly rounded vowel.[36] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɑː⟩. See Swedish phonology
Gothenburg[37] [jɒːɡ] More rounded than in Central Standard Swedish.[37]
Uzbek Standard[38] choy [t͡ʃɒj] 'tea'
Yoruba[39] itju [itɒ̝ju] 'care' Near-open; most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩.

See also edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. ^ a b Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/".
  3. ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 293–294.
  4. ^ a b c Recasens (1996), pp. 81, 130–131.
  5. ^ a b c Rafel (1999), p. 14.
  6. ^ Saborit (2009), pp. 25–26.
  7. ^ a b c Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  8. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2003), p. 132.
  9. ^ a b c Lass (2002), p. 115.
  10. ^ Roach (2004), p. 242.
  11. ^ Lass, Roger (1984). Phonology: an introduction to basic concepts. p. 124.
  12. ^ a b Lodge (2009), p. 163.
  13. ^ Boberg (2004), p. 359.
  14. ^ W. Labov, S. Ash and C. Boberg (1997), A national map of the regional dialects of American English, Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved May 27, 2013
  15. ^ Sailaja (2009), pp. 24–25.
  16. ^ Connolly (1990), p. 125.
  17. ^ Tench (1990), p. 135.
  18. ^ a b Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 38.
  19. ^ Krech et al. (2009), p. 263.
  20. ^ Fleischer & Schmid (2006), p. 248.
  21. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  22. ^ Vago (1980), p. 1.
  23. ^ a b Urua (2004), p. 106.
  24. ^ a b Ní Chasaide (1999), p. 114.
  25. ^ Pop (1938), p. 29.
  26. ^ Yang, Changyong; Yang, Sejung; O'Grady, William (2020). Jejueo: the language of Korea's Jeju Island. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-7443-8.
  27. ^ a b François (2011), p. 194.
  28. ^ a b François (2011), pp. 195, 208.
  29. ^ a b Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 158–159.
  30. ^ "Vastesi Language - Vastesi in the World". Vastesi in the World. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  31. ^ a b Vanvik (1979), pp. 13, 17.
  32. ^ a b Kvifte & Gude-Husken (2005), p. 2.
  33. ^ Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17.
  34. ^ a b Popperwell (2010), p. 23.
  35. ^ a b Kráľ (1988), p. 54.
  36. ^ a b Engstrand (1999), pp. 140–141.
  37. ^ a b c Riad (2014), pp. 35–36.
  38. ^ Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963). Uzbek Structural Grammar. Uralic and Altaic Series. Vol. 18. Bloomington: Indiana University. p. 17.
  39. ^ Bamgboṣe (1966), p. 166.

References edit

External links edit