Mid back rounded vowel
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| Front | Central | Back | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | i y | ɨ ʉ | ɯ u |
| Near-close | ɪ ʏ | ʊ | |
| Close-mid | e ø | ɘ ɵ | ɤ o |
| Mid | e̞ ø̞ | ə | ɤ̞ o̞ |
| Open-mid | ɛ œ | ɜ ɞ | ʌ ɔ |
| Near-open | æ | ɐ | |
| Open | a ɶ | ä | ɑ ɒ |
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Legend: unrounded • rounded
The mid back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. While there is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the exact mid back rounded vowel between close-mid [o] and open-mid [ɔ], it is normally written ⟨o⟩. If precision is desired, diacritics may be used, such as ⟨o̞⟩ or ⟨ɔ̝⟩, the former being more common.
Multiple para-IPA alternative symbols also exist for this vowel. The Swedish Dialect Alphabet uses the symbol ⟨ⱺ⟩ (an o with low ring), while Sinological notation uses the symbol ⟨o̧⟩ (an o with cedilla). The symbol ⟨ꭥ⟩ (a small capital omega) was proposed for Americanist notation, but was never implemented.
Just because a language has only one non-close non-open back vowel, it still may not be a true-mid vowel. Tukang Besi is a language in Sulawesi, Indonesia, with a close-mid [o]. Taba, another language in Indonesia, in the Maluku Islands, has an open-mid [ɔ]. In both languages, there is no contrast with another mid (true-mid or close-mid) vowel.
Kensiu, in Malaysia and Thailand, is highly unusual in that it contrasts true-mid vowels with close-mid and open-mid vowels without any difference in other parameters, such as backness or roundedness.
Some of the vowels listed in the table below may phonetically be more front than typical back vowels, as near-back vowels. If precision is required, this may instead be called a mid near-back rounded vowel.
Features
- Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel.
- 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.
- Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Standard | bok | [bɔ̝k] | 'goat' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. The height varies between mid [ɔ̝] and close-mid [o]. See Afrikaans phonology |
| Arabic | Hejazi | لـون | [lo̞ːn] | 'color' | See Hejazi Arabic phonology |
| Bengali | তোমার | [to̞mɐr] | ˈyour' | May be closer to close-mid [o]. See Bengali phonology | |
| Breton | [example needed] | Possible realization of unstressed /ɔ/; can be open-mid [ɔ] or close-mid [o] instead. | |||
| Chinese | Mandarin | 我 / wǒ | ⓘ | 'I' | See Standard Chinese phonology |
| Shanghainese | 高/kò | [kö̞¹] | 'tall' | Near-back. Realization of /ɔ/ in open syllables and /ʊ/ in closed syllables. | |
| Czech | oko | [ˈo̞ko̞] | 'eye' | In Bohemian Czech, the backness varies between back and near-back, whereas the height varies between mid [o̞] and close-mid [o]. See Czech phonology | |
| Danish | Standard | måle | [ˈmɔ̽ːlə] | 'measure' | Near-back; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩. See Danish phonology |
| Dutch | Amsterdam | och | [ɔ̝̈χ] | 'alas' | Near-back; corresponds to open-mid [ɔˤ] in standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology |
| Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect | mot | [mɔ̝t] | 'well' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. | |
| English | Cultivated South African | thought | [θɔ̝ːt] | 'thought' | Close-mid [oː] for other speakers. See South African English phonology |
| Maori | Near-close [o̝ː] in General New Zealand English. | ||||
| Scouse | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩. | ||||
| Some Cardiff speakers | Other speakers use a more open, advanced and unrounded vowel [ʌ̈ː]. | ||||
| General American | Cambodia | ⓘ | 'Cambodia' | Near-back; often diphthongal: [ö̞ʊ]. Some regional North American varieties use a vowel that is closer to cardinal [o]. See English phonology | |
| Yorkshire | [kʰamˈbo̞ːdjə] | Corresponds to /əʊ/ in other British dialects. See English phonology | |||
| Faroese | toldi | [ˈtʰɔ̝ltɪ̞] | 'endured' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See Faroese phonology | |
| Finnish | kello | [ˈke̞lːo̞] | 'clock' | See Finnish phonology | |
| French | Parisian | pont | [pɔ̝̃] | 'bridge' | Nasalized; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ̃⟩. See French phonology |
| German | Southern accents | voll | [fɔ̝l] | 'full' | Common realization of /ɔ/ in Southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Open-mid [ɔ] in Northern Standard German. See Standard German phonology |
| Western Swiss accents | hoch | [ho̞ːχ] | 'high' | Close-mid [oː] in other accents. See Standard German phonology | |
| Greek | Modern Standard | πως / pos | [po̞s̠] | 'how' | See Modern Greek phonology |
| Hebrew | שלום/shalom/šɔlom | [ʃäˈlo̞m] | 'peace' | Hebrew vowels are not shown in the script. See Niqqud and Modern Hebrew phonology | |
| Ibibio | do | [dó̞] | 'there' | ||
| Icelandic | loft | [ˈlɔ̝ft] | 'air' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. The long allophone is often diphthongized to [oɔ]. See Icelandic phonology | |
| Inuit | West Greenlandic | Maniitsoq | [maniːtsːo̞q] | 'Maniitsoq' | Allophone of /u/ before and especially between uvulars. See Greenlandic phonology |
| Italian | Standard | forense | [fo̞ˈrɛnse] | 'forensic' | Common realization of the unstressed /o/. See Italian phonology |
| Northern accents | bosco | [ˈbo̞sko̞] | 'forest' | Local realization of /ɔ/. See Italian phonology | |
| Japanese | 子/ko | [ko̞] | 'child' | See Japanese phonology | |
| Korean | 보리 / bori | [po̞ˈɾi] | 'barley' | See Korean phonology | |
| Limburgish | Hasselt dialect | mok | [mɔ̝k] | 'mug' | May be transcribed IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See Hasselt dialect phonology |
| Malay | Standard | ڤوكوق / pokok | [po̞.ko̞ʔ] | 'tree' | See Malay phonology |
| Johor-Riau | |||||
| Norwegian | Urban East | lov | [lo̞ːʋ] | 'law' | Also described as close-mid [oː]. See Norwegian phonology |
| Romanian | acolo | [äˈko̞lo̞] | 'there' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian | сухой/sukhoy/sukhoj | ⓘ | 'dry' | Some speakers realize it as open-mid [ɔ]. See Russian phonology | |
| Scottish Gaelic | Lewis | ruadh | [rˠʊɔ̝̈ɣ] | 'red' | Near-back and weakly rounded; allophone of [ə] in the /uə/ diphthong. |
| Serbo-Croatian | ко̑д / kȏd/kõd | [kô̞ːd̪] | 'code' | See Serbo-Croatian phonology | |
| Shipibo | koni | [ˈkö̞ni̞] | 'eel' | Near-back. | |
| Slovene | oglas | [o̞ˈɡlá̠s̪] | 'advertisement' | Unstressed vowel, as well as an allophone of /o/ before /ʋ/ when a vowel does not follow within the same word. See Slovene phonology | |
| Spanish | todo | [ˈt̪o̞ð̞o̞] | 'all' | See Spanish phonology | |
| Tera | zo | [zo̞ː] | 'rope' | ||
| Thai | โต | [to̞ː˧] | 'big' | See Thai phonology | |
| Turkish | kol | [kʰo̞l] | 'arm' | See Turkish phonology | |
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan | do | [d̪o̞] | 'corn tassel' |