Open back unrounded vowel

Open back unrounded vowel

The open back unrounded vowel, or low 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⟩. The letter ⟨ɑ⟩ 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, ⟨ɒ⟩, 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 [ʕ̞].

Features

Open back unrounded vowel

• 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. Unrounded back vowels tend to be centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-back. • Its place of articulation is pharyngeal, which means it is articulated with the tongue root against the back of the throat (the pharynx). • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

Open back unrounded vowel

<table><thead><tr><th>Language</th><th>Word</th><th>IPA</th><th>Meaning</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Afrikaans</td><td>Standard</td><td>daar</td><td></td><td>'there'</td><td>The quality varies between open near-back unrounded [ɑ̟ː], open back unrounded [ɑː] and even open back rounded [ɒː]. See Afrikaans phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Äiwoo</td><td>kânongä</td><td>[kɑnoŋæ]</td><td>'I want'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Arabic</td><td>Standard</td><td>طويل (ṭawīl)</td><td></td><td>'tall'</td><td>Allophone of long and short /a/ near emphatic consonants, depending on the speaker's accent. See Arabic phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Essaouira</td><td>قال (qāl)</td><td>[qɑːl]</td><td>'he said'</td><td>One of the possible realisations of /ā/.</td></tr><tr><td>Armenian</td><td>Eastern</td><td>հաց (hacʿ)</td><td>[hɑt͡sʰ]</td><td>'bread'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bashkir</td><td>ҡаҙ (qađ)</td><td></td><td>'goose'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Catalan</td><td>Many dialects</td><td>pal</td><td>[ˈpɑɫ]</td><td>'stick'</td><td>Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants. See Catalan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Some dialects</td><td>mà</td><td>[ˈmɑ]</td><td>'hand'</td><td>More central ([ä] or [ɐ̞]) in other dialects; fully front [a] in Majorcan Catalan. See Catalan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Majorcan and Valencian (some speakers)</td><td>lloc</td><td>[ˈʎ̟ɑk]</td><td>'place'</td><td>Unrounded allophone of /ɔ/ in some accents. It can be centralized. See Catalan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Southern Valencian</td><td>bou</td><td>[ˈbɑw]</td><td>'bull'</td><td>Pronunciation of the vowel /ɔ/ before [w]. It can be centralized. See Catalan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Chinese</td><td>Mandarin</td><td>棒 (bàng)</td><td></td><td>'stick'</td><td>Allophone of /a/ before /ŋ/. See Standard Chinese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Dutch</td><td>Standard</td><td>bad</td><td></td><td>'bath'</td><td>Backness varies among dialects; in the Standard Northern accent it is fully back. In the Standard Belgian accent it is raised and fronted to [ɑ̝̈]. See Dutch phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Amsterdam</td><td>aap</td><td>[ɑːp]</td><td>'monkey'</td><td>Corresponds to [aː ~ äː] in standard Dutch.</td></tr><tr><td>Antwerp</td></tr><tr><td>Utrecht</td></tr><tr><td>The Hague</td><td>nauw</td><td>[nɑː]</td><td>'narrow'</td><td>Corresponds to [ʌu] in standard Dutch.</td></tr><tr><td>English</td><td>General American</td><td>on</td><td>[ɑn]</td><td>'on'</td><td>May be more front [ɑ̟ ~ ä], especially in accents without the cot-caught merger. See English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Cockney</td><td>palm</td><td>[pɑːm]</td><td>'palm'</td><td>Fully back. It can be more front [ɑ̟ː] instead.</td></tr><tr><td>General South African</td><td>Fully back. Broad varieties usually produce a rounded vowel [ɒː ~ ɔː] instead, while Cultivated SAE prefers a more front vowel [ɑ̟ː ~ äː]. See South African English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Cultivated South African</td><td>[pɑ̟ːm]</td><td>Typically more front than cardinal [ɑ]. It may be as front as [äː] in some Cultivated South African and southern English speakers. See English phonology and South African English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Received Pronunciation</td></tr><tr><td>Non-local Dublin</td><td>back</td><td>[bɑq]</td><td>'back'</td><td>Allophone of /a/ before velars for some speakers.</td></tr><tr><td>Faroese</td><td>Some dialects</td><td>vátur</td><td>[ˈvɑːtʊɹ]</td><td>'wet'</td><td>Corresponds to /ɔɑ/ in standard language. See Faroese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>French</td><td>Conservative Parisian</td><td>pas</td><td>[pɑ]</td><td>'not'</td><td>Contrasts with /a/, but many speakers have only one open vowel [ä]. See French phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Quebec</td><td>pâte</td><td></td><td>'paste'</td><td>Contrasts with /a/. See Quebec French phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Galician</td><td>irmán</td><td>[iɾˈmɑŋ]</td><td>'brother'</td><td>Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants. See Galician phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Georgian</td><td>გუდა (guda)</td><td>[k̬ud̪ɑ]</td><td>'leather bag'</td><td>Usually not fully back [ɑ], typically [ɑ̟] to [ä]. Sometimes transcribed as /a/.</td></tr><tr><td>German</td><td>Standard</td><td>Gourmand</td><td>[ɡ̊ʊʁˈmɑ̃ː]</td><td>'gourmand'</td><td>Nasalized; often realized as rounded [ɒ̃ː]. See Standard German phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Many speakers</td><td>nah</td><td>[nɑː]</td><td>'near'</td><td>Used by speakers in Northern Germany, East Central Germany, Franconia and Switzerland. Also a part of the Standard Austrian accent. More front in other accents. See Standard German phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Greek</td><td>Sfakian</td><td>μπύρα (býra)</td><td>[ˈbirɑ]</td><td>"beer"</td><td>Corresponds to central [ä ~ ɐ] in Modern Standard Greek. See Modern Greek phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Hindustani</td><td>Hindi</td><td>ख़ास/khas</td><td></td><td>'special'</td><td>Allophone of [aː ~ ä]. More likely to be heard in serious speech or poetry. See Hindustani phonology.</td></tr><tr><td>Urdu</td><td>خاص/khas</td></tr><tr><td>Hungarian</td><td>Some dialects</td><td>magyar</td><td>[ˈmɑɟɑr]</td><td>'Hungarian'</td><td>Weakly rounded [ɒ] in standard Hungarian. See Hungarian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Inuit</td><td>West Greenlandic</td><td>oqarpoq</td><td>[ɔˈqɑpːɔq̚]</td><td>'he says'</td><td>Allophone of /a/ before and especially between uvulars. See Inuit phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Italian</td><td>Some Piedmont dialects</td><td>casa</td><td>[ˈkɑːzɑ]</td><td>'house'</td><td>Allophone of /a/ which in Italian is largely realised as central [ä].</td></tr><tr><td>Irish</td><td>Munster Dialect</td><td>áit</td><td>[ɑːtʲ]</td><td>'place'</td><td>See Irish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Kaingang</td><td>ga</td><td>[ᵑɡɑ]</td><td>'land, soil'</td><td>Varies between back [ɑ] and central [ɐ].</td></tr><tr><td>Khmer</td><td>ស្ករ (skâr)</td><td>[skɑː]</td><td>'sugar'</td><td>See Khmer phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Low German</td><td>al / aal</td><td>[ɑːl]</td><td>'all'</td><td>Backness may vary among dialects.</td></tr><tr><td>Malay</td><td>Kedah</td><td>mata</td><td>[ma.tɑ]</td><td>'eye'</td><td>See Malay phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Kelantan-Pattani</td><td>Allophone of syllable-final /a/ in open-ended words and before /k/ and /h/ codas. See Kelantan-Pattani Malay</td></tr><tr><td>Standard</td><td>qari</td><td>[qɑ.ri]</td><td>'qari'</td><td>Found only in certain Arabic loanwords and used by speakers who know Arabic. Normally replaced by [ä]. See Malay phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Norwegian</td><td>hat</td><td>[hɑːt]</td><td>'hate'</td><td>The example word is from Urban East Norwegian. Central [äː] in some other dialects. See Norwegian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Portuguese</td><td>Some Azorean dialects</td><td>nada</td><td>[ˈnɑðɐ]</td><td>'nothing'</td><td>See Portuguese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Paulista</td><td>vegetal</td><td>[veʒeˈtɑw]</td><td>'vegetable'</td><td>Only immediately before [w].</td></tr><tr><td>Russian</td><td>палка (palka)</td><td>[ˈpɑɫkə]</td><td>'stick'</td><td>Occurs only before the hard /l/, but not when a palatalized consonant precedes. See Russian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Scottish Gaelic</td><td>Lewis</td><td>balach</td><td>[ˈpɑl̪ˠəx]</td><td>'boy'</td><td>Allophone of [a] in proximity to broad sonorants.</td></tr><tr><td>Sema</td><td>amqa</td><td>[à̠mqɑ̀]</td><td>'lower back'</td><td>Possible realization of /a/ after uvular stops.</td></tr><tr><td>Swedish</td><td>Some dialects</td><td>jag</td><td>[jɑːɡ]</td><td>'I'</td><td>Weakly rounded [ɒ̜ː] in Central Standard Swedish. See Swedish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Turkish</td><td>at</td><td></td><td>'horse'</td><td>Also described as central [ä]. See Turkish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Ukrainian</td><td>мати (maty)</td><td>[ˈmɑtɪ]</td><td>'mother'</td><td>See Ukrainian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Vietnamese</td><td>Some dialects in North Central and Central</td><td>gà</td><td>[ɣɑ˨˩]</td><td>'chicken'</td><td>See Vietnamese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>West Frisian</td><td>Standard</td><td>lang</td><td>[ɫɑŋ]</td><td>'long'</td><td>Also described as central [ä]. See West Frisian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Aastersk</td><td>maat</td><td>[mɑːt]</td><td>'mate'</td><td>Contrasts with a front /aː/. See West Frisian phonology</td></tr></tbody></table>

Near-open back unrounded vowel

Open back unrounded vowel

In some languages (such as Azerbaijani, Estonian, Luxembourgish and Toda) there is the near-open back unrounded vowel (a sound between cardinal ⟨ɑ⟩ and ⟨ʌ⟩), which can be transcribed in IPA with [ɑ̝] or [ʌ̞].

Features

• Its vowel height is near-open, also known as near-low, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but is slightly more constricted – that is, the tongue is positioned similarly to a low vowel, but slightly higher. • 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. Unrounded back vowels tend to be centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-back. • Its place of articulation is pharyngeal, which means it is articulated with the tongue root against the back of the throat (the pharynx). • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

<table><thead><tr><th>Language</th><th>Word</th><th>IPA</th><th>Meaning</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Azerbaijani</td><td>qardaş</td><td>[ɡɑ̝ɾˈd̪ɑ̝ʃ]</td><td>'brother'</td><td>Near-open.</td></tr><tr><td>Dutch</td><td>Leiden</td><td>bad</td><td>[bɑ̝t]</td><td>'bath'</td><td>Near-open fully back; can be rounded [ɒ̝] instead. See Dutch phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Rotterdam</td></tr><tr><td>English</td><td>Cardiff</td><td>hot</td><td>[hɑ̽t]</td><td>'hot'</td><td>Somewhat raised and fronted.</td></tr><tr><td>Norfolk</td></tr><tr><td>Estonian</td><td>vale</td><td>[ˈvɑ̝le̞ˑ]</td><td>'lie'</td><td>Near-open. See Estonian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Finnish</td><td>kana</td><td></td><td>'hen'</td><td>Near-open, also described as open central [ä]. See Finnish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Kazakh</td><td>alma</td><td>[ɑ̝ɫ̪ˈmɑ̝]</td><td>'apple'</td><td>Can be realised as near-open.</td></tr><tr><td>Limburgish</td><td>Maastrichtian</td><td>bats</td><td>[bɑ̽ts]</td><td>'buttock'</td><td>The quality varies between open back [ɑ], open near-back [ɑ̟], and near-open near-back [ɑ̽], depending on the dialect.</td></tr><tr><td>Luxembourgish</td><td>Kapp</td><td>[kʰɑ̝p]</td><td>'head'</td><td>Near-open fully back. See Luxembourgish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Toda</td><td>ஆந</td><td>[ɑ̝ːn]</td><td>'elephant'</td><td>Near-open.</td></tr></tbody></table>