Mid back rounded vowel

Mid back rounded vowel
ɔ̝
IPA Number307 430
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)o​̞
Unicode (hex)U+006F U+031E
Braille⠕ (braille pattern dots-135)⠠ (braille pattern dots-6)⠣ (braille pattern dots-126)

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 or ɔ̝, the former being more common. There was an alternative IPA symbol for this sound, ⟨ꭥ⟩. A non-IPA letter is also found.

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.

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/lōn [lo̞ːn] 'color' See Hejazi Arabic phonology
Breton [example needed] Possible realization of unstressed /ɔ/; can be open-mid [ɔ] or close-mid [o] instead.
Chinese Taiwanese Mandarin / [wo̞ɔː˨˩˦] 'I' See Standard Chinese phonology
Shanghainese /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 [] 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 [kʰɛəmˈbö̞diə] '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 [] 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 /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 []. See Norwegian phonology
Romanian acolo [äˈko̞lo̞] 'there' See Romanian phonology
Russian сухой/sukhoy/sukhoj [s̪ʊˈxo̞j] 'dry' Some speakers realize it as open-mid [ɔ]. See Russian phonology
Serbo-Croatian ко̑д / kd/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
Turkish kol [kʰo̞ɫ] 'arm' See Turkish phonology
Zapotec Tilquiapan do [d̪o̞] 'corn tassel'

This page was last updated at 2024-03-23 13:59 UTC. Update now. View original page.

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