Open back rounded vowel

Open back rounded vowel
ɒ
Image
IPA number	313
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɒ
Unicode (hex)	U+0252
X-SAMPA	Q
Kirshenbaum	A.
Sound

The open back rounded vowel, or low back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɒ⟩. This is called turned script a, because it is a rotated version of script a, so-called because it lacks the extra stroke on top of a printed 'a'. Turned script a, which has its linear stroke on the left, should not be confused with script a ⟨ɑ⟩, which has its linear stroke on the right and corresponds to an unrounded version of this vowel, the open back unrounded vowel. A well rounded [ɒ] is rare, though it is found in some varieties of English. In most languages with this vowel, such as English and Persian, the rounding of [ɒ] is slight, and in English at least it is sulcal or "grooved". However, Assamese has an "over-rounded" [ɒ̹] with rounding as strong as that for [u].

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low", and these are the only terms found in introductory textbooks on phonetics such as those by Peter Ladefoged.

Features

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ •ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ ə •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ •æ ɐ •aɶ •ä •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
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• Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth – that is, as low as possible in 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 rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than relaxed or spread.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Afrikaans	northern Transvaal dialects	daar	[dɒːr]	'there'
Assamese		?	[pɒ̹t]	'to bury'
English	Boston	Boston	[bɒːstən]	'Boston'
	RP	hot	[hɒt]	'hot'	See English phonology
	South African	park	[pɒ̟k]	'park'
Hungarian		magyar	[mɒɟɒr]	'Hungarian'	See Hungarian phonology
Kol		öle	[ɒle]	'name'
Occitan	Auvergnat	país	[pɒˈji]	'country'
	Limousin				Some northern dialects
Persian		آب	[ɒːb]	'water'	See Persian phonology
Uzbek		dono	[dɒnɒ]	'wise'
Waris		ov	[ɒβ]	'sky'
West Frisian	Schiermonnikoogs	hanne	[hɒnə]	'to'
Western Desert Language	Martu Wangka	waŋka	[wɒŋɡɑ]	'talk'

See also

• Turned a

References

• Roach, Peter (2004), "British English: Received Pronunciation", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 239–245, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001768 
• Szende, Tamás (1994), "Illustrations of the IPA:Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Alphabet 24 (2): 91–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005090