Jump to content

Open central unrounded vowel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

This is an old revision of this page, as edited by Bender the Bot (talk | contribs) at 07:26, 19 October 2016 (→‎Bibliography: http→https for Google Books and Google News using AWB). The present address (URL) is a permanent link to this revision, which may differ significantly from the current revision.

Open central unrounded vowel
ɑ̈
ɐ̞
IPA Number304 415
Encoding
Entity (decimal)a​̈
Unicode (hex)U+0061 U+0308
X-SAMPAa_" or a_- or A_" or 6_o

The open central unrounded vowel, or low central unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. While the International Phonetic Alphabet officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between front [a] and back [ɑ], it is normally written a. If precision is required, it can be specified by using diacritics, such as centralized ä or retracted , but this is not common.

Acoustically, however, [a] is an extra-low central vowel.[1] It is more common to use plain [a] for an open central vowel and, if needed, [æ] (officially near-open front vowel) for an open front vowel. Alternatively, Sinologists may use the letter (small capital A). The IPA voted against officially adopting this symbol in 2011–2012.[2]

The Hamont dialect of Limburgish has been reported to contrast long open front, central and back unrounded vowels,[3] which is extremely unusual.

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, some linguists prefer the terms "high" and "low".

Features

  • 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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel. This often subsumes open (low) front vowels, because the tongue does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does for the close (high) vowels; the difference between an open front vowel and an open back vowel is equal to the difference between a close front and a close central vowel, or a close central and a close back vowel.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. Because the IPA uses ⟨a⟩ for both front and central unrounded open vowels, it is not always clear whether a particular language uses the former or the latter.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic [kalu] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [kʰälu] 'bride' May be realized as [a] and [æ] in the Urmia, Nochiya and Jilu dialects. In the Tyari dialect, [ɑ] is usually used.
Bavarian Amstetten dialect[4] [example needed]
Bengali পা/pa [pä] 'leg' See Bengali phonology
Catalan[5] [sac] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [s̠äk] 'sack' See Catalan phonology
Chinese Cantonese [[[Chinese character|沙]]] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-yue-Hani (help)/[saa1] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [sä̝ː˥] 'sand' Somewhat raised. See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin [[[Chinese characters|他]]] Error: {{Lang}}: unrecognized language tag: zh-cmn-Hani (help)/[[[Hanyu Pinyin|tā]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [tʰä˥] 'he' Varies between front and back. See Mandarin phonology
Czech[6][7][8] [prach] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [präx] 'dust' See Czech phonology
Danish Standard[9][10] [[[Danish alphabet|barn]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈb̥äːˀn] 'child' Most often transcribed in IPA with ɑː - the way it is realized in the conservative variety.[11] See Danish phonology
Dutch Standard[12][13] [zaal] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [zäːɫ] 'hall' Ranges from front to central;[14] in non-standard accents it may be back. See Dutch phonology
Amsterdam[15] [bad] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [bät] 'bath' Also present in many other non-Randstad accents.[15] It corresponds to [ɑ] in Standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology
Antwerp[15]
Brabant[15][16]
English Australian[17] [car] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [kʰäː] 'car' See Australian English phonology
Cultivated South African[18] Some speakers. For other speakers, it is less front [ɑ̟ː][18][19] or, in Estuary English, even more back [ɑː].[19]
Estuary[19]
Norfolk[20]
General
South African[21]
[time] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [tʰäːm] 'time' Corresponds to the diphthong /aɪ/ in most dialects. General South African speakers may also monophthongize /aʊ/. See English phonology
Southern American[22]
General American[23] [cot] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [kʰäʔt̚] 'cot' It may be more back [ɑ̟ ~ ɑ], especially for speakers with the cotcaught merger. See English phonology
Southern Michigan[24] See English phonology
Multicultural London[25] [trap] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [t̠ɹ̝̊äʔp] 'trap' More front [ɛ ~ æ ~ a] for other Southeastern English speakers. See English phonology
Some speakers from Reading[19]
Northern England[26] [t̠ɹ̝̊äp] Notably prevalent in Yorkshire, mainly around the Pennines and the Yorkshire Dales. More front [æ ~ a] for some other speakers. See English phonology
Vancouver[27] [t̠ɹ̝̊äp̚] See Canadian Shift and English phonology
Younger speakers from Ontario[28]
Finnish[29] [[[Finnish alphabet|kana]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈkänä] 'hen' Typically transcribed in IPA with ɑ; also described as near-open back [ɑ̝].[30] See Finnish phonology
French[31] [patte] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [pät̪] 'paw' See French phonology
Galician[32] [macio] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈmäθjo] 'soft' See Galician phonology
German Standard[33] [Katze] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈkʰät͡sə] 'cat' See German phonology
Hebrew[34] פח [päχ] 'garbage can' Hebrew vowels are not shown in the script, see Niqqud and Modern Hebrew phonology
Hindustani [[[Dēvanāgarī|माता]]] Error: {{Lang}}: script: deva not supported for code: hi (help) / ماتا [mata] 'mother' See Hindustani phonology
Hungarian[35] [láb] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [läːb] 'leg' See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic[36][37][38][39] [[[Icelandic orthography|fara]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈfäːrä] 'go' See Icelandic phonology
Italian[40] [[[Italian alphabet|casa]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈkäːzä] 'home' See Italian phonology
Japanese[41] [[[Romanization of Japanese|ka]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [kä] 'mosquito' See Japanese phonology
Limburgish Hamont dialect[3] [zaak] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [zäːk²] 'business' Contrasts with front [] and back [ɑː].[3] See Hamont dialect phonology
Lithuanian [namas] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈnäːmäs] 'house'
Malay [[[Malay alphabet|api]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [äpi] 'fire'
Norwegian Sognamål[42] [dag] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [däːɡ] 'day' See Norwegian phonology
Polish[43] [kat] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [kät̪] 'executioner' See Polish phonology
Portuguese[44] [[[Portuguese orthography|vá]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [vä] 'go' See Portuguese phonology
Punjabi ਜਾ [d͡ʒäː] 'go!'
Romanian [cal] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [käl] 'horse' See Romanian phonology
Russian там [t̪äm] 'there' See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic [slat] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [slät] 'yard' See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Sema[45] [ala] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [à̠là̠] 'path' Also described as near-open [ɐ].[46]
Serbo-Croatian[47] патка / [[[Gaj's Latin alphabet|patka]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [pâ̠t̪ka̠] 'female duck' See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Shiwiar[48] [example needed]
Slovak[49][50][51] [a] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ä] 'and' See Slovak phonology
Spanish[52] [[[Spanish orthography|rata]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈrät̪ä] 'rat' See Spanish phonology
Sorbian Lower[53] [glažk] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ɡläʂk] 'glass'
Upper[53][54] [ale] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ˈälɛ] 'but' See Upper Sorbian phonology
Swedish Central Standard[55] [bank] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [bäŋk] 'bank' Also described as front [a].[56] See Swedish phonology
Turkish[57] [[[Turkish alphabet|at]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ät̪] 'horse' Also described as back [ɑ].[58] See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese Hanoi [[[Vietnamese alphabet|xa]]] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [s̪äː] 'far' See Vietnamese phonology
West Frisian [laad] Error: {{Lang}}: text has italic markup (help) [ɫäːt] 'drawer'
Yoruba[59] [example needed]

References

  1. ^ Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
  2. ^ Keating (2012), p. 245.
  3. ^ a b c Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
  4. ^ Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:290)
  5. ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 54.
  6. ^ Dankovičová (1999), p. 72.
  7. ^ Pavlík (2004), p. 94.
  8. ^ Šimáčková, Podlipský & Chládková (2012), p. 228.
  9. ^ Grønnum (1998), p. 100.
  10. ^ Basbøll (2005), p. 46.
  11. ^ Ladefoged & Johnson (2010), p. 227.
  12. ^ Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  13. ^ Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  14. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 104.
  15. ^ a b c d Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  16. ^ Peters (2010), p. 241.
  17. ^ Cox & Palethorpe (2007), p. 344.
  18. ^ a b Lass (2002), pp. 116–117.
  19. ^ a b c d Altendorf & Watt (2004), p. 188.
  20. ^ Lodge (2009), p. 168.
  21. ^ Lass (2002), p. 117.
  22. ^ Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006), p. ?.
  23. ^ Wells (1982), p. 476.
  24. ^ Hillenbrand (2003), p. 122.
  25. ^ Kerswill, Torgerson & Fox (2006), p. 30.
  26. ^ Boberg (2004), p. 361.
  27. ^ Esling & Warkentyne (1993), p. ?.
  28. ^ Boberg (2004), pp. 361–362.
  29. ^ Maddieson (1984), cited in Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008:21)
  30. ^ Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008), p. 21.
  31. ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
  32. ^ Freixeiro Mato (2006), pp. 72–73.
  33. ^ Mangold (2005), p. 37.
  34. ^ Laufer (1999), p. 98.
  35. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  36. ^ Árnason (2011), p. 60.
  37. ^ Einarsson (1945:10), cited in Gussmann (2011:73)
  38. ^ Haugen (1958), p. 65.
  39. ^ "Icelandic Phonetic Transcription.PDF - ptg_ice.pdf" (PDF). Retrieved 23 March 2015.
  40. ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 119.
  41. ^ Okada (1991), p. 94.
  42. ^ Haugen (2004), p. 30.
  43. ^ Jassem (2003), p. 105.
  44. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  45. ^ Teo (2014:28)
  46. ^ Teo (2012:368)
  47. ^ Landau et al. (1999), p. 67.
  48. ^ Fast Mowitz (1975), p. 2.
  49. ^ Kráľ (1988), p. 54.
  50. ^ Pavlík (2004), pp. 94–95.
  51. ^ Hanulíková & Hamann (2010), p. 375.
  52. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 256.
  53. ^ a b Stone (2002:600)
  54. ^ Šewc-Schuster (1984:20)
  55. ^ Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
  56. ^ Thorén & Petterson (1992), p. 15.
  57. ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  58. ^ Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  59. ^ Bamgboṣe (1969), p. 166.

Bibliography

Further reading