Table of vowels

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This table lists the vowel letters of the International Phonetic Alphabet.

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
•iy
•ɨʉ
•ɯu
•ɪʏ
•ʊ
•eø
•ɘɵ
•ɤo
•ɛœ
•ɜɞ
•ʌɔ
•æ
•aɶ
•ä
•ɑɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
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Vowel fact sheet

name height backness roundedness IPA number IPA text IPA image Entity X-SAMPA Kirshenbaum Sound sample
Close front unrounded vowel close front unrounded 301 i i i i
Close front rounded vowel close front rounded 309 y y y y
Close central unrounded vowel close central unrounded 317 ɨ ɨ 1 i"
Close central rounded vowel close central rounded 318 ʉ ʉ } u"
Close back unrounded vowel close back unrounded 316 ɯ ɯ M u-
Close back rounded vowel close back rounded 308 u u u u
Near-close near-front unrounded vowel near-close near-front unrounded 319 ɪ ɪ I I
Near-close near-front rounded vowel near-close near-front rounded 320 ʏ ʏ Y I.
Near-close near-back rounded vowel near-close near-back rounded 321 ʊ ʊ U U
Close-mid front unrounded vowel close-mid front unrounded 302 e e e e
Close-mid front rounded vowel close-mid front rounded 310 ø ø 2 Y
Close-mid central unrounded vowel close-mid central unrounded 397 ɘ &#600; @\ @<umd>
Close-mid central rounded vowel close-mid central rounded 323 ɵ &#629; 8 @.<umd>
Close-mid back unrounded vowel close-mid back unrounded 315 ɤ &#612; 7 o-
Close-mid back rounded vowel close-mid back rounded 307 o &#111; o o
Mid central vowel mid central unrounded 322 ə &#601; @ @
Open-mid front unrounded vowel open-mid front unrounded 303 ɛ &#603; E E
Open-mid front rounded vowel open-mid front rounded 311 œ &#339; 9 W
Open-mid central unrounded vowel open-mid central unrounded 326 ɜ &#604; 3 V"
Open-mid central rounded vowel open-mid central rounded 395 ɞ &#606; 3\ O"
Open-mid back unrounded vowel open-mid back unrounded 314 ʌ &#652; V V
Open-mid back rounded vowel open-mid back rounded 306 ɔ &#596; O O
Near-open front unrounded vowel near-open front unrounded 325 æ &#230; { &
Near-open central vowel near-open central vowel 324 ɐ &#592; 6 &"
Open front unrounded vowel open front unrounded 304 a &#97; a a
Open front rounded vowel open front rounded 312 ɶ &#630; & a.
Open back unrounded vowel open back unrounded 305 ɑ &#593; A A
Open back rounded vowel open back rounded 313 ɒ &#594; Q A.

See also