Open back unrounded vowel

Open back unrounded vowel
ɑ
IPA number 305
Encoding
Entity (decimal) ɑ
Unicode (hex) U+0251
X-SAMPA A
Kirshenbaum A
Braille ⠡ (braille pattern dots-16)
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The open back unrounded vowel, or low back unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɑ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is A. The letter ⟨ɑ⟩ is called script 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 its linear stroke on the bottom right, should not be confused with turned script a, ɒ, which has its linear stroke on the top left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.

The Hamont dialect of Limburgish has been reported to contrast long open front, central and back unrounded vowels,[2] which is extremely unusual.

Features

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
i • y
ɨ • ʉ
ɯ • u
ɪ • ʏ
ɪ̈ • ʊ̈
ɯ̽ • ʊ
e • ø
ɘ • ɵ
ɤ • o
e̞ • ø̞
ə • ɵ̞
ɤ̞ • o̞
ɛ • œ
ɜ • ɞ
ʌ • ɔ
æ • 
ɐ • ɞ̞
a • ɶ
ä • ɒ̈
ɑ • ɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
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Occurrence

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Afrikaans Standard[3] daar [dɑːr] 'there' The quality varies between open near-back unrounded [ɑ̟ː], open back unrounded [ɑː] and even open back rounded [ɒː].[3] See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic Standard[4] طويل [tˤɑˈwiːl] 'tall' Allophone of long and short /a/ near emphatic consonants, depending on the speaker's accent. See Arabic phonology
Armenian Eastern[4] հաց [hɑt͡sʰ] 'bread'
Azerbaijani[5] qardaş [ɡɑ̝ɾ'd̪ɑ̝ʃ] 'brother' Near-open.[5]
Catalan Many dialects[6] pal [ˈpɑɫ] 'stick' Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants.[6] See Catalan phonology
Some dialects[7][8] mà [ˈmɑ] 'hand' More central ([ɑ̟], [ä]) in other dialects; fully front [a] in Majorcan Catalan.[8]
Some Valencian and Majorcan speakers[6] lloc [ˈʎ̟ɑk] 'place' Unrounded allophone of /ɔ/ in some accents.[6] Can be centralized.
Some southern Valencian speakers[9] bou [ˈbɑw] 'bull' Pronunciation of the vowel /ɔ/ before [w].[9] Can be centralized.
Chinese Mandarin[10] 棒 / bàng  [pɑŋ˥˩]  'stick' Allophone of /a/ before /ŋ/.[10] See Standard Chinese phonology
Danish Conservative[11] barn [ˈb̥ɑːˀn] 'child' Near-open;[11] realized as open central [äː] in contemporary Standard Danish.[12][13] See Danish phonology
Dutch Standard[14][15] bad [bɑt] 'bath' Backness varies among dialects; in the Standard Northern accent it is fully back.[16][14] In the Standard Belgian accent it is raised and fronted to [ɑ̝̈].[15] See Dutch phonology
Leiden[16] [bɑ̝t] Near-open fully back; can be rounded [ɒ̝] instead.[16] See Dutch phonology
Rotterdam[16]
Amsterdam[17] aap [ɑːp] 'monkey' Corresponds to [aː ~ äː] in standard Dutch.
Antwerp[18]
Utrecht[18]
The Hague[19] nauw [nɑː] 'narrow' Corresponds to [ʌu] in standard Dutch.
English Cardiff[20] hot [hɑ̝̈t] 'hot' Somewhat raised and fronted.[20][21]
Norfolk[21]
General American[22] [hɑt] May be more front [ɑ̟ ~ ä], especially in accents without the cot-caught merger. See English phonology
Cockney[23] bath [bɑːθ] 'bath' Fully back. It can be more front [ɑ̟ː] instead.
General South African[24] 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
Cultivated
South African[25] 		[bɑ̟ːθ] 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
Received Pronunciation[26]
Non-local Dublin[27] back [bɑq] 'back' Allophone of /æ/ before velars for some speakers.[27]
Estonian[28] vale [ˈvɑ̝le̞ˑ] 'wrong' Near-open.[28] See Estonian phonology
Faroese Some dialects[29] vátur [ˈvɑːtʊɹ] 'water' Corresponds to /ɔɑ/ in standard language.[29] See Faroese phonology
Finnish[30] kana [ˈkɑ̝nɑ̝] 'hen' Near-open,[30] also described as open central [ä].[31] See Finnish phonology
French Conservative Parisian[32][33] pas [pɑ] 'not' Contrasts with /a/, but many speakers have only one open vowel [ä].[34] See French phonology
Quebec[35] pâte [pɑːt] 'paste' Contrasts with /a/.[35] See Quebec French phonology
Galician[36][37] irmán [iɾˈmɑŋ] 'brother' Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants.[36][37] See Galician phonology
Georgian[38] გუდა [ɡudɑ] 'leather bag'
German Standard[39] Gourmand [ɡʊʁˈmɑ̃ː] 'gourmand' Nasalized; often realized as rounded [ɒ̃ː].[40] Also described as central [ã̠ː].[41] See Standard German phonology
Altbayern accent[42] Wassermassen [ˈʋɑsɐmasn̩] 'water masses' Also illustrates the front /a/, with which it contrasts.[42] See Standard German phonology
Many speakers[42] nah [nɑː] 'near' Used by speakers in Northern Germany, East Central Germany, Franconia and Switzerland.[42] Also a part of the Standard Austrian accent.[43] More front in other accents. See Standard German phonology
Northern German accents[42] kommen [ˈkʰɑmən] 'to come' Local realization of /ɔ/; can be central [ɐ] instead.[42] See Standard German phonology
Greek Sfakian[44] Corresponds to central [ä ~ ɐ] in Modern Standard Greek.[45][46] See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian Some dialects[47] magyar [ˈmɑɟɑr] 'Hungarian' Weakly rounded [ɒ] in standard Hungarian.[48] See Hungarian phonology
Inuit West Greenlandic[49] Allophone of /a/ before and especially between uvulars.[49] See Inuit phonology
Kaingang[50] [ˈᵑɡɑ] 'terra' Varies between back [ɑ] and central [ɐ].[51]
Limburgish[52][53][54] bats [bɑ̽ts] 'buttock' The quality varies between open back [ɑ],[52] open near-back [ɑ̟][53] and near-open near-back [ɑ̽][54] (illustrated in the example word, which is from the Maastrichtian dialect), depending on the dialect.
Low German[55] al / aal [ʔɑːl] 'all' Backness may vary among dialects.[55]
Luxembourgish[56][57] Kapp [kʰɑp] 'head' Described variously as open near-back [ɑ̟][56] and near-open back [ɑ̝].[57] See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay Kedah dialect[58] mata [matɑ] 'eye' See Malay phonology
Norwegian Urban East[59][60] hat [hɑːt] 'hate' See Norwegian phonology
Fredrikstad[61]
Stavangersk[62]
Trondheimsk[61]
Russian[63] палка [ˈpɑɫkə] 'stick' Occurs only before the hard /l/, but not when a palatalized consonant precedes. See Russian phonology
Sema[64] amqa [à̠mqɑ̀] 'lower back' Possible realization of /a/ after uvular stops.[64]
Slovak[65][66] a [ɑ̟] 'and' Near-back; possible realization of /a/.[65][67] See Slovak phonology
Swedish Some dialects jаg [jɑːɡ] 'I' Weakly rounded [ɒ̜ː] in Central Standard Swedish.[68] See Swedish phonology
Toda[69] [ɑ̝ːn] 'elephant' Near-open.[69]
Turkish[70] at [ɑt̪] 'horse' Also described as central [ä].[71] See Turkish phonology
West Frisian Standard[72] lang [ɫɑŋ] 'long' Also described as central [ä].[73] See West Frisian phonology
Aastersk[74] maat [mɑːt] 'mate' Contrasts with a front /aː/.[74] See West Frisian phonology

See also

References

  1. ↑ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. ↑ Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
  3. 1 2 Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/".
  4. 1 2 Thelwall & Sa'Adeddin (1990), p. 39.
  5. 1 2 Mokari & Werner (2016), p. ?.
  6. 1 2 3 4 Saborit (2009), p. 10.
  7. ↑ Rafel (1999), p. 14.
  8. 1 2 Recasens (1996), pp. 90–92.
  9. 1 2 Recasens (1996), pp. 131–132.
  10. 1 2 Mou (2006), p. 65.
  11. 1 2 Ladefoged & Johnson (2010), p. 227.
  12. ↑ Grønnum (1998), p. 100.
  13. ↑ Basbøll (2005), p. 46.
  14. 1 2 Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  15. 1 2 Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  16. 1 2 3 4 Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  17. ↑ Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 78, 104, 133.
  18. 1 2 Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 104, 133.
  19. ↑ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 136.
  20. 1 2 Collins & Mees (1990), p. 95.
  21. 1 2 Lodge (2009), p. 168.
  22. ↑ Mannell, Cox & Harrington (2009).
  23. ↑ Wells (1982), p. 305.
  24. ↑ Lass (2002), p. 117.
  25. ↑ Lass (2002), p. 116-117.
  26. ↑ Roach (2004), p. 242.
  27. 1 2 "Glossary". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  28. 1 2 Asu & Teras (2009), p. 368.
  29. 1 2 Árnason (2011), pp. 69, 79.
  30. 1 2 Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008), p. 21.
  31. ↑ Maddieson (1984), cited in Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008:21)
  32. ↑ Ashby (2011), p. 100.
  33. ↑ Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 225–227.
  34. ↑ Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 226–227.
  35. 1 2 Walker (1984), p. 53.
  36. 1 2 Regueira (1996), p. 122.
  37. 1 2 Freixeiro Mato (2006), pp. 72–73.
  38. ↑ Shosted & Chikovani (2006), pp. 261–262.
  39. ↑ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), pp. 34, 38.
  40. ↑ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 38.
  41. ↑ Hall (2003), pp. 106–107.
  42. 1 2 3 4 5 6 Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 64.
  43. ↑ Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter (2015), pp. 342–344.
  44. ↑ Trudgill (2009), pp. 83–84.
  45. ↑ Trudgill (2009), p. 81.
  46. ↑ Arvaniti (2007), pp. 25, 28.
  47. ↑ Vago (1980), p. 1.
  48. ↑ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  49. 1 2 Fortescue (1990), p. 317.
  50. ↑ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
  51. ↑ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676, 682.
  52. 1 2 Peters (2006), p. 119.
  53. 1 2 Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 110.
  54. 1 2 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
  55. 1 2 Prehn (2012), p. 157.
  56. 1 2 Trouvain & Gilles (2009), p. 75.
  57. 1 2 Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 70.
  58. ↑ Zaharani Ahmad (1991).
  59. ↑ Skaug (2003), pp. 15–19.
  60. ↑ Popperwell (2010), pp. 16, 23–24.
  61. 1 2 Vanvik (1979), p. 16.
  62. ↑ Vanvik (1979), p. 17.
  63. ↑ Jones & Ward (1969), p. 50.
  64. 1 2 Teo (2014), p. 28.
  65. 1 2 Kráľ (1988), p. 54.
  66. ↑ Pavlík (2004), p. 95.
  67. ↑ Pavlík (2004), pp. 94–95.
  68. ↑ Engstrand (1999), p. 141.
  69. 1 2 Shalev, Ladefoged & Bhaskararao (1993), p. 92.
  70. ↑ Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  71. ↑ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  72. ↑ de Haan (2010), p. 333.
  73. ↑ Visser (1997), p. 14.
  74. 1 2 van der Veen (2001), p. 102.

Bibliography

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