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Open back unrounded vowel

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Open back unrounded vowel
ɑ
IPA Number305
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɑ
Unicode (hex)U+0251
X-SAMPAA
Braille⠡ (braille pattern dots-16)

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 a full length linear stroke on its right, should not be confused with turned script a, ɒ, which has the linear stroke on its left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.

In some languages (such as Azerbaijani, Estonian, Luxembourgish and Toda)[2][3][4][5] there is the near-open back unrounded vowel (a sound between cardinal [ɑ] and [ʌ]), which can be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɑ̝⟩ or ⟨ʌ̞⟩.

Features

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  • 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 back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Unrounded back vowels tend to be centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-back.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

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Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Afrikaans Standard[6] daar [dɑːr] 'there' The quality varies between open near-back unrounded [ɑ̟ː], open back unrounded [ɑː] and even open back rounded [ɒː].[6] See Afrikaans phonology
Äiwoo kânongä [kɑnoŋæ] 'I want'
Arabic Standard[7] طويل / ṭawīl [tˤɑˈwiːl] 'tall' Allophone of long and short /a/ near emphatic consonants, depending on the speaker's accent. See Arabic phonology
Essaouira[8] قال / qāl [qɑːl] 'he said' One of the possible realisations of /ā/.[8]
Armenian Eastern[7] հաց / hacʿ [hɑt͡sʰ] 'bread'
Azerbaijani[2] qardaş [ɡɑ̝ɾˈd̪ɑ̝ʃ] 'brother' Near-open.[2]
Bashkir ҡаҙ / qað [qɑð]ⓘ 'goose'
Catalan Many dialects[9] pal [ˈpɑɫ] 'stick' Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants.[9] See Catalan phonology
Some dialects[10][11] mà [ˈmɑ] 'hand' More central ([ɑ̟], [ä]) in other dialects; fully front [a] in Majorcan Catalan.[11]
Some Valencian and Majorcan speakers[9] lloc [ˈʎ̟ɑk] 'place' Unrounded allophone of /ɔ/ in some accents.[9] Can be centralized.
Some southern Valencian speakers[12] bou [ˈbɑw] 'bull' Pronunciation of the vowel /ɔ/ before [w].[12] Can be centralized.
Chinese Mandarin[13] 棒 / bàng [pɑŋ˥˩]ⓘ 'stick' Allophone of /a/ before /ŋ/.[13] See Standard Chinese 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.[clarification needed] See English phonology
Cockney[23] palm [pɑːm] 'palm' 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]		 [pɑ̟ːm] 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 /a/ before velars for some speakers.[27]
Estonian[3] vale [ˈvɑ̝le̞ˑ] 'lie' Near-open.[3] See Estonian phonology
Faroese Some dialects[28] vátur [ˈvɑːtʊɹ] 'wet' Corresponds to /ɔɑ/ in standard language.[28] See Faroese phonology
Finnish[29] kana [ˈkɑ̝nɑ̝] 'hen' Near-open,[29] also described as open central [ä].[30] See Finnish phonology
French Conservative Parisian[31][32] pas [pɑ] 'not' Contrasts with /a/, but many speakers have only one open vowel [ä].[33] See French phonology
Quebec[34] pâte [pɑːt]ⓘ 'paste' Contrasts with /a/.[34] See Quebec French phonology
Galician[35][36] irmán [iɾˈmɑŋ] 'brother' Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants.[35][36] See Galician phonology
Georgian[37] გუდა / guda [k̬ud̪ɑ] 'leather bag' Usually not fully back [ɑ], typically [ɑ̟] to [ä].[38] Sometimes transcribed as /a/.
German Standard[39] Gourmand [ɡ̊ʊʁˈmɑ̃ː] 'gourmand' Nasalized; often realized as rounded [ɒ̃ː].[40] See Standard German phonology
Many speakers[41] nah [nɑː] 'near' Used by speakers in Northern Germany, East Central Germany, Franconia and Switzerland.[41] Also a part of the Standard Austrian accent.[42] More front in other accents. See Standard German phonology
Greek Sfakian[43] μπύρα / býra [ˈbirɑ] "beer" Corresponds to central [ä ~ ɐ] in Modern Standard Greek.[44][45] See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian Some dialects[46] magyar [ˈmɑɟɑr] 'Hungarian' Weakly rounded [ɒ] in standard Hungarian.[47] See Hungarian phonology
Inuit West Greenlandic[48] oqarpoq [ɔˈqɑpːɔq̚] 'he says' Allophone of /a/ before and especially between uvulars.[48] See Inuit phonology
Italian Some Piedmont dialects casa [ˈkɑːzɑ] 'house' Allophone of /a/ which in Italian is largely realised as central [ä].
Kazakh alma [ɑ̝ɫ̪ˈmɑ̝] 'apple' Can be realised as near-open.
Kaingang[49] ga [ᵑɡɑ] 'land, soil' Varies between back [ɑ] and central [ɐ].[50]
Khmer ស្ករ / skâr [skɑː] 'sugar' See Khmer phonology
Limburgish[51][52][53] bats [bɑ̽ts] 'buttock' The quality varies between open back [ɑ],[51] open near-back [ɑ̟][52] and near-open near-back [ɑ̽][53] (illustrated in the example word, which is from the Maastrichtian dialect), depending on the dialect.
Low German[54] al / aal [ɑːl] 'all' Backness may vary among dialects.[54]
Luxembourgish[4] Kapp [kʰɑ̝p] 'head' Near-open fully back.[4] See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay Kedah[55] mata [ma.tɑ] 'eye' See Malay phonology
Kelantan-Pattani Allophone of syllable-final /a/ in open-ended words and before /k/ and /h/ codas. See Kelantan-Pattani Malay
Standard qari [qɑ.ri] 'qari' Found only in certain Arabic loanwords and used by speakers who know Arabic. Normally replaced by [ä]. See Malay phonology
Norwegian[56][57] hat [hɑːt] 'hate' The example word is from Urban East Norwegian. Central [äː] in some other dialects.[56][57][58] See Norwegian phonology
Portuguese Some Azorean dialects semana [sɨ'mɑnɐ] 'week' See Portuguese phonology
Paulista[59] vegetal [veʒe'tɑʊ] 'vegetable' Only immediately before [ʊ].[59]
Russian[60] палка / palka [ˈpɑɫkə] 'stick' Occurs only before the hard /l/, but not when a palatalized consonant precedes. See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic Lewis[61] balach [ˈpɑl̪ˠəx] 'boy' Allophone of [a] in proximity to broad sonorants.
Sema[62] amqa [à̠mqɑ̀] 'lower back' Possible realization of /a/ after uvular stops.[62]
Swedish Some dialects jag [jɑːɡ] 'I' Weakly rounded [ɒ̜ː] in Central Standard Swedish.[63] See Swedish phonology
Toda[5] ஆந [ɑ̝ːn] 'elephant' Near-open.[5]
Turkish[64] at [ɑt̪] 'horse' Also described as central [ä].[65] See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[66] мати / maty [ˈmɑtɪ] 'mother' See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese Some dialects in North Central and Central gà [ɣɑ˨˩] 'chicken' See Vietnamese phonology[67][68]
West Frisian Standard[69] lang [ɫɑŋ] 'long' Also described as central [ä].[70] See West Frisian phonology
Aastersk[71] maat [mɑːt] 'mate' Contrasts with a front /aː/.[71] See West Frisian phonology

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. ^ a b c Mokari & Werner (2016), p. 509.
  3. ^ a b c Asu & Teras (2009), p. 368.
  4. ^ a b c Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 70.
  5. ^ a b c Shalev, Ladefoged & Bhaskararao (1993), p. 92.
  6. ^ a b Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/".
  7. ^ a b Thelwall & Sa'Adeddin (1990), p. 39.
  8. ^ a b Francisco (2019), p. 74.
  9. ^ a b c d Saborit (2009), p. 10.
  10. ^ Rafel (1999), p. 14.
  11. ^ a b Recasens (1996), pp. 90–92.
  12. ^ a b Recasens (1996), pp. 131–132.
  13. ^ a b Mou (2006), p. 65.
  14. ^ a b Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  15. ^ a b Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  16. ^ a b c d Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  17. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 78, 104, 133.
  18. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 104, 133.
  19. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 136.
  20. ^ a b Collins & Mees (1990), p. 95.
  21. ^ a b 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. ^ a b "Glossary". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  28. ^ a b Árnason (2011), pp. 69, 79.
  29. ^ a b Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008), p. 21.
  30. ^ Maddieson (1984), cited in Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008:21)
  31. ^ Ashby (2011), p. 100.
  32. ^ Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 225–227.
  33. ^ Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 226–227.
  34. ^ a b Walker (1984), p. 53.
  35. ^ a b Regueira (1996), p. 122.
  36. ^ a b Freixeiro Mato (2006), pp. 72–73.
  37. ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006), pp. 261–262.
  38. ^ Aronson, Howard (1990), Georgian: A Reading Grammar (2nd ed.), Columbus, OH: Slavica
  39. ^ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), pp. 34, 38.
  40. ^ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 38.
  41. ^ a b Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 64.
  42. ^ Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter (2015), pp. 342–344.
  43. ^ Trudgill (2009), pp. 83–84.
  44. ^ Trudgill (2009), p. 81.
  45. ^ Arvaniti (2007), pp. 25, 28.
  46. ^ Vago (1980), p. 1.
  47. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  48. ^ a b Fortescue (1990), p. 317.
  49. ^ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
  50. ^ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676, 682.
  51. ^ a b Peters (2006), p. 119.
  52. ^ a b Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 110.
  53. ^ a b Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
  54. ^ a b Prehn (2012), p. 157.
  55. ^ Zaharani Ahmad (1991).
  56. ^ a b Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17.
  57. ^ a b Kvifte & Gude-Husken (2005), p. 4.
  58. ^ Vanvik (1979), pp. 16–17.
  59. ^ a b Galastri (2011), p. 21.
  60. ^ Jones & Ward (1969), p. 50.
  61. ^ Oftedal (1956), p. 53.
  62. ^ a b Teo (2014), p. 28.
  63. ^ Engstrand (1999), p. 141.
  64. ^ Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  65. ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  66. ^ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  67. ^ Phạm, Andrea Hòa (2014), "Ngôn ngữ biến đổi và số phận của nguyên âm /a/ trong giọng Quảng Nam (Issues in Language change and the phonemic status of /a/ in the Quang Nam dialect)" (PDF), Tạp Chí Ngôn Ngữ (Journal of Vietnamese Linguistics) (in Vietnamese), 6: 10–18
  68. ^ Phạm, Andrea Hòa (2016), "Sự biến âm trong vần tiếng Việt: thổ ngữ làng Hến, huyện Đức Thọ, tỉnh Hà Tĩnh [Sound change in Vietnamese rhymes: the dialect of Hến Village of Đức Thọ District, Hà Tĩnh Province]" (PDF), Tạp Chí Ngôn Ngữ Học (Journal of Vietnamese Linguistics) (in Vietnamese), 11: 7–28
  69. ^ de Haan (2010), p. 333.
  70. ^ Visser (1997), p. 14.
  71. ^ a b van der Veen (2001), p. 102.

References

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