Open back rounded vowel

❧

Wikipedia

Open back rounded vowel
ɒ
IPA number313
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɒ
Unicode (hex)U+0252
X-SAMPAQ
Braille⠲ (braille pattern dots-256) ⠡ (braille pattern dots-16)
Near-open back rounded vowel
ɒ̝
ɔ̞

The open back rounded vowel, or low back rounded 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 ⟨ɒ⟩. It is called Latin turned alpha being a rotated version of Latin alpha. It seems a "turned script a", being a rotated version of "script (cursive) a", which is the variant of a that lacks the extra stroke on top of a "printed a". Latin turned alpha a ⟨ɒ⟩ has its linear stroke on the left, whereas Latin alpha a ⟨ɑ⟩ (for its unrounded counterpart) has its linear stroke on the right.

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 back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
  • It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.

Occurrence

LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AfrikaansStandard[2]daar[dɒːr]'there'Fully back. Used by some speakers, particularly young female speakers of northern accents. Other speakers use an unrounded vowel [ɑː ~ ɑ̟ː.[2] See Afrikaans phonology
Assameseকৰ / kor[kɒ̹ɹ]'to do'An "over-rounded" [ɒ̹], with rounding as strong as that for [u].[3] May also be transcribed [ɔ].
BulgarianSome Rhodopean dialectsмъж / măž[ˈmɒʃʲ]'man'Found as the unification of the Proto-Slavic *ǫ, *ę, *ъ and *ь. Standard Bulgarian has /ɤ̞/ for *ǫ and *ъ and /ɛ/ for *ę and *ь.
CatalanMajorcan[4][5]dones[ˈd̪ɔ̞nəs]'women'Main realization of /ɔ/ (also represented as /ɒ/). May be unrounded [ɑ] in Majorcan and some Southern Valencian dialects. See Catalan phonology
Menorcan[4][5]
Valencian[4][5][ˈd̪ɔ̞nes]
Some Valencian speakers[6]taula[ˈt̪ɑ̟wɫɔ̞̈]'table'Can be realized as unrounded [ʌ̞̈].
DutchLeiden[7]bad[bɒ̝t]'bath'Near-open fully back; may be unrounded [ɑ̝] instead.[7] It corresponds to [ɑ] in standard Dutch.
Rotterdam[7]
Some dialects[8]bot[bɒt]'bone'Some non-Randstad dialects,[8] for example those of Den Bosch and Groningen. It is open-mid [ɔ] in standard Dutch.
EnglishSouth African[9]not[nɒ̜̈t]'not'Near-back and weakly rounded.[9] Some younger speakers of the General variety may actually have a higher and fully unrounded vowel [ʌ̈].[9] See South African English phonology
Conservative Received Pronunciation[10][nɒt]Somewhat raised. Contemporary RP speakers pronounce a closer vowel [ɔ]. It is proposed that the /ɒ/ vowel of Conservative RP, which is normally described as a rounded vowel, is pronounced by some speakers without rounded lips for whom the characteristic quality is rather one of sulcality.[11] See English phonology
Northern English[12]May be somewhat raised and fronted.[12]
Canadian[13]Lot and thought have the same vowel in Canadian English; see cot–caught merger.
thought[θɒt]ⓘ'thought'
General AmericanVowel /ɔ(:)/ is lowered (phonetic realization of /ɔ(:)/ is much lower in GA than in RP). However, "Short o" before r before a vowel (a short o sound followed by r and then another vowel, as in orange, forest, moral, and warrant) is realized as [oɹ~ɔɹ].
Inland Northern American[14]See Northern cities vowel shift
Indian[15][t̪ʰɒʈ]/ɒ/ and /ɔː/ differ entirely by length in Indian English.
Welsh[16][17][θɒːt]Open-mid in Cardiff; may merge with /oː/ in northern dialects.
GermanMany speakers[18]Gourmand[ɡ̊ʊʁˈmɒ̃ː]'gourmand'Nasalized; common phonetic realization of /ɑ̃ː/.[18] See Standard German phonology
Many Swiss dialects[19]maane[ˈmɒːnə]'remind'The example word is from the Zurich dialect, in which [ɒː] is in free variation with the unrounded [ɑː].[20]
HungarianStandard[21]magyar[ˈmɒ̜̽ɟɒ̜̽r]'Hungarian'Somewhat fronted and raised, with only slight rounding; sometimes transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. Unrounded [ɑ] in some dialects.[22] See Hungarian phonology
Ibibio[23]dọ[dɒ̝́]'marry'Near-open;[23] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩.
IrishUlster[24]ólann[ɒ̝ːɫ̪ən̪ˠ]'(he) drinks'Near-open;[24] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩.
Istro-Romanian[25]cåp[kɒp]'head'See Istro-Romanian pronunciation (in Romanian).
Jeju[26]ᄒᆞ나 / haona[hɒna]'one'See Jeju phonology
Lehali[27]dön̄[ⁿdɒ̝ŋ]'yam'Raised vowel, being the back rounded counterpart of /æ/ in a symmetrical vowel inventory.[27]
Lemerig[28]‘ān̄sār[ʔɒ̝ŋsɒ̝r]'person'Raised vowel, being the back rounded counterpart of /æ/ in a symmetrical vowel inventory.[28]
LimburgishMaastrichtian[29]plaots[plɒ̝ːts]'place'Near-open fully back; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩.[29] Corresponds to [ɔː] in other dialects.
MalayKedahtua[tu.ɒ]'old'Northern Kedah subdialect/dialect. Allophone of /a/ in word-final position in open-ended words and close-ended words that end with a glottal stop /ʔ/ or a glottal fricative /h/.
MansiCentral/Northernам[ɒm]'me'The pronunciation of 'a' sometimes varies between /ɒ/ and /o/.
Neapolitan[30]Vasteseuâʃtə[uˈwɒʃtə]'Vasto'
NorwegianUrban East[31][32]topp[tʰɒ̝pː]'top'Near-open,[31][32] also described as close-mid back [o].[33] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See Norwegian phonology
Dialects along the Swedish border[34]hat[hɒ̜ːt]'hate'Weakly rounded and fully back.[34] See Norwegian phonology
Persianف‍‍ارسی / fârsi[fɒːɾˈsiː]'Persian'
Brazilian PortugueseCariocaova[ˈɒːva]'fish roe'Allophone of /ɔ/. See Portuguese phonology
SlovakSome speakers[35]a[ɒ]'and'Under Hungarian influence, some speakers realize the short /a/ as rounded.[35] See Slovak phonology
SwedishCentral Standard[36][37]jag[jɒ̝ːɡ]'I'Near-open fully back weakly rounded vowel.[36] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɑː⟩. See Swedish phonology
Gothenburg[37][jɒːɡ]More rounded than in Central Standard Swedish.[37]
UzbekStandard[38]choy[t͡ʃɒj]'tea'
Yoruba[39]itọju[itɒ̝ju]'care'Near-open; most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩.

See also

Notes

  1. ↑ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. 1 2 Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/".
  3. ↑ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 293–294.
  4. 1 2 3 Recasens (1996), pp. 81, 130–131.
  5. 1 2 3 Rafel (1999), p. 14.
  6. ↑ Saborit (2009), pp. 25–26.
  7. 1 2 3 Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  8. 1 2 Collins & Mees (2003), p. 132.
  9. 1 2 3 Lass (2002), p. 115.
  10. ↑ Roach (2004), p. 242.
  11. ↑ Lass, Roger (1984). Phonology: an introduction to basic concepts. p. 124.
  12. 1 2 Lodge (2009), p. 163.
  13. ↑ Boberg (2004), p. 359.
  14. ↑ Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (1997), A national map of the regional dialects of American English, Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved May 27, 2013
  15. ↑ Sailaja (2009), pp. 24–25.
  16. ↑ Connolly (1990), p. 125.
  17. ↑ Tench (1990), p. 135.
  18. 1 2 Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 38.
  19. ↑ Krech et al. (2009), p. 263.
  20. ↑ Fleischer & Schmid (2006), p. 248.
  21. ↑ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  22. ↑ Vago (1980), p. 1.
  23. 1 2 Urua (2004), p. 106.
  24. 1 2 Ní Chasaide (1999), p. 114.
  25. ↑ Pop (1938), p. 29.
  26. ↑ Yang, Changyong; Yang, Sejung; O'Grady, William (2020). Jejueo: the language of Korea's Jeju Island. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-7443-8.
  27. 1 2 François (2011), p. 194.
  28. 1 2 François (2011), pp. 195, 208.
  29. 1 2 Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 158–159.
  30. ↑ "Vastesi Language - Vastesi in the World". Vastesi in the World. Retrieved 21 November 2016.
  31. 1 2 Vanvik (1979), pp. 13, 17.
  32. 1 2 Kvifte & Gude-Husken (2005), p. 2.
  33. ↑ Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17.
  34. 1 2 Popperwell (2010), p. 23.
  35. 1 2 Kráľ (1988), p. 54.
  36. 1 2 Engstrand (1999), pp. 140–141.
  37. 1 2 3 Riad (2014), pp. 35–36.
  38. ↑ Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963). Uzbek Structural Grammar. Uralic and Altaic Series. Vol. 18. Bloomington: Indiana University. p. 17.
  39. ↑ Bamgboṣe (1966), p. 166.

References