Open back unrounded vowel

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.

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

The open back unrounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the pharyngeal approximant [ʕ̞]. ⟨ɑ̯⟩ with the non-syllabic diacritic and ⟨ʕ̞⟩ are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.

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
  • 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
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AfrikaansStandard[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'
ArabicStandard[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]
ArmenianEastern[7]հաց / hacʿ[hɑt͡sʰ]'bread'
Azerbaijani[2]qardaş[ɡɑ̝ɾˈd̪ɑ̝ʃ]'brother'Near-open.[2]
Bashkir ҡаҙ / qað [qɑð]ⓘ 'goose'
CatalanMany 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.
ChineseMandarin[13]棒 / bàng[pɑŋ˥˩]ⓘ'stick'Allophone of /a/ before /ŋ/.[13] See Standard Chinese phonology
DutchStandard[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.
EnglishCardiff[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]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
FaroeseSome 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
FrenchConservative 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/.
GermanStandard[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
GreekSfakian[43]μπύρα / býra[ˈbirɑ]"beer"Corresponds to central [ä ~ ɐ] in Modern Standard Greek.[44][45] See Modern Greek phonology
HungarianSome dialects[46]magyar[ˈmɑɟɑr]'Hungarian'Weakly rounded [ɒ] in standard Hungarian.[47] See Hungarian phonology
InuitWest 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].
Kazakhalma[ɑ̝ɫ̪ˈmɑ̝]'apple'Can be realised as near-open.
Kaingang[49]ga[ᵑɡɑ]'land, soil'Varies between back [ɑ] and central [ɐ].[50]
Khmerស្ករ / 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
MalayKedah[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
PortugueseSome Azorean dialectssemana[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
Sema[61]amqa[à̠mqɑ̀]'lower back'Possible realization of /a/ after uvular stops.[61]
SwedishSome dialectsjаg[jɑːɡ]'I'Weakly rounded [ɒ̜ː] in Central Standard Swedish.[62] See Swedish phonology
Toda[5]ஆந[ɑ̝ːn]'elephant'Near-open.[5]
Turkish[63]at[ɑt̪]'horse'Also described as central [ä].[64] See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[65]мати / maty[ˈmɑtɪ]'mother'See Ukrainian phonology
Vietnamese Some dialects in North Central and Central gà [ɣɑ˨˩] 'chicken' See Vietnamese phonology[66][67]
West FrisianStandard[68]lang[ɫɑŋ]'long'Also described as central [ä].[69] See West Frisian phonology
Aastersk[70]maat[mɑːt]'mate'Contrasts with a front /aː/.[70] See West Frisian phonology

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. Mokari & Werner (2016), p. 509.
  3. Asu & Teras (2009), p. 368.
  4. Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 70.
  5. Shalev, Ladefoged & Bhaskararao (1993), p. 92.
  6. Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/".
  7. Thelwall & Sa'Adeddin (1990), p. 39.
  8. Francisco (2019), p. 74.
  9. Saborit (2009), p. 10.
  10. Rafel (1999), p. 14.
  11. Recasens (1996), pp. 90–92.
  12. Recasens (1996), pp. 131–132.
  13. Mou (2006), p. 65.
  14. Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  15. Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  16. Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  17. Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 78, 104, 133.
  18. Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 104, 133.
  19. Collins & Mees (2003), p. 136.
  20. Collins & Mees (1990), p. 95.
  21. 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. "Glossary". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  28. Árnason (2011), pp. 69, 79.
  29. 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. Walker (1984), p. 53.
  35. Regueira (1996), p. 122.
  36. 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. 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. Fortescue (1990), p. 317.
  49. Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
  50. Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676, 682.
  51. Peters (2006), p. 119.
  52. Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 110.
  53. Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
  54. Prehn (2012), p. 157.
  55. Zaharani Ahmad (1991).
  56. Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17.
  57. Kvifte & Gude-Husken (2005), p. 4.
  58. Vanvik (1979), pp. 16–17.
  59. Galastri (2011), p. 21.
  60. Jones & Ward (1969), p. 50.
  61. Teo (2014), p. 28.
  62. Engstrand (1999), p. 141.
  63. Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  64. Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  65. Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  66. 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
  67. 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
  68. de Haan (2010), p. 333.
  69. Visser (1997), p. 14.
  70. van der Veen (2001), p. 102.

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