Open central unrounded vowel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Open central unrounded vowel
ä
ɐ̞
IPA Number304 415
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ä
Unicode (hex)U+00E4
X-SAMPAa_" or a

The open central unrounded vowel, or low central unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. While the International Phonetic Alphabet officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between front [a] and back [ɑ], it is normally written a. If precision is required, it can be specified by using diacritics, typically centralized ä.

However, it has been argued that the purported distinction between a front and central open vowel is based on outdated phonetic theories, and that cardinal [a] is the only open vowel, while [ɑ], like [æ], is a near-open vowel.[2][clarification needed]

It is usual to use plain a for an open central vowel and, if needed, æ for an open front vowel. Sinologists may use the letter (small capital A). The IPA has voted against officially adopting this symbol in 1976, 1989, and 2012.[3][4][5]

Features[edit]

  • 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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel. This often subsumes open (low) front vowels, because the tongue does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does for the close (high) vowels; the difference between an open front vowel and an open back vowel is equal to the difference between a close front and a close central vowel, or a close central and a close back vowel.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence[edit]

Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. Because the IPA uses ⟨a⟩ for both front and central unrounded open vowels, it is not always clear whether a particular language uses the former or the latter. However, there may not actually be a difference. (See Vowel#Acoustics.)

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Burmese[6] မာ / ma [mä] 'hard' Oral allophone of /a/ in open syllables; realized as near-open [ɐ] in other environments.[6]
Catalan sac [säk] 'bag' See Catalan phonology
Chinese Mandarin[7] tā [tʰä˥] 'collapse' See Standard Chinese phonology
Czech[8][9] prach [präx] 'dust' See Czech phonology
Danish Standard[10] barn [ˈpɑ̈ːˀn] 'child' Typically transcribed in IPA with ɑː. See Danish phonology
Dutch[11][12] zaal [zäːɫ] 'hall' Ranges from front to central;[11] in non-standard accents it may be back. See Dutch phonology
English Australian[13] bra [bɹɐ̞ː] 'bra' Typically transcribed in IPA with ɐː. See Australian English phonology
East Anglian[14] Used mostly by middle-class speakers; can be front [] instead.[14]
General American[15] In the Midwest. Can be back [ɑː] instead.[15]
New Zealand[16][17] Can be more front [a̠ː] and/or higher [ɐ̟ː ~ ɐː] instead.[16][17] It may be transcribed in IPA with ɐː. See New Zealand English phonology
Some Canadian and Californian speakers[18][19] trap [t̠ɹ̝̊äp̚] 'trap' See Canadian Shift and English phonology
Some English English speakers[20][21] [t̠ɹ̝̊äʔp] Used in Multicultural London English and Northern England English.[20][21] More front [æ ~ a] in other dialects.
French Parisian[22][23] patte [pät̪] 'paw' Older speakers have two contrastive open vowels: front /a/ and back /ɑ/.[23] See French phonology
German[24][25] Katze [ˈkʰät͡sə] 'cat' Can be more front or more back in regional Standard German.[26] See Standard German phonology
Hindi आकार / akaar [äkäːɾ] 'shape' Contrasts with the Mid-central vowel [ə]. See Hindi phonology.
Hungarian[27] láb [läːb] 'leg' See Hungarian phonology
Italian[28] casa [ˈkäːsä] 'home' See Italian phonology
Japanese[29] / ka [kä] 'mosquito' See Japanese phonology
Limburgish Hamont-Achel dialect[30] zaak [ˈzǎ̠ːk] 'business' Front [] in other dialects.
Lithuanian ratas [räːtɐs̪] 'wheel' See Lithuanian phonology
Malay Standard رق / rak [räʔ] 'shelf' See Malay phonology
Kelantan-Pattani سست / sesat [səˈsäʔ] 'lost' See Kelantan-Pattani Malay
Malayalam വാൾ [ʋäːɭ̩] 'sword' See Malayalam phonology
Polish[31] kat [kät̪] 'executioner' See Polish phonology
Portuguese[32] vá [vä] 'go' See Portuguese phonology
Romanian[33] cal [käl] 'horse' See Romanian phonology
Serbo-Croatian[34][35] пас / pas [pâ̠s̪] 'dog' See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Spanish[36] rata [ˈrät̪ä] 'rat' See Spanish phonology
Swedish Central Standard[37][38] bank [bäŋk] 'bank' Also described as front [a].[39][40] See Swedish phonology
Thai[41] บางกอก / baang-gɔ̀ɔk [bǟːŋ.kɔ̀ːk̚] 'Bangkok' See Thai phonology
Turkish[42] Standard at [ät̪] 'horse' Also described as back [ɑ].[43] See Turkish phonology
Welsh siarad [ʃäräd] 'talk' See Welsh phonology
Yoruba[44] àbá [ä̀.bä́] 'idea' See Yoruba phonology

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. ^ Geoff Lindsey, The vowel space, March 27, 2013
  3. ^ Wells (1976).
  4. ^ International Phonetic Association (1989), p. 74.
  5. ^ Keating (2012).
  6. ^ a b Watkins (2001), pp. 292–293.
  7. ^ Lee & Zee (2003), pp. 110–111.
  8. ^ Dankovičová (1999), p. 72.
  9. ^ Šimáčková, Podlipský & Chládková (2012), p. 228.
  10. ^ Grønnum (1998), p. 100.
  11. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2003), p. 104.
  12. ^ Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  13. ^ Cox & Fletcher (2017), pp. 64–65.
  14. ^ a b Trudgill (2004), p. 172.
  15. ^ a b Wells (1982), p. 476.
  16. ^ a b Bauer et al. (2007), p. 98.
  17. ^ a b Hay, Maclagan & Gordon (2008), pp. 21–23.
  18. ^ Esling & Warkentyne (1993), p. ?.
  19. ^ Boberg (2004), pp. 361–362.
  20. ^ a b Boberg (2004), p. 361.
  21. ^ a b Kerswill, Torgerson & Fox (2006), p. 30.
  22. ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
  23. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 226–227.
  24. ^ Kohler (1999), p. 87.
  25. ^ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 34.
  26. ^ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 64.
  27. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  28. ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 119.
  29. ^ Okada (1999), p. 117.
  30. ^ Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
  31. ^ Jassem (2003), p. 105.
  32. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  33. ^ Sarlin (2014), p. 18.
  34. ^ Kordić (2006), p. 4.
  35. ^ Landau et al. (1999), p. 67.
  36. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 256.
  37. ^ Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
  38. ^ Riad (2014), p. 35.
  39. ^ Bolander (2001), p. 55.
  40. ^ Rosenqvist (2007), p. 9.
  41. ^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993), p. 25.
  42. ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  43. ^ Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  44. ^ Bamgboṣe (1966), p. 166.

References[edit]

  • Arvaniti, Amalia (2007), "Greek Phonetics: The State of the Art" (PDF), Journal of Greek Linguistics, 8: 97–208, CiteSeerX 10.1.1.692.1365, doi:10.1075/jgl.8.08arv, archived from the original (PDF) on 2013-12-11
  • Bamgboṣe, Ayọ (1966), A Grammar of Yoruba, [West African Languages Survey / Institute of African Studies], Cambridge: Cambridge University Press
  • Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul; Bardsley, Dianne; Kennedy, Marianna; Major, George (2007), "New Zealand English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (1): 97–102, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002830
  • Boberg, Charles (2004), "English in Canada: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 351–366, ISBN 978-3-11-017532-5
  • Bolander, Maria (2001), Funktionell svensk grammatik (1st ed.), Liber AB, ISBN 9789147050543
  • Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003) [First published 1981], The Phonetics of English and Dutch (5th ed.), Leiden: Brill Publishers, ISBN 978-9004103405
  • Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2013) [First published 2003], Practical Phonetics and Phonology: A Resource Book for Students (3rd ed.), Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-50650-2
  • Cox, Felicity; Fletcher, Janet (2017) [First published 2012], Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-316-63926-9
  • Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223, S2CID 249414876
  • Dankovičová, Jana (1999), "Czech", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 70–74
  • Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962], Das Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (7th ed.), Berlin: Dudenverlag, ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4
  • Engstrand, Olle (1999), "Swedish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the usage of the International Phonetic Alphabet., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 140–142, ISBN 978-0-521-63751-0
  • Esling, John H.; Warkentyne, Henry J. (1993), "Retracting of /æ/ in Vancouver English", in Clarke, Sandra (ed.), Focus on Canada, Varieties of English Around the World, John Benjamins Publishing Company, ISBN 978-1556194429
  • Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, S2CID 249404451
  • Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (2005), Turkish: a comprehensive grammar, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415114943
  • Grønnum, Nina (1998), "Illustrations of the IPA: Danish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28 (1 & 2): 99–105, doi:10.1017/s0025100300006290, S2CID 249412109
  • Hay, Jennifer; Maclagan, Margaret; Gordon, Elizabeth (2008), New Zealand English, Dialects of English, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2529-1
  • International Phonetic Association (1989), "Report on the 1989 Kiel Convention", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 19 (2): 67–80, doi:10.1017/S0025100300003868, S2CID 249412330
  • Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
  • Keating, Patricia (2012), "IPA Council votes against new IPA symbol", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (2): 245, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000114
  • Kerswill, Paul; Torgerson, Eivind; Fox, Sue (2006), "Innovation in inner‐London teenage speech", NWAV35, Columbus
  • Kohler, Klaus J. (1999), "German", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 86–89, ISBN 978-0-521-65236-0
  • Labov, William; Ash, Sharon; Boberg, Charles (2006), The Atlas of North American English, Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-016746-7
  • Landau, Ernestina; Lončarića, Mijo; Horga, Damir; Škarić, Ivo (1999), "Croatian", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 66–69, ISBN 978-0-521-65236-0
  • Lee, Wai-Sum; Zee, Eric (2003), "Standard Chinese (Beijing)", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (1): 109–112, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001208
  • Mangold, Max (2005), Das Aussprachewörterbuch, Duden, p. 37, ISBN 9783411040667
  • Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
  • Moosmüller, Sylvia; Schmid, Carolin; Brandstätter, Julia (2015), "Standard Austrian German", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 45 (3): 339–348, doi:10.1017/S0025100315000055
  • Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0
  • Riad, Tomas (2014), The Phonology of Swedish, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-954357-1
  • Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
  • Rosenqvist, Håkan (2007), Uttalsboken: svenskt uttal i praktik och teori, Stockholm: Natur & Kultur, ISBN 978-91-27-40645-2
  • Sarlin, Mika (2014) [First published 2013], "Sounds of Romanian and their spelling", Romanian Grammar (2nd ed.), Helsinki: Books on Demand GmbH, pp. 16–37, ISBN 978-952-286-898-5
  • Šimáčková, Šárka; Podlipský, Václav Jonáš; Chládková, Kateřina (2012), "Czech spoken in Bohemia and Moravia" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (2): 225–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000102
  • Szende, Tamás (1994), "Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 24 (2): 91–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005090, S2CID 242632087
  • Tingsabadh, M.R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur (1993), "Thai", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (1): 24–28, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004746, S2CID 242001518
  • Trudgill, Peter (2004), "The dialect of East Anglia: Phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 163–177, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
  • Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 245, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002173
  • Verhoeven, Jo (2007), "The Belgian Limburg dialect of Hamont", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (2): 219–225, doi:10.1017/S0025100307002940
  • Watkins, Justin W. (2001), "Illustrations of the IPA: Burmese" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 31 (2): 291–295, doi:10.1017/S0025100301002122, S2CID 232344700
  • Wells, John C. (1976), "The Association's Alphabet", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 6 (1): 2–3, doi:10.1017/S0025100300001420, S2CID 249403800
  • Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511611766. ISBN 0-52128541-0 .
  • Zimmer, Karl; Orgun, Orhan (1999), "Turkish" (PDF), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 154–158, ISBN 978-0-521-65236-0, archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-07-25, retrieved 2015-04-12
  • Kordić, Snježana (2006), Serbo-Croatian, Languages of the World/Materials; 148, Munich & Newcastle: Lincom Europa, ISBN 978-3-89586-161-1

External links[edit]