IPA – number 306
IPA – text ɔ
IPA – image
Entity ɔ
X-SAMPA O
Kirshenbaum O
Sound sample (help·info)

The open-mid back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɔ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is O. The IPA symbol is a turned letter c and both the symbol and the sound are commonly called "open-o". The name open-o represents the sound, in that it is like the sound represented by [o], the close-mid back rounded vowel, except it is more open. It also represents the symbol, which can be remembered as an o which has been "opened" by removing part of the closed circular shape.

Features

• Its vowel height is open-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel and a mid vowel.
• Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
• Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded.

Occurrence

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Albanian po [pɔ] 'yes'
Bengali বস [bɔʃ] 'sit' See Bengali phonology
Catalan[1] cosa [kɔzə] 'thing' See Catalan phonology
Chinese Cantonese 我/ngo5 [ŋɔː˩˧] 'I' See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin 我/wǒ [uɔ˨˩˦] 'I' See Mandarin phonology
Wu 跑 [bɔ˨˩˦] 'run'
Dutch bot [bɔt] 'bone' See Dutch phonology
English Australian hot [hɔt] 'hot' See Australian English phonology
GA bog [bɔɡ] 'bog' Some speakers. See English phonology
RP bore [bɔː] 'bore' See English phonology
Faroese góðan morgun! [ˌɡɔuwan ˈmɔɹɡʊn] 'good morning'
French[2] sort [sɔʀ] 'fate' See French phonology
Georgian[3] სწორი [st͡sʼɔɾi] 'correct'
German voll [fɔl] 'full' See German phonology
Italian[4] parola [paˈɾɔːla] 'word' See Italian phonology
Lao ບ [bɔː] 'origin'
Norwegian topp [tɔp] 'top' See Norwegian phonology
Occitan òme [ˈɔme] 'man'
Polish[5] kot [kɔt] (help·info) 'cat' See Polish phonology
Portuguese[6] só [sɔ] 'alone' See Portuguese phonology
Swedish moll [mɔl] (help·info) 'minor' see Swedish phonology
Tajik тоҷикӣ [tɔːdʒɪˈkiː] 'Tajik language'
Vietnamese to [tɔ̄] 'large' See Vietnamese phonology

See also

• List of phonetics topics

References

Bibliography

• Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1-2): 53–56 
• Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 (2): 90–94 
• Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73–76 
• Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107 
• Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121 
• Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255–264