Front
Near- front
Central
Near- back
Back
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents
a rounded vowel. Vowel length is indicated by appending ː
IPA – number
304
IPA – text
a
IPA – image
Entity
a
X-SAMPA
a
Kirshenbaum
a
Sound sample (help·info)
The open front unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is a, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is a.
This symbol is very frequently used for an open central unrounded vowel, and this usage is accepted by the International Phonetic Association.[citation needed] Since no language distinguishes front from central open vowels, a separate symbol is not considered necessary. If required, the difference may be specified with the central diacritic, [ä], or the retracted diacritic, [a̠] (see Centralized vowels). Many Sinologists use an unofficial symbol [ᴀ] (small capital A) alternatively (see Obsolete and nonstandard symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet).
Features
- Its vowel height is open, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth.
- Its vowel backness is front which means the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. This subsumes central open vowels because the tongue does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does for the close 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.
- Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
Occurrence
Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. For languages that have only a single low vowel, the symbol for this vowel <a> may be used because it is the only low vowel whose symbol is part of the basic Latin alphabet. Whenever marked as such, the vowel is closer to a central [ä] than to a front [a].
Language
Word
IPA
Meaning
Notes
Arabic
Standard[1]
عاد
[ʕäːd̪d̪]
'came back'
See Arabic phonology
Bengali
পা pa
[pa]
'foot', 'leg'
See Bengali
Catalan[2]
sac
[säk]
'sack'
See Catalan phonology
Chinese
Cantonese
沙/saa1
[saː˥]
'sand'
See Cantonese phonology
Mandarin
他/tā
[tʰa˥]
'he'
See Mandarin phonology
Croatian
patka
[pätkä]
'duck'
Czech
amerika
[ämɛrɪkä]
'America'
Dutch
zaal
[zäːl]
'hall'
In some dialects, this may actually be a back vowel. See Dutch phonology
English
Southern American
time
[tʰäːm]
'time'
Inland Northern American
stock
[stak]
'stock'
See Northern cities vowel shift
Australian
car
[kʰäː]
'car'
Boston
Canadian
stack
[stak]
'stack'
Depending on the region, the quality may vary from front to central or even further back; the length may also vary (for example, it is shorter in Scottish than in Canadian); many speakers may have [æ] instead. For the Canadian vowel, see Canadian Shift.
Scottish
Northern English
Irish
Jamaican
Welsh
French[3]
patte
[pät]
'paw'
See French phonology.
German
Rat
[ˈʀaːt]
'advice'
In some dialects, this may actually be a back vowel. See German phonology
Greek
ακακία
[akaˈciˌa]
'acacia'
See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew
פח
[päχ]
'garbage can'
Hebrew vowels are not shown in the script, see Niqqud and Hebrew phonology
Hungarian
káka
[kaːkɑ]
'juncus'
See Hungarian phonology
Igbo
ákụ
[ákú̙]
'kernal'
Italian[4]
bara
[ˈbäːrä]
'coffin'
See Italian phonology
Japanese
蚊/ka
[kä]
'mosquito'
See Japanese phonology
Malay
api
[api]
'fire'
Polish[5]
kat
[kät] (help·info)
'executioner'
See Polish phonology
Portuguese[6]
vá
[vä]
'go'(3rd sg)
See Portuguese phonology
Romanian
cal
[käl]
'horse'
See Romanian phonology
Russian
там
[tam]
'there'
See Russian phonology
Serbian
лако/lako
[ˈlakɔ]
'easily'
Scottish Gaelic
slat
[slät]
'yard'
Spanish[7]
rata
[ˈrätä]
'rat'
See Spanish phonology
Swedish
bank
[ˈbaŋːk]
'bank'
See Swedish phonology
Turkish
at
[ät]
'horse'
See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese
sa
[sa]
'gauze'
Variety: [ʂa]. See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh
mam
[mam]
'mother'
See Welsh phonology
Zapotec
Tilquiapan[8]
na
[na]
'now'
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
- Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259
- Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquipan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107–114
- Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121
- Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37–41
