Central vowel

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IPA: Vowels
Front Central Back Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o Mid e̞ ø̞ ə ɤ̞ o̞ Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ Near-open æ ɐ Open a ɶ ä ɑ ɒ
IPA help  audio full chart template Vowels beside dots are: unrounded • rounded

A central vowel, formerly also known as a mixed vowel, is any in a class of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel. (In practice, unrounded central vowels tend to be further forward and rounded central vowels further back.)

List[]

The central vowels that have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

• close central unrounded vowel [ɨ]
• close central protruded vowel [ʉ]
• close-mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ] (older publications may use ⟨ë⟩)
• close-mid central rounded vowel [ɵ] (older publications may use ⟨ö⟩)
• mid central vowel with ambiguous rounding [ə]
• open-mid central unrounded vowel [ɜ] (older publications may use ⟨ɛ̈⟩)
• open-mid central rounded vowel [ɞ] (older publications may use ⟨ɔ̈⟩)
• near-open central vowel with ambiguous rounding [ɐ] (typically used for an unrounded vowel; if precision is desired, ⟨ɜ̞⟩ may be used for an unrounded vowel and ⟨ɞ̞⟩ for a rounded vowel)

There also are central vowels that don't have dedicated symbols in the IPA:

• close central compressed vowel [ÿ]
• near-close central unrounded vowel [ɨ̞], [ɪ̈], [ɪ̠] or [ɘ̝] (unofficial symbol: ⟨ᵻ⟩)
• near-close central protruded vowel [ʉ̞], [ʊ̈], [ʊ̟] or [ɵ̝] (unofficial symbol: ⟨ᵿ⟩)
• near-close central compressed vowel [ʏ̈]
• mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ̞] or [ɜ̝] (commonly written ⟨ə⟩)
• mid central protruded vowel [ɵ̞] or [ɞ̝] (commonly written ⟨ɵ⟩ as if it were close-mid)
• mid central compressed vowel [əᵝ]
• open central unrounded vowel [ä] (commonly written ⟨a⟩ as if it were front)
• open central rounded vowel [ɒ̈]

Bibliography[]

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