Open back rounded vowel
ɒ
IPA number	313
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɒ
Unicode (hex)	U+0252
X-SAMPA	Q
Kirshenbaum	A.
Image
Sound

The open back rounded vowel, or low 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 ⟨ɒ⟩. This is called turned script a, because it is a rotated version of script a, so-called because it lacks the extra stroke on top of a printed 'a'. Turned script a, which has its linear stroke on the left, should not be confused with script a ⟨ɑ⟩, which has its linear stroke on the right and corresponds to an unrounded version of this vowel, the open back unrounded vowel. A well rounded [ɒ] is rare, though it is found in some varieties of English. In most languages with this vowel, such as English and Persian, the rounding of [ɒ] is slight, and in English at least it is sulcal or "grooved". However, Assamese has an "over-rounded" [ɒ̹] with rounding as strong as that for [u].

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low", and these are the only terms found in introductory textbooks on phonetics such as those by Peter Ladefoged.

Features [edit]

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ ə •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ æ ɐ •aɶ ä •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
This table contains phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
IPA help • IPA key • chart •  chart with audio • view

• Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth – that is, as low as possible in the mouth.
• 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.
• It's rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.

Occurrence [edit]

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Afrikaans	Transvaal	daar	[dɒːr]	'there'	Northern dialects.
Assamese		?	[pɒ̹t]	'to bury'
Catalan[1][2][3]	Majorcan	soc	[sɒk]	'clog'	Typically transcribed as /ɔ/. See Catalan phonology
	Minorcan
	Valencian
Dutch	Belgian	maar	[mɒːr]	'but'	Some dialects. Corresponds to [aː] in standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology
	Den Bosch	bot	[bɒt]	'bone'	Corresponds to [ɔ] in standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology
	Groningen
Dutch Low Saxon	Gronings	op	[ɒp]	'up', 'onto'	Pronounced [ɔ~o] in other dialects.
	Some dialects	taol	[tɒːɫ]	'language'	Higher [ɔː] in other dialects.
English	Boston	not	[nɒːt]	'not'
	New Zealand	hot	[hɒ̝ʔt] (help·info)	'hot'	Raised. Younger RP speakers may pronounce a closer vowel [ɔ]. See English phonology
	RP[4]
	South African	park	[pɒ̟k]	'park'	Some broad speakers.[5][6] Others pronounce [ɑː], excluding Cultivated speakers, which have [ɑ̈ː].
French	Quebec	gâteau	[ɡɒto]	'cake'	Allophone of /ɑ/. See Quebec French phonology
Hungarian[7]		magyar	[ˈmɒɟɒr]	'Hungarian'	See Hungarian phonology
Kol		öle	[ɒle]	'name'
Occitan	Auvergnat	país	[pɒˈji]	'country'
	Limousin				Some northern dialects
Persian		آب	[ɒːb]	'water'	See Persian phonology
Uzbek		dono	[dɒnɒ]	'wise'
Vietnamese		có	[kɒ]	'have'	See Vietnamese phonology
Waris		ov	[ɒβ]	'sky'
Western Desert	Martu Wangka	waŋka	[wɒŋɡɑ]	'talk'
West Frisian	Schiermonnikoogs [citation needed]	hanne	[ˈhɒnə]	'to'

See also [edit]

• Turned a
• Index of phonetics articles

Notes [edit]

References [edit]

v t e   International Phonetic Alphabet   IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association History of the IPA Extensions to the IPA Kiel convention (1989) Journal of the IPA (JIPA) Naming conventions Phonetics Diacritics Segments Tone letter Place of articulation Manner of articulation Special topics Case variants of IPA letters Handwritten IPA Obsolete and nonstandard symbols IPA chart for English dialects Encodings SAMPA X-SAMPA Conlang X-SAMPA Kirshenbaum TIPA Phonetic symbols in Unicode WorldBet IPA Braille   Consonants v t e IPA pulmonic consonantschart image • audio Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Radical Glottal ↓ Manner Bila­bial Labio-​dental Den​tal Alve​olar Post­alveolar Retro​flex Alveolo-​palatal Pal​a​tal Ve​lar Uvu​lar Pha​ryn​geal Epi​glot​tal Glot​tal Nasal m̥ m ɱ n̪ n̥ n n̠ ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̟ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ Stop p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Sibilant fricative s̪ z̪ s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ ð θ̱ ð̠ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j̊ j ɰ Flap or tap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̯ Trill ʙ r̥ r ɽ͡r ʀ ᴙ * Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ ꞎ * ʎ̝̊ ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝ Lateral approximant l̥ l ɭ ʎ̟ ʎ ʟ Lateral flap ɺ ɺ̢ * ʎ̯ ʟ̆ Non-pulmonic consonants Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ ʘ̃ ʘ̃ˀ ʘ͡q ʘ͡qʼ ‼ Implosives ɓ̥ ɓ ɗ̥ ɗ ᶑ ʄ̊ ʄ ɠ ʛ Ejectives pʼ t̪ʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ɬʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ tsʼ tɬʼ cʎ̝̥ʼ tʃʼ ʈʂʼ kxʼ kʟ̝̊ʼ qχʼ Affricates p̪f b̪v ts dz t̪s̪ d̪z̪ tθ dð tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ ʈʂ ɖʐ tɬ dɮ cç ɟʝ cʎ̥˔ kx ɡɣ kʟ̝̊ ɡʟ̝ qχ ɢʁ Co-articulated consonants Continuants ʍ w ɥ ɧ Occlusives k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m — These tables contain phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] — Where symbols appear in pairs, left–right represent the voiceless–voiced consonants. — Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible. — Symbols marked with an asterisk (*) are not defined in the IPA. Chart image Pulmonics Non-pulmonics Affricates Co-articulated   Vowels Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ ə •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ æ ɐ •aɶ ä •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open IPA help • chart •  chart with audio • view

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