Close-mid back rounded vowel | |
---|---|
o | |
IPA number | 307 |
Encoding | |
Entity (decimal) | o |
Unicode (hex) | U+006F |
X-SAMPA | o |
Kirshenbaum | o |
Braille | ![]() |
Listen | |
The close-mid back rounded vowel, or high-mid back rounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨o⟩.
For the close-mid back rounded vowel that is usually transcribed with the symbol ⟨ʊ⟩ or ⟨u⟩, see near-close back rounded vowel. If the usual symbol is ⟨o⟩, the vowel is listed here.
The close-mid back protruded vowel is the most common variant of the close-mid back rounded vowel. It is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨o⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, the symbol for the close-mid back rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨ ̫⟩, can be used as an ad hoc symbol ⟨o̫⟩ for the close-mid back protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is ⟨oʷ⟩ or ⟨ɤʷ⟩ (a close-mid back vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
For the close-mid near-back protruded vowel that is usually transcribed with the symbol ⟨ʊ⟩, see near-close back protruded vowel. If the usual symbol is ⟨o⟩, the vowel is listed here.
IPA: Vowels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded |
Note: Because back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afrikaans | Standard[2] | bok | [bok] | 'goat' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. The height varies between close-mid [o] and mid [ɔ̝].[2] See Afrikaans phonology |
Bavarian | Amstetten dialect[3] | [example needed] | |||
Bulgarian[4] | уста | [os̪ˈt̪a] | 'mouth' | Unstressed allophone of /u/ and /ɔ/.[4] See Bulgarian phonology | |
Catalan[5] | sóc | [sok] | 'I am' | See Catalan phonology | |
Chinese | Shanghainese[6] | 瓜 | [ko˩] | 'melon' | Height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back compressed vowel.[6] |
Czech | Bohemian[7] | oko | [ˈoko] | 'eye' | Backness varies between back and near-back; may be realized as mid [o̞] instead.[7] See Czech phonology |
Danish | Standard[8][9] | kone | [ˈkʰoːnə] | 'wife' | Also described as near-close [o̝ː].[10][11] See Danish phonology |
Dutch | Standard Belgian[12] | kool | ![]() |
'cabbage' | In the Netherlands often diphthongized to [oʊ]. See Dutch phonology |
English | Australian[13] | yawn | [joːn] | 'yawn' | See Australian English phonology |
Cockney[14] | May be [oʊ] or [ɔo] instead. | ||||
New Zealand[15] | See New Zealand English phonology | ||||
South African[16] | General and Broad varieties. Cultivated SAE has a more open vowel. See South African English phonology | ||||
General American[17] | go | [ɡoː] | 'go' | Most often a closing diphthong [oʊ][17] | |
General Indian[18] | |||||
General Pakistani[19] | Varies between [oː ~ əʊ ~ ʊ]. | ||||
Singaporean[20] | |||||
Estonian[21] | tool | [toːlʲ] | 'chair' | See Estonian phonology | |
Faroese[22] | tola | [ˈtʰoːla] | 'to endure' | May be a diphthong [oɔː ~ oəː] instead.[23] See Faroese phonology | |
French[24][25] | réseau | ![]() |
'network' | See French phonology | |
German | Standard[26][27] | oder | ![]() |
'or' | See Standard German phonology |
Upper Saxon[28] | sondern | [ˈsɞ̝nd̥oˤn] | 'except' | Pharyngealized; corresponds to [ɐ] in Northern Standard German. The example word is from the Chemnitz dialect.[28] | |
Greek | Sfakian[29] | [example needed] | Corresponds to mid [o̞] in Modern Standard Greek.[30] See Modern Greek phonology | ||
Hungarian[31] | kór | [koːr] | 'disease' | See Hungarian phonology | |
Italian[32] | ombra | [ˈombrä] | 'shade' | See Italian phonology | |
Kaingang[33] | [pɪˈpo] | 'toad' | |||
Korean | 노래 / norae | [noɾε] | 'song' | See Korean phonology | |
Latin | Classical [34] | sol | [soːl] | 'sun' | |
Limburgish | Most dialects[35][36][37] | hoof | [ɦoːf] | 'garden' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. |
Lower Sorbian[38] | wocy | [ˈβ̞ot̪͡s̪ɪ] | '(two) eyes' | Diphthongized to [u̯ɔ] in slow speech.[38] | |
Luxembourgish[39] | Sonn | [zon] | 'sun' | Sometimes realized as open-mid [ɔ].[39] See Luxembourgish phonology | |
Minangkabau | sado | [sädoː] | 'all' | ||
Norwegian | Stavangersk[40] | lov | [lo̟ːʋ] | 'law' | Near-back.[40] See Norwegian phonology |
Urban East[41] | [loːʋ] | Also described as mid [o̞ː].[42][43] See Norwegian phonology | |||
Persian | لاک پشت | [lɒkpoʃt] | 'turtle' | ||
Portuguese[44] | dois | [d̪ojʃ] | 'two' | See Portuguese phonology | |
Saterland Frisian[45] | doalje | [ˈdo̟ːljə] | 'to calm' | Near-back; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩. Phonetically, it is nearly identical to /ʊ/ ([ʊ̞]). The vowel typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨oː⟩ is actually near-close [o̝ː].[45] | |
Shiwiar[46] | [example needed] | Allophone of /a/.[46] | |||
Slovak | Some speakers[47] | telefón | [ˈtɛ̝lɛ̝foːn] | 'telephone' | Realization of /ɔː/ reported to occur in dialects spoken near the river Ipeľ, as well as - under Hungarian influence - in some other speakers. Corresponds to mid [ɔ̝ː] in standard Slovak.[47] See Slovak phonology |
Slovene | moj | [mòːj] | 'my' | See Slovene phonology | |
Sotho[48] | pontsho | [pʼon̩t͡sʰɔ] | 'proof' | Contrasts close, near-close and close-mid back rounded vowels.[48] See Sotho phonology | |
Swedish | Central Standard[49][50] | åka | ![]() |
'travel' | Often diphthongized to [oə̯]. See Swedish phonology |
Ukrainian[51] | молодь | [ˈmɔlodʲ] | 'youth' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
Upper Sorbian[38][52] | Bóh | [box] | 'god' | Diphthongized to [u̯ɔ] in slow speech.[38][53] See Upper Sorbian phonology | |
West Frisian[54] | bok | [bok] | 'billy-goat' | See West Frisian phonology | |
Yoruba[55] | [example needed] |
Close-mid back compressed vowel | |
---|---|
o͍ | |
ɤᵝ |
There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, compression of the lips can be shown with ⟨β̞⟩ as ⟨ɤ͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous [ɤ] and labial compression) or ⟨ɤᵝ⟩ ([ɤ] modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic ⟨ ͍ ⟩ may also be used with a rounded vowel letter ⟨o͍⟩ as an ad hoc symbol, but 'spread' technically means unrounded.
Only Shanghainese is known to contrast it with the more typical protruded (endolabial) close-mid back vowel, but the height of both vowels varies from close to close-mid.[6]
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Chinese | Shanghainese[6] | 都 | [tɤᵝ˩] | 'capital' | Height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back protruded vowel.[6] |