The open back rounded vowel, or low 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 ⟨ɒ⟩. It is called Latin turned alpha being a rotated version of Latin alpha. It seems a "turned script a", being a rotated version of "script (cursive) a", which is the variant of a that lacks the extra stroke on top of a "printed a". Latin turned alpha a ⟨ɒ⟩ has its linear stroke on the left, whereas Latin alpha a ⟨ɑ⟩ (for its unrounded counterpart) has its linear stroke on the right.

Open back rounded vowel
ɒ
IPA number	313
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɒ
Unicode (hex)	U+0252
X-SAMPA	Q
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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 .mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul ul{display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist .mw-empty-li{display:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dt::after{content:": "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li::after{content:" · ";font-weight:bold}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li:last-child::after{content:none}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:first-child::before{content:" (";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dd li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt li:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dd:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li dt:last-child::after,.mw-parser-output .hlist li li:last-child::after{content:")";font-weight:normal}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol{counter-reset:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li{counter-increment:listitem}.mw-parser-output .hlist ol>li::before{content:" "counter(listitem)"\a0 "}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt ol>li:first-child::before,.mw-parser-output .hlist li ol>li:first-child::before{content:" ("counter(listitem)"\a0 "} IPA help  audio full chart template Legend: unrounded • rounded Features edit Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned far from the roof of the mouth – that is, low in the mouth. Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed. Occurrence edit Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Afrikaans Standard[2] daar [dɒːr] 'there' Fully back. Used by some speakers, particularly young female speakers of northern accents. Other speakers use an unrounded vowel [ɑː ~ ɑ̟ː].[2] See Afrikaans phonology Assamese কৰ / kor [kɒ̹ɹ] 'to do' An "over-rounded" [ɒ̹], with rounding as strong as that for [u].[3] May also be transcribed [ɔ]. Bulgarian Some Rhodopean dialects мъж/măž [ˈmɒʃʲ] 'man' Found as the unification of the Proto-Slavic *ǫ, *ę, *ъ and *ь. Standard Bulgarian has /ɤ̞/ for *ǫ and *ъ and /ɛ/ for *ę and *ь. Catalan Majorcan[4][5] dones [ˈd̪ɔ̞nəs] 'women' Main realization of /ɔ/ (also represented as /ɒ/). May be unrounded [ɑ] in Majorcan and some Southern Valencian dialects. See Catalan phonology Menorcan[4][5] Valencian[4][5] [ˈd̪ɔ̞nes] Some Valencian speakers[6] taula [ˈt̪ɑ̟wɫɔ̞̈] 'table' Can be realized as unrounded ([ʌ̞̈]). Dutch Leiden[7] bad [bɒ̝t] 'bath' Near-open fully back; may be unrounded [ɑ̝] instead.[7] It corresponds to [ɑ] in standard Dutch. Rotterdam[7] Some dialects[8] bot [bɒt] 'bone' Some non-Randstad dialects,[8] for example those of Den Bosch and Groningen. It is open-mid [ɔ] in standard Dutch. English South African[9] not [nɒ̜̈t] 'not' Near-back and weakly rounded.[9] Some younger speakers of the General variety may actually have a higher and fully unrounded vowel [ʌ̈].[9] See South African English phonology Conservative Received Pronunciation[10] [nɒt] Somewhat raised. Contemporary RP speakers pronounce a closer vowel [ɔ]. It is proposed that the /ɒ/ vowel of Conservative RP, which is normally described as a rounded vowel, is pronounced by some speakers without rounded lips for whom the characteristic quality is rather one of sulcality.[11] See English phonology Northern English[12] May be somewhat raised and fronted.[12] Canadian[13] Lot and thought have the same vowel in Canadian English; see cot–caught merger. thought [θɒt]ⓘ 'thought' General American Vowel /ɔ(:)/ is lowered (phonetic realization of /ɔ(:)/ is much lower in GA than in RP). However, "Short o" before r before a vowel (a short o sound followed by r and then another vowel, as in orange, forest, moral, and warrant) is realized as [oɹ~ɔɹ]. Inland Northern American[14] See Northern cities vowel shift Indian[15] [t̪ʰɒʈ] /ɒ/ and /ɔː/ differ entirely by length in Indian English. Welsh[16][17] [θɒːt] Open-mid in Cardiff; may merge with /oː/ in northern dialects. German Many speakers[18] Gourmand [ɡ̊ʊʁˈmɒ̃ː] 'gourmand' Nasalized; common phonetic realization of /ɑ̃ː/.[18] See Standard German phonology Many Swiss dialects[19] maane [ˈmɒːnə] 'remind' The example word is from the Zurich dialect, in which [ɒː] is in free variation with the unrounded [ɑː].[20] Hungarian Standard[21] magyar [ˈmɒ̜̽ɟɒ̜̽r] 'Hungarian' Somewhat fronted and raised, with only slight rounding; sometimes transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. Unrounded [ɑ] in some dialects.[22] See Hungarian phonology Ibibio[23] dọ [dɒ̝́] 'marry' Near-open;[23] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. Irish Ulster[24] ólann [ɒ̝ːɫ̪ən̪ˠ] '(he) drinks' Near-open;[24] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩. Istro-Romanian[25] cåp [kɒp] 'head' See Istro-Romanian pronunciation (in Romanian). Jeju[26] ᄒᆞ나 haona [hɒna] 'one' See Jeju phonology Lehali[27] dön̄ [ⁿdɒ̝ŋ] 'yam' Raised vowel, being the back rounded counterpart of /æ/ in a symmetrical vowel inventory.[27] Lemerig[28] ‘ān̄sār [ʔɒ̝ŋsɒ̝r] 'person' Raised vowel, being the back rounded counterpart of /æ/ in a symmetrical vowel inventory.[28] Limburgish Maastrichtian[29] plaots [plɒ̝ːts] 'place' Near-open fully back; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩.[29] Corresponds to [ɔː] in other dialects. Malay Kedah tua [tu.ɒ] 'old' Northern Kedah subdialect/dialect. Allophone of /a/ in word-final position in open-ended words and close-ended words that end with a glottal stop /ʔ/ or a glottal fricative /h/. Mansi Central/Northern ам [ɒm] 'me' The pronunciation of 'a' sometimes varies between /ɒ/ and /o/. Neapolitan[30] Vastese uâʃtə [uˈwɒʃtə] 'Vasto' Norwegian Urban East[31][32] topp [tʰɒ̝pː] 'top' Near-open,[31][32] also described as close-mid back [o].[33] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See Norwegian phonology Dialects along the Swedish border[34] hat [hɒ̜ːt] 'hate' Weakly rounded and fully back.[34] See Norwegian phonology Persian ف‍‍ارسی fârsi [fɒːɾˈsiː] 'Persian' Brazilian Portuguese Carioca ova [ˈɒːva] 'fish roe' Allophone of /ɔ/. See Portuguese phonology Slovak Some speakers[35] a [ɒ] 'and' Under Hungarian influence, some speakers realize the short /a/ as rounded.[35] See Slovak phonology Swedish Central Standard[36][37] jаg [jɒ̝ːɡ] 'I' Near-open fully back weakly rounded vowel.[36] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɑː⟩. See Swedish phonology Gothenburg[37] [jɒːɡ] More rounded than in Central Standard Swedish.[37] Uzbek Standard[38] choy [t͡ʃɒj] 'tea' Yoruba[39] itọju [itɒ̝ju] 'care' Near-open; most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. See also edit Turned a Index of phonetics articles Notes edit ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low". ^ a b Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/". ^ Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), pp. 293–294. ^ a b c Recasens (1996), pp. 81, 130–131. ^ a b c Rafel (1999), p. 14. ^ Saborit (2009), pp. 25–26. ^ a b c Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2003), p. 132. ^ a b c Lass (2002), p. 115. ^ Roach (2004), p. 242. ^ Lass, Roger (1984). Phonology: an introduction to basic concepts. p. 124. ^ a b Lodge (2009), p. 163. ^ Boberg (2004), p. 359. ^ W. Labov, S. Ash and C. Boberg (1997), A national map of the regional dialects of American English, Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved May 27, 2013 ^ Sailaja (2009), pp. 24–25. ^ Connolly (1990), p. 125. ^ Tench (1990), p. 135. ^ a b Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 38. ^ Krech et al. (2009), p. 263. ^ Fleischer & Schmid (2006), p. 248. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92. ^ Vago (1980), p. 1. ^ a b Urua (2004), p. 106. ^ a b Ní Chasaide (1999), p. 114. ^ Pop (1938), p. 29. ^ Yang, Changyong; Yang, Sejung; O'Grady, William (2020). Jejueo: the language of Korea's Jeju Island. Honolulu: University of Hawaiʻi Press. ISBN 978-0-8248-7443-8. ^ a b François (2011), p. 194. ^ a b François (2011), pp. 195, 208. ^ a b Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 158–159. ^ "Vastesi Language - Vastesi in the World". Vastesi in the World. Retrieved 21 November 2016. ^ a b Vanvik (1979), pp. 13, 17. ^ a b Kvifte & Gude-Husken (2005), p. 2. ^ Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17. ^ a b Popperwell (2010), p. 23. ^ a b Kráľ (1988), p. 54. ^ a b Engstrand (1999), pp. 140–141. ^ a b c Riad (2014), pp. 35–36. ^ Sjoberg, Andrée F. (1963). Uzbek Structural Grammar. Uralic and Altaic Series. Vol. 18. Bloomington: Indiana University. p. 17. ^ Bamgboṣe (1966), p. 166. References edit Bamgboṣe, Ayọ (1966), A Grammar of Yoruba, [West African Languages Survey / Institute of African Studies], Cambridge: Cambridge University Press Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul; Bardsley, Dianne; Kennedy, Marianna; Major, George (2007), "New Zealand English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (1): 97–102, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002830 Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (2003) [First published 1981], The Phonetics of English and Dutch (5th ed.), Leiden: Brill Publishers, ISBN 978-9004103405 Connolly, John H. (1990), "Port Talbot English", in Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan Richard (eds.), English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change, Multilingual Matters Ltd., pp. 121–129, ISBN 978-1-85359-032-0 Cox, Felicity; Fletcher, Janet (2017) [First published 2012], Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription (2nd ed.), Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-1-316-63926-9 Dudenredaktion; Kleiner, Stefan; Knöbl, Ralf (2015) [First published 1962], Das Aussprachewörterbuch (in German) (7th ed.), Berlin: Dudenverlag, ISBN 978-3-411-04067-4 Engstrand, Olle (1999), "Swedish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the usage of the International Phonetic Alphabet., Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 140–142, ISBN 978-0-521-63751-0 Fleischer, Jürg; Schmid, Stephan (2006), "Zurich German", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (2): 243–253, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002441 François, Alexandre (2011), "Social ecology and language history in the northern Vanuatu linkage: A tale of divergence and convergence" (PDF), Journal of Historical Linguistics, 1 (2): 175–246, doi:10.1075/jhl.1.2.03fra, hdl:1885/29283, S2CID 42217419 Gussenhoven, Carlos; Aarts, Flor (1999), "The dialect of Maastricht" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 29 (2): 155–166, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006526, S2CID 145782045 Hay, Jennifer; Maclagan, Margaret; Gordon, Elizabeth (2008), New Zealand English, Dialects of English, Edinburgh University Press, ISBN 978-0-7486-2529-1 Horvath, Barbara M. (2004), "Australian English: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 625–644, ISBN 978-3-11-017532-5 Kráľ, Ábel (1988), Pravidlá slovenskej výslovnosti, Bratislava: Slovenské pedagogické nakladateľstvo Krech, Eva Maria; Stock, Eberhard; Hirschfeld, Ursula; Anders, Lutz-Christian (2009), "7.3.10 Norwegisch", Deutsches Aussprachewörterbuch, Berlin, New York: Walter de Gruyter, ISBN 978-3-11-018202-6 Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5 Kvifte, Bjørn; Gude-Husken, Verena (2005) [First published 1997], Praktische Grammatik der norwegischen Sprache (3rd ed.), Gottfried Egert Verlag, ISBN 978-3-926972-54-5 Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6. Lass, Roger (2002), "South African English", in Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.), Language in South Africa, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521791052 Lodge, Ken (2009), A Critical Introduction to Phonetics, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-8873-2 Mahanta, Shakuntala (2012), "Assamese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 42 (2): 217–224, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000096 Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999), "Irish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 111–16, ISBN 978-0-521-63751-0 Pop, Sever (1938), Micul Atlas Linguistic Român, Muzeul Limbii Române Cluj Popperwell, Ronald G. (2010) [First published 1963], Pronunciation of Norwegian, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-15742-1 Rafel, Joaquim (1999), Aplicació al català dels principis de transcripció de l'Associació Fonètica Internacional (PDF) (3rd ed.), Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, ISBN 978-84-7283-446-0 Recasens, Daniel (1996), Fonètica descriptiva del català: assaig de caracterització de la pronúncia del vocalisme i el consonantisme català al segle XX (2nd ed.), Barcelona: Institut d'Estudis Catalans, ISBN 978-84-7283-312-8 Riad, Tomas (2014), The Phonology of Swedish, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-954357-1 Roach, Peter (2004), "British English: Received Pronunciation", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (2): 239–245, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001768 Saborit, Josep (2009), Millorem la pronúncia (in Catalan), Acadèmia Valenciana de la Llengua Sailaja, Pingali (2009), Indian English, Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press Ltd, pp. 17–38, ISBN 978-0-7486-2594-9 Scobbie, James M.; Gordeeva, Olga B.; Matthews, Benjamin (2006), Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: an overview, Edinburgh: QMU Speech Science Research Centre Working Papers Szende, Tamás (1994), "Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 24 (2): 91–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005090, S2CID 242632087 Tench, Paul (1990), "The Pronunciation of English in Abercrave", in Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan Richard (eds.), English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change, Multilingual Matters Ltd., pp. 130–141, ISBN 978-1-85359-032-0 Urua, Eno-Abasi E. (2004), "Ibibio", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 34 (1): 105–109, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001550 Vago, Robert M. (1980), The Sound Pattern of Hungarian, Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Press Vanvik, Arne (1979), Norsk fonetikk, Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo, ISBN 978-82-990584-0-7 Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. 2: The British Isles (pp. i–xx, 279–466). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511611759. ISBN 0-52128540-2 . Wissing, Daan (2016). "Afrikaans phonology – segment inventory". Taalportaal. Archived from the original on 15 April 2017. Retrieved 16 April 2017. Boberg, Charles (2004), "English in Canada: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, p. 359, ISBN 978-3-11-017532-5 External links edit List of languages with [ɒ] on PHOIBLE