An open vowel is a
vowel
A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (len ...
sound in which the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels (in U.S. terminology
) in reference to the low position of the tongue.
In the context of the
phonology
Phonology is the branch of linguistics that studies how languages or dialects systematically organize their sounds or, for sign languages, their constituent parts of signs. The term can also refer specifically to the sound or sign system of a ...
of any particular language, a ''low vowel'' can be any vowel that is more open than a
mid vowel. That is,
open-mid vowel
An open-mid vowel (also mid-open vowel, low-mid vowel, mid-low vowel or half-open vowel) is any in a class of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of an open-mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned one third ...
s,
near-open vowels, and open vowels can all be considered low vowels.
Partial list
The open vowels with dedicated symbols in the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standardized representation ...
are:
*
open front unrounded vowel
*
open front rounded vowel
The (near) open front rounded vowel, or (near) low front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound that has not been confirmed to be phonemic in any spoken language. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ...
[This vowel is not known to occur as a phoneme distinct from in any language.]
*
open back unrounded vowel
*
open back rounded vowel
There also are central vowels that do not have dedicated symbols in the IPA:
*
open central unrounded vowel or (commonly written as if it were
front)
*
open central rounded vowel
The near-open central vowel, or near-low central 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 rotated lowercase double-barrelled letter a.
...
There is no unambiguous way of transcribing the open central vowels (but see obsolete/nonstandard IPA
ᴀ). The diaeresis indicates ''centralization'', so could mean near-front and could mean near-back. However, in practice the diaeresis is assumed to mean central, while and are used for the front and back articulations, respectively.
The extremely rare contrast between open front, central and back unrounded vowels has been reported to occur in the
Hamont-Achel dialect
Hamont-Achel dialect ( nl, Hamonts-Achels, li, Haëmets-Achels) or Hamont-Achel Limburgish is the city dialect and variant of Limburgish spoken in the Belgian city of Hamont-Achel alongside the Dutch language (with which it is not mutually i ...
of
Limburgish, which features long versions of these sounds, as well as short versions of the open front and back vowels. The short versions do not contrast directly with the open central vowel, which can only be long.
See also
*
Close vowel
References
Bibliography
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{{IPA navigation
Vowels by height