The Latin turned alpha, also known as the turned script A (uppercase: Ɒ, lowercase: ɒ), is an additional letter of the

Latin script The Latin script, also known as the Roman script, is a writing system based on the letters of the classical Latin alphabet, derived from a form of the Greek alphabet which was in use in the ancient Greek city of Cumae in Magna Graecia. The Gree ...

, based on letters A and

Latin alpha Latin alpha (majuscule: Ɑ, minuscule: ɑ), script a, or single-story a is a letter of the Latin alphabet based on a handwritten form of lowercase a, and which is commonly typeset with the Greek lowercase alpha (α). Usage Although is norma ...

(Ɑ). Its lowercase variant is used in

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 standard written representation ...

Americanist phonetic notation Americanist phonetic notation, also known as the North American Phonetic Alphabet (NAPA), the Americanist Phonetic Alphabet or the American Phonetic Alphabet (APA), is a system of phonetic notation originally developed by European and American ...

Uralic Phonetic Alphabet Finno-Ugric transcription (FUT) or the Uralic Phonetic Alphabet (UPA) is a phonetic transcription or notational system used predominantly for the transcription and reconstruction of Uralic languages. It was first published in 1901 by Eemil Nesto ...

Teuthonista Teuthonista is a phonetic transcription system used predominantly for the transcription of High German languages, (High) German dialects. It is very similar to other Central European transcription systems from the early 20th century. The base cha ...

Swedish Dialect Alphabet The Swedish Dialect Alphabet () is a phonetic alphabet created in 1878 by Johan August Lundell and used for the narrow transcription of Swedish dialects. The initial version of the alphabet consisted of 89 letters, 42 of which came from the ...

, Dania, and Norvegia transcriptions. Its uppercase variant is used in the Americanist phonetic notation. The letter also appears in

Belter Creole Belter Creole, also simply known as Belter (Belter Creole: ), is a constructed language developed by the linguist and polyglot Nick Farmer for '' The Expanse'' television series. In the universe, it was spoken by Belters, inhabitants of the as ...

, a

constructed language A constructed language (shortened to conlang) is a language whose phonology, grammar, orthography, and vocabulary, instead of having developed natural language, naturally, are consciously devised for some purpose, which may include being devise ...

made by Nick Farmer for ''

The Expanse Expanse or The Expanse may refer to: Media and entertainment ''The Expanse'' franchise * ''The Expanse'' (novel series), a series of science fiction novels by James S. A. Corey * ''The Expanse'' (TV series), a television adaptation of the ...

'' television sci-fi series.

Usage

In the 1890s, Philipp Lenz used the turned alpha in his phonetic transcription to represent a very short vowel A. In

, Dania, and Norvegia transcriptions, the lowercase letter is used to represent the

near-open central 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-story a. In English ...

sound ().Manne Eriksson, ''Svensk ljudskrift 1878–1960: En översikt över det svenska landsmålsalfabetets utveckling och användning huvudsakligen i tidskriften Svenska Landsmål'', p. 149. It also appears in

transcription. In the

, the lowercase letter is used to represent the

open back rounded vowel 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 . It is called Latin turned alpha being a rotated v ...

sound, and is used for example, in the conventional phonemic transcription of the pronunciation of ''not'' in British

Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation (RP) is the Accent (sociolinguistics), accent of British English regarded as the Standard language, standard one, carrying the highest Prestige (sociolinguistics), social prestige, since as late as the beginning of the 2 ...

. Its usage was originally proposed in the 1900s and 1910s and was formally introduced in the 1920s.''The principles of the International Phonetic Association'', p. 18. It appeared in the 1939 ''Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England'', where it was used to represent the

(). It is also sometimes appeared in other works, where it was used in to denote the

open back unrounded vowel The open back unrounded vowel, or low back unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some Speech, spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is A ...

(). In the

the letter has its IPA value. The uppercase letter (Ɒ) is the same but

voiceless In linguistics, voicelessness is the property of sounds being pronounced without the larynx vibrating. Phonologically, it is a type of phonation, which contrasts with other states of the larynx, but some object that the word phonation implies v ...

.William A. Smalley, ''Manual of Articulatory Phonetics. Revised Edition'' p. 310.Lorna A. Priest, ''Proposal to encode two phonetic characters and two Shona characters'' The letter is also used in

, a

made by Nick Farmer for ''

'' television sci-fi series. It is sometimes used as an alternative variant for the digraph Ow, used to denote the

( � sound. For example, the alternative spelling of the word ''owkwa'', which means ''water'', would be ''ɒkwa''.

Encodings

References

Bibliography

* Philipp Lenz, ''Der Handschuhsheimer dialekt: Nachtrag zum wörterverzeichnis von 1887'', Darmstadt, G. Otto, 1892. * Manne Eriksson, ''Svensk ljudskrift 1878–1960: En översikt över det svenska landsmålsalfabetets utveckling och användning huvudsakligen i tidskriften Svenska Landsmål'', Stockholm, P. A. Norstedt & Söner, 1961. * ''The principles of the International Phonetic Association'', Paris, London, International Phonetic Association, 1912. * Martin Heepe, ''Lautzeichen und ihre Anwendung in verschiedenen Sprachgebieten'', Berlin, Reichsdruckerei, 1928. * Hans Kurath (director), Marcus L. Hansen, Julia Bloch, Bernard Bloch, ''Handbook of the Linguistic Geography of New England'', 1939. * William A. Smalley, ''Manual of Articulatory Phonetics. Revised Edition'', Lanham, MD, University Press of America, Inc., 1989. * Lorna A. Priest, ''Proposal to encode two phonetic characters and two Shona characters'', 2007. * Luanne von Schneidemesser, Lewis Lawyer, Ken Whistler, Deborah Anderson, ''Proposal for Two Phonetic Characters'' (no L2/12-266) {{Latin script, a A, Latin turned alpha Phonetic transcription symbols

Usage

Encodings

See also

References

Bibliography