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Open back unrounded vowel

From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Open back unrounded vowel
ɑ
Audio sample
Encoding
X-SAMPAA

The open back unrounded vowel is a sound used in some spoken languages. It is in English. For example, it is the al in balm, and in some dialects the a in bath.

Characteristics

[change | change source]
  • The vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned open to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
  • The vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned in the back.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Examples

[change | change source]
LanguageWordIPAMeaningNotes
AfrikaansStandard[1]daar[dɑːr]ⓘ'there'The quality varies between open near-back unrounded [ɑ̟ː], open back unrounded [ɑː] and even open back rounded [ɒː].[1] See Afrikaans phonology
Äiwookânongä[kɑnoŋæ]'I want'
ArabicStandard[2]طويل (ṭawīl)[tˤɑˈwiːl]ⓘ'tall'Allophone of long and short /a/ near emphatic consonants, depending on the speaker's accent. See Arabic phonology
Essaouira[3]قال (qāl)[qɑːl]'he said'One of the possible realisations of /ā/.[3]
ArmenianEastern[2]հաց (hacʿ)[hɑt͡sʰ]'bread'
Bashkirҡаҙ (qađ)[qɑð]ⓘ'goose'
CatalanMany dialects[4]pal[ˈpɑɫ]'stick'Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants.[4] See Catalan phonology
Some dialects[5][6]mà[ˈmɑ]'hand'More central ([ä] or [ɐ̞]) in other dialects; fully front [a] in Majorcan Catalan.[6] See Catalan phonology
Majorcan and Valencian (some speakers)[4]lloc[ˈʎ̟ɑk]'place'Unrounded allophone of /ɔ/ in some accents.[4] It can be centralized. See Catalan phonology
Southern Valencian[7]bou[ˈbɑw]'bull'Pronunciation of the vowel /ɔ/ before [w].[7] It can be centralized. See Catalan phonology
ChineseMandarin[8]棒 (bàng)[pɑŋ˥˩]ⓘ'stick'Allophone of /a/ before /ŋ/.[8] See Standard Chinese phonology
DutchStandard[9][10]bad[bɑt]ⓘ'bath'Backness varies among dialects; in the Standard Northern accent it is fully back.[11][9] In the Standard Belgian accent it is raised and fronted to [ɑ̝̈].[10] See Dutch phonology
Amsterdam[12]aap[ɑːp]'monkey'Corresponds to [aː ~ äː] in standard Dutch.
Antwerp[13]
Utrecht[13]
The Hague[14]nauw[nɑː]'narrow'Corresponds to [ʌu] in standard Dutch.
EnglishGeneral American[15]on[ɑn]'on'May be more front [ɑ̟ ~ ä], especially in accents without the cot-caught merger.[clarification needed] See English phonology
Cockney[16]palm[pɑːm]'palm'Fully back. It can be more front [ɑ̟ː] instead.
General South African[17]Fully back. Broad varieties usually produce a rounded vowel [ɒː ~ ɔː] instead, while Cultivated SAE prefers a more front vowel [ɑ̟ː ~ äː]. See South African English phonology
Cultivated
South African[18]		[pɑ̟ːm]Typically more front than cardinal [ɑ]. It may be as front as [äː] in some Cultivated South African and southern English speakers. See English phonology and South African English phonology
Received Pronunciation[19]
Non-local Dublin[20]back[bɑq]'back'Allophone of /a/ before velars for some speakers.[20]
FaroeseSome dialects[21]vátur[ˈvɑːtʊɹ]'wet'Corresponds to /ɔɑ/ in standard language.[21] See Faroese phonology
FrenchConservative Parisian[22][23]pas[pɑ]'not'Contrasts with /a/, but many speakers have only one open vowel [ä].[24] See French phonology
Quebec[25]pâte[pɑːt]ⓘ'paste'Contrasts with /a/.[25] See Quebec French phonology
Galician[26][27]irmán[iɾˈmɑŋ]'brother'Allophone of /a/ in contact with velar consonants.[26][27] See Galician phonology
Georgian[28]გუდა (guda)[k̬ud̪ɑ]'leather bag'Usually not fully back [ɑ], typically [ɑ̟] to [ä].[29] Sometimes transcribed as /a/.
GermanStandard[30]Gourmand[ɡ̊ʊʁˈmɑ̃ː]'gourmand'Nasalized; often realized as rounded [ɒ̃ː].[31] See Standard German phonology
Many speakers[32]nah[nɑː]'near'Used by speakers in Northern Germany, East Central Germany, Franconia and Switzerland.[32] Also a part of the Standard Austrian accent.[33] More front in other accents. See Standard German phonology
GreekSfakian[34]μπύρα (býra)[ˈbirɑ]"beer"Corresponds to central [ä ~ ɐ] in Modern Standard Greek.[35][36] See Modern Greek phonology
HindustaniHindiख़ास/khas[xɑːs]ⓘ'special'Allophone of [aː ~ ä]. More likely to be heard in serious speech or poetry. See Hindustani phonology.
Urduخاص/khas
HungarianSome dialects[37]magyar[ˈmɑɟɑr]'Hungarian'Weakly rounded [ɒ] in standard Hungarian.[38] See Hungarian phonology
InuitWest Greenlandic[39]oqarpoq[ɔˈqɑpːɔq̚]'he says'Allophone of /a/ before and especially between uvulars.[39] See Inuit phonology
ItalianSome Piedmont dialectscasa[ˈkɑːzɑ]'house'Allophone of /a/ which in Italian is largely realised as central [ä].
IrishMunster Dialectáit[ɑːtʲ]'place'See Irish phonology
Kaingang[40]ga[ᵑɡɑ]'land, soil'Varies between back [ɑ] and central [ɐ].[41]
Khmerស្ករ (skâr)[skɑː]'sugar'See Khmer phonology
Low German[42]al / aal[ɑːl]'all'Backness may vary among dialects.[42]
MalayKedah[43]mata[ma.tɑ]'eye'See Malay phonology
Kelantan-PattaniAllophone of syllable-final /a/ in open-ended words and before /k/ and /h/ codas. See Kelantan-Pattani Malay
Standardqari[qɑ.ri]'qari'Found only in certain Arabic loanwords and used by speakers who know Arabic. Normally replaced by [ä]. See Malay phonology
Norwegian[44][45]hat[hɑːt]'hate'The example word is from Urban East Norwegian. Central [äː] in some other dialects.[44][45][46] See Norwegian phonology
PortugueseSome Azorean dialectsnada[ˈnɑðɐ]'nothing'See Portuguese phonology
Paulista[47]vegetal[veʒeˈtɑw]'vegetable'Only immediately before [w].[47]
Russian[48]палка (palka)[ˈpɑɫkə]'stick'Occurs only before the hard /l/, but not when a palatalized consonant precedes. See Russian phonology
Scottish GaelicLewis[49]balach[ˈpɑl̪ˠəx]'boy'Allophone of [a] in proximity to broad sonorants.
Sema[50]amqa[à̠mqɑ̀]'lower back'Possible realization of /a/ after uvular stops.[50]
SwedishSome dialectsjag[jɑːɡ]'I'Weakly rounded [ɒ̜ː] in Central Standard Swedish.[51] See Swedish phonology
Turkish[52]at[ɑt̪]ⓘ'horse'Also described as central [ä].[53] See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[54]мати (maty)[ˈmɑtɪ]'mother'See Ukrainian phonology
VietnameseSome dialects in North Central and Centralgà[ɣɑ˨˩]'chicken'See Vietnamese phonology[55][56]
West FrisianStandard[57]lang[ɫɑŋ]'long'Also described as central [ä].[58] See West Frisian phonology
Aastersk[59]maat[mɑːt]'mate'Contrasts with a front /aː/.[59] See West Frisian phonology

References

[change | change source]
  1. 1 2 Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /a/".
  2. 1 2 Thelwall & Sa'Adeddin (1990), p. 39.
  3. 1 2 Francisco (2019), p. 74.
  4. 1 2 3 4 Saborit (2009), p. 10.
  5. ↑ Rafel (1999), p. 14.
  6. 1 2 Recasens (1996), pp. 90–92.
  7. 1 2 Recasens (1996), pp. 131–132.
  8. 1 2 Mou (2006), p. 65.
  9. 1 2 Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  10. 1 2 Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  11. ↑ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  12. ↑ Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 78, 104, 133.
  13. 1 2 Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 104, 133.
  14. ↑ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 136.
  15. ↑ Mannell, Cox & Harrington (2009).
  16. ↑ Wells (1982), p. 305.
  17. ↑ Lass (2002), p. 117.
  18. ↑ Lass (2002), p. 116-117.
  19. ↑ Roach (2004), p. 242.
  20. 1 2 "Glossary". Retrieved 10 February 2015.
  21. 1 2 Árnason (2011), pp. 69, 79.
  22. ↑ Ashby (2011), p. 100.
  23. ↑ Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 225–227.
  24. ↑ Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 226–227.
  25. 1 2 Walker (1984), p. 53.
  26. 1 2 Regueira (1996), p. 122.
  27. 1 2 Freixeiro Mato (2006), pp. 72–73.
  28. ↑ Shosted & Chikovani (2006), pp. 261–262.
  29. ↑ Aronson, Howard (1990), Georgian: A Reading Grammar (2nd ed.), Columbus, OH: Slavica
  30. ↑ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), pp. 34, 38.
  31. ↑ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 38.
  32. 1 2 Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 64.
  33. ↑ Moosmüller, Schmid & Brandstätter (2015), pp. 342–344.
  34. ↑ Trudgill (2009), pp. 83–84.
  35. ↑ Trudgill (2009), p. 81.
  36. ↑ Arvaniti (2007), pp. 25, 28.
  37. ↑ Vago (1980), p. 1.
  38. ↑ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  39. 1 2 Fortescue (1990), p. 317.
  40. ↑ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
  41. ↑ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676, 682.
  42. 1 2 Prehn (2012), p. 157.
  43. ↑ Zaharani Ahmad (1991).
  44. 1 2 Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17.
  45. 1 2 Kvifte & Gude-Husken (2005), p. 4.
  46. ↑ Vanvik (1979), pp. 16–17.
  47. 1 2 Galastri (2011), p. 21.
  48. ↑ Jones & Ward (1969), p. 50.
  49. ↑ Oftedal (1956), p. 53.
  50. 1 2 Teo (2014), p. 28.
  51. ↑ Engstrand (1999), p. 141.
  52. ↑ Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  53. ↑ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  54. ↑ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  55. ↑ Phạm, Andrea Hòa (2014), "Ngôn ngữ biến đổi và số phận của nguyên âm /a/ trong giọng Quảng Nam (Issues in Language change and the phonemic status of /a/ in the Quang Nam dialect)" (PDF), Tạp Chí Ngôn Ngữ (Journal of Vietnamese Linguistics) (in Vietnamese), 6: 10–18
  56. ↑ Phạm, Andrea Hòa (2016), "Sự biến âm trong vần tiếng Việt: thổ ngữ làng Hến, huyện Đức Thọ, tỉnh Hà Tĩnh [Sound change in Vietnamese rhymes: the dialect of Hến Village of Đức Thọ District, Hà Tĩnh Province]" (PDF), Tạp Chí Ngôn Ngữ Học (Journal of Vietnamese Linguistics) (in Vietnamese), 11: 7–28
  57. ↑ de Haan (2010), p. 333.
  58. ↑ Visser (1997), p. 14.
  59. 1 2 van der Veen (2001), p. 102.
[change | change source]
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