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 v  d  e  IPA vowel chartimage • File:Loudspeaker.svg audio
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
File:Blank vowel trapezoid.svg
[[[close fɾont unɾounded vowel|i]]] • [[[close fɾont ɾounded vowel|y]]]
[[[close centɾal unɾounded vowel|ɨ]]] • [[[close centɾal ɾounded vowel|ʉ]]]
[[[close back unɾounded vowel|ɯ]]] • [[[close back ɾounded vowel|u]]]
[[[neaɾ-close neaɾ-fɾont unɾounded vowel|ɪ]]] • [[[neaɾ-close neaɾ-fɾont ɾounded vowel|ʏ]]]
[[[neaɾ-close centɾal unɾounded vowel|ɪ̈]]] • [[[neaɾ-close centɾal ɾounded vowel|ʊ̈]]]
 • [[[neaɾ-close neaɾ-back ɾounded vowel|ʊ]]]
[[[close-mid fɾont unɾounded vowel|e]]] • [[[close-mid fɾont ɾounded vowel|ø]]]
[[[close-mid centɾal unɾounded vowel|ɘ]]] • [[[close-mid centɾal ɾounded vowel|ɵ]]]
[[[close-mid back unɾounded vowel|ɤ]]] • [[[close-mid back ɾounded vowel|o]]]
[[[mid-centɾal vowel|ə]]]
[[[open-mid fɾont unɾounded vowel|ɛ]]] • [[[open-mid fɾont ɾounded vowel|œ]]]
[[[open-mid centɾal unɾounded vowel|ɜ]]] • [[[open-mid centɾal ɾounded vowel|ɞ]]]
[[[open-mid back unɾounded vowel|ʌ]]] • [[[open-mid back ɾounded vowel|ɔ]]]
[[[neaɾ-open fɾont unɾounded vowel|æ]]] •
[[[neaɾ-open centɾal vowel|ɐ]]]
[[[open fɾont unɾounded vowel|a]]] • [[[open fɾont ɾounded vowel|ɶ]]]
[[[open back unɾounded vowel|ɑ]]] • [[[open back ɾounded vowel|ɒ]]]
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open

[ɶnbsp;•ɶ#ɜø;] Where vowels are paired, the one on the left is unrounded and the one on the right rounded.

A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel. The only mid vowel with a dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the mid central vowel ə, a symbol which is also used for the vowel schwa.

The IPA divides the vowel space into thirds, with the close-mid vowels such as e or o and the open-mid vowels such as ɛ or ɔ equidistant in formant space between open a and close i or u. Thus a true mid front vowel could be transcribed as either a lowered or a raised ɛ̝.

Few languages contrast all three heights of mid vowel, since it is rare for a language to distinguish more than four heights of true front or back vowels. One, the Amstetten dialect of Bavarian German, contrasts four heights of front unrounded, front rounded, and back vowels in addition to having an open central vowel. These have been transcribed with the available IPA symbols [/i e ɛ æ/], [/y ø œ ɶ/], [/u o ɔ ɑ/], and [/a/].

Amstetten Bavarian
(transcription)
Close [i] [y] [u]
Close-mid [e] [ø] [o]
Open-mid [ɛ] [œ] [ɔ]
Near open [æ] [ɶ̝] [ɑ̝]
Open [a]

However, the vowels transcribed [/æ ɶ ɑ/] are one-third the distance between open [/a/] and close [/i y u/], precisely the IPA definition of open-mid vowels ɛ œ ɔ. Thus Amstetten Bavarian may be an example of a language that contrasts mid vowels with both open-mid and close-mid vowels.

Amstetten Bavarian
(formant space)
Close [i] [y] [u]
Close-mid [e] [ø] [o]
Mid [e̞] [ø̞] [o̞]
Open-mid [ɛ] [œ] [ɔ]
Open [a]

See also[]

  • Lowered (phonetics)
  • Raised (phonetics)


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ar:مصوت متوسط br:Vogalenn etre bg:Междинна гласна fr:Voyelle moyenne it:Vocale media he:תנועות אמצעיות ms:Vokal tengah nl:Middenklinker no:Sentral vokal ru:Гласные среднего подъёма sr:Средњи самогласник uk:Голосний середнього піднесення zh:中元音

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