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Legend: unrounded • rounded |
A back vowel is any in a class of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark vowels because they are perceived as sounding darker than the front vowels.
Near-back vowels are essentially a type of back vowels; no language is known to contrast back and near-back vowels based on backness alone.
The category "back vowel" comprises both raised vowels and retracted vowels.
Articulation
In their articulation, back vowels do not form a single category, but may be either raised vowels such as [u] or retracted vowels such as [ɑ].
Partial list
The back vowels that have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:
- close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]
- close back protruded vowel [u]
- near-close back protruded vowel [ʊ]
- close-mid back unrounded vowel [ɤ]
- close-mid back protruded vowel [o]
- open-mid back unrounded vowel [ʌ]
- open-mid back rounded vowel [ɔ]
- open back unrounded vowel [ɑ]
- open back rounded vowel [ɒ]
There also are back vowels that do not have dedicated symbols in the IPA:
- close back compressed vowel [ɯᵝ] or [uᵝ]
- near-close back unrounded vowel [ɯ̽] or [ʊ̜]
- near-close back compressed vowel [ɯ̽ᵝ] or [ʊᵝ]
- close-mid back compressed vowel [ɤᵝ] or [oᵝ]
- mid back unrounded vowel [ɤ̞] or [ʌ̝]
- mid back rounded vowel [o̞] or [ɔ̝]
As here, other back vowels can be transcribed with diacritics of relative articulation applied to letters for neighboring vowels, such as ⟨u̞⟩, ⟨o̝⟩ or ⟨ʊ̠⟩ for a near-close back rounded vowel.
Occurrence
According to PHOIBLE, the most common phonemic back vowel is /u/, occurring in approximately 88% of languages, while the most uncommon phonemic back vowel is /ɒ/, occurring in only 2% of recorded inventories.
| Vowel | % |
|---|---|
| /u/ | 88 |
| /o/ | 60 |
| /ɔ/ | 35 |
| /ʊ/ | 14 |
| /ɑ/ | 7 |
| /ɯ/ | 6 |
| /ʌ/ | 4 |
| /ɤ/ | 3 |
| /ɒ/ | 2 |
See also
- Front vowel
- Central vowel
- List of phonetics topics
- Relative articulation
References
- Tsur, Reuven (February 1992). The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception. Duke University Press. p. 20. ISBN 978-0-8223-1170-6.
- Scott Moisik, Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins, & John H. Esling (2012) "The Epilaryngeal Articulator: A New Conceptual Tool for Understanding Lingual-Laryngeal Contrasts"
- Steven Moran and Daniel McCloy, ed. (2019). PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
IPA VowelsFront Central BackClose i y ɨ ʉ ɯ uNear close ɪ ʏ ʊClose mid e o ɘ ɵ ɤ oMid e o e ɤ o Open mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔNear open ae ɐOpen a ɶ a ɑ ɒIPA help audio full chart template Legend unrounded roundedThis article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters A back vowel is any in a class of vowel sound used in spoken languages The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant Back vowels are sometimes also called dark vowels because they are perceived as sounding darker than the front vowels Near back vowels are essentially a type of back vowels no language is known to contrast back and near back vowels based on backness alone The category back vowel comprises both raised vowels and retracted vowels ArticulationIn their articulation back vowels do not form a single category but may be either raised vowels such as u or retracted vowels such as ɑ Partial listThe back vowels that have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are close back unrounded vowel ɯ close back protruded vowel u near close back protruded vowel ʊ close mid back unrounded vowel ɤ close mid back protruded vowel o open mid back unrounded vowel ʌ open mid back rounded vowel ɔ open back unrounded vowel ɑ open back rounded vowel ɒ There also are back vowels that do not have dedicated symbols in the IPA close back compressed vowel ɯᵝ or uᵝ near close back unrounded vowel ɯ or ʊ near close back compressed vowel ɯ ᵝ or ʊᵝ close mid back compressed vowel ɤᵝ or oᵝ mid back unrounded vowel ɤ or ʌ mid back rounded vowel o or ɔ As here other back vowels can be transcribed with diacritics of relative articulation applied to letters for neighboring vowels such as u o or ʊ for a near close back rounded vowel OccurrenceAccording to PHOIBLE the most common phonemic back vowel is u occurring in approximately 88 of languages while the most uncommon phonemic back vowel is ɒ occurring in only 2 of recorded inventories Back vowel occurrences Vowel u 88 o 60 ɔ 35 ʊ 14 ɑ 7 ɯ 6 ʌ 4 ɤ 3 ɒ 2See alsoFront vowel Central vowel List of phonetics topics Relative articulationReferencesTsur Reuven February 1992 The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception Duke University Press p 20 ISBN 978 0 8223 1170 6 Scott Moisik Ewa Czaykowska Higgins amp John H Esling 2012 The Epilaryngeal Articulator A New Conceptual Tool for Understanding Lingual Laryngeal Contrasts Steven Moran and Daniel McCloy ed 2019 PHOIBLE 2 0 Jena Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
