
The close-mid back rounded vowel, or high-mid 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 ⟨o⟩.
Close-mid back rounded vowel | |
---|---|
o | |
IPA number | 307 |
Audio sample | |
source · help | |
Encoding | |
Entity (decimal) | o |
Unicode (hex) | U+006F |
X-SAMPA | o |
Braille | ![]() |
IPA: Vowels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend: unrounded • rounded |

Close-mid back protruded vowel
The close-mid back protruded vowel is the most common variant of the close-mid back rounded vowel. It is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨o⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, the symbol for the close-mid back rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨ ̫⟩, can be used as an ad hoc symbol ⟨o̫⟩ for the close-mid back protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is ⟨oʷ⟩ or ⟨ɤʷ⟩ (a close-mid back vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
In English, the symbol ⟨o⟩ is typically associated with the vowel in the "goat", but in Received Pronunciation and General American, that vowel is a diphthong whose starting point may be unrounded and more centered than [o].
For the close-mid near-back protruded vowel that is usually transcribed with the symbol ⟨ʊ⟩, see near-close back protruded vowel. If the usual symbol is ⟨o⟩, the vowel is listed here.
Features
- Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high vowel) and a mid vowel.
- Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.
Occurrence
Because back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Afrikaans | Standard[2] | bok | [bok] | 'goat' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. The height varies between close-mid [o] and mid [ɔ̝].[2] See Afrikaans phonology |
Bavarian | Amstetten dialect | [example needed] | Contrasts close [u], near-close [o̝], close-mid [o] and open-mid [ɔ] back rounded vowels in addition to the open central unrounded [ä]. Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔ⟩. | ||
Bulgarian | уста/usta | [os̪ˈt̪a] | 'mouth' | Unstressed allophone of /u/ and /ɔ/. See Bulgarian phonology | |
Catalan | sóc | [sok] | 'I am' | See Catalan phonology | |
Czech | Bohemian | oko | [ˈoko] | 'eye' | Backness varies between back and near-back; may be realized as mid [o̞] instead. See Czech phonology |
Danish | Standard | kone | [ˈkʰoːnə] | 'wife' | Also described as near-close [o̝ː]. See Danish phonology |
Dutch | Standard Belgian | kool | 'cabbage' | In the Netherlands often diphthongized to [oʊ]. See Dutch phonology | |
English | Estuary | yawn | [joːn] | 'yawn' | May be [oʊ] or [o̞ː] instead. |
Cockney | |||||
Received Pronunciation | Typically transcribed with ⟨ɔː⟩. See English phonology | ||||
South African | General and Broad varieties. Cultivated SAE has a more open vowel. See South African English phonology | ||||
General Indian | go | [ɡoː] | 'go' | ||
General Pakistani | Varies between [oː ~ əʊ ~ ʊ]. | ||||
Singaporean | |||||
Birmingham and The Black Country | cut | [koʔ] | 'cut' | Corresponds to /ʌ/ in other dialects. | |
Estonian | tool | [toːlʲ] | 'chair' | See Estonian phonology | |
Faroese | tola | [ˈtʰoːla] | 'to endure' | May be a diphthong [oɔː ~ oəː] instead. See Faroese phonology | |
French | réseau | 'network' | See French phonology | ||
German | Standard | oder | 'or' | See Standard German phonology | |
Upper Saxon | sondern | [ˈsɞ̝nd̥oˤn] | 'except' | Pharyngealized; corresponds to [ɐ] in Northern Standard German. The example word is from the Chemnitz dialect. | |
Greek | Sfakian | μεταφράζω / metafrázō | [metafrázo] | 'translate' | Corresponds to mid [o̞] in Modern Standard Greek. See Modern Greek phonology |
Hindustani | सोमवार | [so:m.ʋɑ:r] | 'Monday' | See Hindustani phonology | |
Hungarian | kór | [koːr] | 'disease' | See Hungarian phonology | |
Italian | ombra | [ˈombrä] | 'shade' | See Italian phonology | |
Kaingang | pipo | [pɪˈpo] | 'toad' | ||
Khmer | ម៉ូលេគុល / molékŭl | [moːleːkul] | 'molecule' | See Khmer phonology | |
Korean | 노래 / norae | [noɾε] | 'song' | See Korean phonology | |
Kurdish | Kurmanji (Northern) | roj | [roːʒ] | 'day' | See Kurdish phonology |
Sorani (Central) | رۆژ/roj | ||||
Latin | Classical | sol | [soːl] | 'sun' | |
Limburgish | Most dialects | hoof | [ɦoːf] | 'garden' | The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. |
Lower Sorbian | wocy | [ˈβ̞ot̪͡s̪ɪ] | '(two) eyes' | Diphthongized to [u̯ɔ] in slow speech. | |
Luxembourgish | Sonn | [zon] | 'sun' | Sometimes realized as open-mid [ɔ]. See Luxembourgish phonology | |
Malay | mampus | [mam.pos] | 'die' | Allophone of /u/ in closed-final syllables. May be [ʊ] or [o̞] depending on the speaker. See Malay phonology | |
Malayalam | ഒന്ന് | [on̪ːɨ̆] | 'one' | See Malayalam phonology | |
Marathi | दोन | [do:n] | 'two' | See Marathi phonology | |
Minangkabau | sado | [sädoː] | 'all' | ||
Mpade | sko | [sko] | 'field' | ||
Norwegian | Most dialects | lov | [loːʋ] | 'law' | The quality varies among dialects; in Urban East Norwegian, it has been variously described as close-mid back [oː] and mid [o̞ː], in Stavangersk it is a close-mid near-back [o̟ː], whereas in Telemark it is a back open-mid vowel [ɔː]. In some dialects it is replaced by the diphthong [ɑʊ]. See Norwegian phonology |
Persian | لاکپشت/lakpošt | [lɒkˈpoʃt] | 'turtle' | ||
Portuguese | dodô | [doˈdo] | 'dodo' | See Portuguese phonology | |
Polish | wiośnie | [ˈvʲoɕɲɛ] | 'spring' | Allophone of /ɔ/ between palatal or palatalized consonants. See Polish phonology | |
Romanian | acolo | [aˈkolo] | 'there' | See Romanian phonology | |
Saterland Frisian | doalje | [ˈdo̟ːljə] | 'to calm' | Near-back; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɔː⟩. Phonetically, it is nearly identical to /ʊ/ ([ʊ̞]). The vowel typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨oː⟩ is actually near-close [o̝ː]. | |
Shiwiar | [example needed] | Allophone of /a/. | |||
Slovak | Some speakers | telefón | [ˈtɛ̝lɛ̝foːn] | 'telephone' | Realization of /ɔː/ reported to occur in dialects spoken near the river Ipeľ, as well as - under Hungarian influence - in some other speakers. Corresponds to mid [ɔ̝ː] in standard Slovak. See Slovak phonology |
Slovene | moj | [mòːj] | 'my' | See Slovene phonology | |
Sotho | pontsho | [pʼon̩t͡sʰɔ] | 'proof' | Contrasts close, near-close and close-mid back rounded vowels. See Sotho phonology | |
Spanish | camión | [kaˈmjon] | 'truck' | See Spanish phonology | |
Swedish | Central Standard | åka | 'travel' | Often diphthongized to [oə̯]. See Swedish phonology | |
Ukrainian | молодь/molod' | [ˈmɔlodʲ] | 'youth' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
Upper Sorbian | Bóh | [box] | 'god' | Diphthongized to [u̯ɔ] in slow speech. | |
Welsh | nos | [noːs] | 'night' | See Welsh phonology | |
West Frisian | bok | [bok] | 'billy-goat' | See West Frisian phonology | |
Wu Chinese | Shanghainese | 瓜/kò | [ko˩] | 'melon' | Specifically in Shanghainese. Height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back compressed vowel. |
Yoruba | egba mi o | [egba mi o] | 'help' |
Close-mid back compressed vowel
Close-mid back compressed vowel | |
---|---|
o͍ | |
ɤᵝ |
There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, compression of the lips can be shown with ⟨β̞⟩ as ⟨ɤ͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous [ɤ] and labial compression) or ⟨ɤᵝ⟩ ([ɤ] modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic ⟨ ͍⟩ may also be used with a rounded vowel letter ⟨o͍⟩ as an ad hoc symbol, but 'spread' technically means unrounded.
Only Wu Chinese is known to contrast it with the more typical protruded (endolabial) close-mid back vowel, but the height of both vowels varies from close to close-mid.
Features
- Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high vowel) and a mid vowel.
- Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.
Occurrence
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Wu Chinese | Shanghainese | 都/tè | [tɤᵝ˩] | 'capital' | Specifically in Shanghainese. Height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back protruded vowel. |
Notes
- While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
- Wissing (2016), section "The rounded mid-high back vowel /ɔ/".
- Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:290)
- Ternes & Vladimirova-Buhtz (1999), p. 56.
- Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 54.
- Dankovičová (1999), p. 72.
- Grønnum (1998), p. 100.
- Ladefoged & Johnson (2010), p. 227.
- Uldall (1933), p. ?.
- Basbøll (2005), p. 47.
- Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
- Wells (1982), p. 310.
- Roach (2004), p. 242.
- Lass (2002), p. 116.
- Wells (1982), p. 626.
- Mahboob & Ahmar (2004), p. 1009.
- Deterding (2000).
- Clark, Urszula (2013). West Midlands English: Birmingham and the Black Country. p. 1005. ISBN 9780748641697. JSTOR 10.3366/j.ctt5hh397.
- Asu & Teras (2009), p. 368.
- Árnason (2011), pp. 68, 74–75.
- Árnason (2011), pp. 68, 75.
- Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
- Collins & Mees (2013), p. 225.
- Hall (2003), pp. 90, 107.
- Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 34.
- Khan & Weise (2013), p. 237.
- Trudgill (2009), pp. 83–84.
- Trudgill (2009), p. 81.
- Szende (1994), p. 94.
- Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 119.
- Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
- Thackston (2006a), p. 1.
- Khan & Lescot (1970), pp. 8–16.
- Wheelock's Latin (1956).
- Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
- Peters (2006), p. 119.
- Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
- Stone (2002), p. 600.
- Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 70.
- Allison (2006).
- Vanvik (1979), pp. 13, 17.
- Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17.
- Popperwell (2010), p. 26.
- Vanvik (1979), p. 17.
- Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
- Peters (2017), p. ?.
- Fast Mowitz (1975), p. 2.
- Kráľ (1988), p. 92.
- Doke & Mofokeng (1974), p. ?.
- Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
- Rosenqvist (2007), p. 9.
- Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
- Šewc-Schuster (1984), p. 20.
- Šewc-Schuster (1984), pp. 32–33.
- Tiersma (1999), p. 10.
- Chen & Gussenhoven (2015), pp. 328–329.
- Bamgboṣe (1966), p. 166.
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External links
- List of languages with [o] on PHOIBLE
The close mid back rounded vowel or high mid 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 o Close mid back rounded voweloIPA number307Audio sample source source source helpEncodingEntity decimal amp 111 Unicode hex U 006FX SAMPAoBrailleIPA 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 roundedSpectrogram of o Close mid back protruded vowelThe close mid back protruded vowel is the most common variant of the close mid back rounded vowel It is typically transcribed in IPA simply as o and that is the convention used in this article As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA the symbol for the close mid back rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization can be used as an ad hoc symbol o for the close mid back protruded vowel Another possible transcription is oʷ or ɤʷ a close mid back vowel modified by endolabialization but this could be misread as a diphthong In English the symbol o is typically associated with the vowel in the goat but in Received Pronunciation and General American that vowel is a diphthong whose starting point may be unrounded and more centered than o For the close mid near back protruded vowel that is usually transcribed with the symbol ʊ see near close back protruded vowel If the usual symbol is o the vowel is listed here Features Its vowel height is close mid also known as high mid which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel a high vowel and a mid vowel Its vowel backness is back which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant Its roundedness is protruded which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together and the inner surfaces exposed Occurrence Because back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion and few descriptions cover the distinction some of the following may actually have compression Language Word IPA Meaning NotesAfrikaans Standard 2 bok bok goat Typically transcribed in IPA with ɔ The height varies between close mid o and mid ɔ 2 See Afrikaans phonologyBavarian Amstetten dialect example needed Contrasts close u near close o close mid o and open mid ɔ back rounded vowels in addition to the open central unrounded a Typically transcribed in IPA with ɔ Bulgarian usta usta os ˈt a mouth Unstressed allophone of u and ɔ See Bulgarian phonologyCatalan soc sok I am See Catalan phonologyCzech Bohemian oko ˈoko eye Backness varies between back and near back may be realized as mid o instead See Czech phonologyDanish Standard kone ˈkʰoːne wife Also described as near close o ː See Danish phonologyDutch Standard Belgian kool cabbage In the Netherlands often diphthongized to oʊ See Dutch phonologyEnglish Estuary yawn joːn yawn May be oʊ or o ː instead CockneyReceived Pronunciation Typically transcribed with ɔː See English phonologySouth African General and Broad varieties Cultivated SAE has a more open vowel See South African English phonologyGeneral Indian go ɡoː go General Pakistani Varies between oː eʊ ʊ SingaporeanBirmingham and The Black Country cut koʔ cut Corresponds to ʌ in other dialects Estonian tool toːlʲ chair See Estonian phonologyFaroese tola ˈtʰoːla to endure May be a diphthong oɔː oeː instead See Faroese phonologyFrench reseau network See French phonologyGerman Standard oder or See Standard German phonologyUpper Saxon sondern ˈsɞ nd oˤn except Pharyngealized corresponds to ɐ in Northern Standard German The example word is from the Chemnitz dialect Greek Sfakian metafrazw metafrazō metafrazo translate Corresponds to mid o in Modern Standard Greek See Modern Greek phonologyHindustani स मव र so m ʋɑ r Monday See Hindustani phonologyHungarian kor koːr disease See Hungarian phonologyItalian ombra ˈombra shade See Italian phonologyKaingang pipo pɪˈpo toad Khmer ម ល គ ល molekŭl moːleːkul molecule See Khmer phonologyKorean 노래 norae noɾe song See Korean phonologyKurdish Kurmanji Northern roj roːʒ day See Kurdish phonologySorani Central رۆژ rojLatin Classical sol soːl sun Limburgish Most dialects hoof ɦoːf garden The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect Lower Sorbian wocy ˈb ot s ɪ two eyes Diphthongized to u ɔ in slow speech Luxembourgish Sonn zon sun Sometimes realized as open mid ɔ See Luxembourgish phonologyMalay mampus mam pos die Allophone of u in closed final syllables May be ʊ or o depending on the speaker See Malay phonologyMalayalam ഒന ന on ːɨ one See Malayalam phonologyMarathi द न do n two See Marathi phonologyMinangkabau sado sadoː all Mpade sko sko field Norwegian Most dialects lov loːʋ law The quality varies among dialects in Urban East Norwegian it has been variously described as close mid back oː and mid o ː in Stavangersk it is a close mid near back o ː whereas in Telemark it is a back open mid vowel ɔː In some dialects it is replaced by the diphthong ɑʊ See Norwegian phonologyPersian لاک پشت lakpost lɒkˈpoʃt turtle Portuguese dodo doˈdo dodo See Portuguese phonologyPolish wiosnie ˈvʲoɕɲɛ spring Allophone of ɔ between palatal or palatalized consonants See Polish phonologyRomanian acolo aˈkolo there See Romanian phonologySaterland Frisian doalje ˈdo ːlje to calm Near back typically transcribed in IPA with ɔː Phonetically it is nearly identical to ʊ ʊ The vowel typically transcribed in IPA with oː is actually near close o ː Shiwiar example needed Allophone of a Slovak Some speakers telefon ˈtɛ lɛ foːn telephone Realization of ɔː reported to occur in dialects spoken near the river Ipeľ as well as under Hungarian influence in some other speakers Corresponds to mid ɔ ː in standard Slovak See Slovak phonologySlovene moj moːj my See Slovene phonologySotho pontsho pʼon t sʰɔ proof Contrasts close near close and close mid back rounded vowels See Sotho phonologySpanish camion kaˈmjon truck See Spanish phonologySwedish Central Standard aka travel Often diphthongized to oe See Swedish phonologyUkrainian molod molod ˈmɔlodʲ youth See Ukrainian phonologyUpper Sorbian Boh box god Diphthongized to u ɔ in slow speech Welsh nos noːs night See Welsh phonologyWest Frisian bok bok billy goat See West Frisian phonologyWu Chinese Shanghainese 瓜 ko ko melon Specifically in Shanghainese Height varies between close and close mid contrasts with a close to close mid back compressed vowel Yoruba egba mi o egba mi o help Close mid back compressed vowelClose mid back compressed vowelo ɤᵝ There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA However compression of the lips can be shown with b as ɤ b simultaneous ɤ and labial compression or ɤᵝ ɤ modified with labial compression The spread lip diacritic may also be used with a rounded vowel letter o as an ad hoc symbol but spread technically means unrounded Only Wu Chinese is known to contrast it with the more typical protruded endolabial close mid back vowel but the height of both vowels varies from close to close mid Features Its vowel height is close mid also known as high mid which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel a high vowel and a mid vowel Its vowel backness is back which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant Its roundedness is compressed which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed Occurrence Language Word IPA Meaning NotesWu Chinese Shanghainese 都 te tɤᵝ capital Specifically in Shanghainese Height varies between close and close mid contrasts with a close to close mid back protruded vowel NotesWhile the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms close and open for vowel height many linguists use high and low Wissing 2016 section The rounded mid high back vowel ɔ Traunmuller 1982 cited in Ladefoged amp Maddieson 1996 290 Ternes amp Vladimirova Buhtz 1999 p 56 Carbonell amp Llisterri 1992 p 54 Dankovicova 1999 p 72 Gronnum 1998 p 100 Ladefoged amp Johnson 2010 p 227 Uldall 1933 p Basboll 2005 p 47 Verhoeven 2005 p 245 Wells 1982 p 310 Roach 2004 p 242 Lass 2002 p 116 Wells 1982 p 626 Mahboob amp Ahmar 2004 p 1009 Deterding 2000 Clark Urszula 2013 West Midlands English Birmingham and the Black Country p 1005 ISBN 9780748641697 JSTOR 10 3366 j ctt5hh397 Asu amp Teras 2009 p 368 Arnason 2011 pp 68 74 75 Arnason 2011 pp 68 75 Fougeron amp Smith 1993 p 73 Collins amp Mees 2013 p 225 Hall 2003 pp 90 107 Dudenredaktion Kleiner amp Knobl 2015 p 34 Khan amp Weise 2013 p 237 Trudgill 2009 pp 83 84 Trudgill 2009 p 81 Szende 1994 p 94 Rogers amp d Arcangeli 2004 p 119 Jolkesky 2009 pp 676 677 682 Thackston 2006a p 1 Khan amp Lescot 1970 pp 8 16 Wheelock s Latin 1956 Gussenhoven amp Aarts 1999 p 159 Peters 2006 p 119 Verhoeven 2007 p 221 Stone 2002 p 600 Gilles amp Trouvain 2013 p 70 Allison 2006 Vanvik 1979 pp 13 17 Kristoffersen 2000 pp 16 17 Popperwell 2010 p 26 Vanvik 1979 p 17 Cruz Ferreira 1995 p 91 Peters 2017 p Fast Mowitz 1975 p 2 Kraľ 1988 p 92 Doke amp Mofokeng 1974 p Engstrand 1999 p 140 Rosenqvist 2007 p 9 Danyenko amp Vakulenko 1995 p 4 Sewc Schuster 1984 p 20 Sewc Schuster 1984 pp 32 33 Tiersma 1999 p 10 Chen amp Gussenhoven 2015 pp 328 329 Bamgboṣe 1966 p 166 ReferencesArnason Kristjan 2011 The Phonology of Icelandic and Faroese Oxford University Press ISBN 978 0 19 922931 4 Asu Eva Liina Teras Pire 2009 Estonian Journal of the International Phonetic Association 39 3 367 372 doi 10 1017 s002510030999017x Bamgboṣe Ayọ 1966 A Grammar of Yoruba West African Languages Survey Institute of African Studies Cambridge Cambridge University Press Basboll Hans 2005 The Phonology of Danish Taylor amp Francis ISBN 0 203 97876 5 Bauer Laurie Warren Paul Bardsley Dianne Kennedy Marianna Major George 2007 New Zealand English Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 1 97 102 doi 10 1017 S0025100306002830 Carbonell Joan F Llisterri Joaquim 1992 Catalan Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 1 2 53 56 doi 10 1017 S0025100300004618 S2CID 249411809 Chen Yiya Gussenhoven Carlos 2015 Shanghai Chinese Journal of the International Phonetic Association 45 3 321 327 doi 10 1017 S0025100315000043 Collins Beverley Mees Inger M 2013 First published 2003 Practical Phonetics and Phonology A Resource Book for Students 3rd ed Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 50650 2 Cox Felicity Fletcher Janet 2017 First published 2012 Australian English Pronunciation and Transcription 2nd ed Cambridge University Press ISBN 978 1 316 63926 9 Cox Felicity Palethorpe Sallyanne 2007 Australian English PDF Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 3 341 350 doi 10 1017 S0025100307003192 Cruz Ferreira Madalena 1995 European Portuguese Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 2 90 94 doi 10 1017 S0025100300005223 S2CID 249414876 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Taalportaal Archived from the original on 15 April 2017 Retrieved 16 April 2017 External linksList of languages with o on PHOIBLE