Close-mid back unrounded vowel

The close-mid back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. Its symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is , called "ram's horns". It is not to be confused with the symbol for the voiced velar fricative, , which has a descender.

Features

• Its vowel height is close-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between close vowel and a mid vowel.
• Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
• Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurs in

• Mandarin: (pinyin hē) , 'to drink'　
• Vietnamese: phở phở, (a kind of soup); tơ , 'silk'
• Irish: Uladh , 'Ulster'
• Yorkshire English: 'hope'
• Onge: , 'man'

Mid back unrounded vowel

Some languages have a mid back unrounded vowel, distinct from both the close-mid and open-mid vowels. However, since no language is known to distinguish all three, there is no separate IPA symbol for the mid vowel, and is generally used. If precision is desired, the lowering diacritic may be used: .

Several of the languages listed above may have mid rather than close-mid vowels.

Occurs in

• Bulgarian: път , 'path'

The Bulgarian vowel is somewhat further front than a cardinal back vowel.

Vowels

Ungerundeter halbgeschlossener Hinterzungenvokal | Voyelle moyenne supérieure postérieure non arrondie | 非円唇後舌半狭母音 | 후설 비원순 중고모음