The open front unrounded vowel, or low front unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. It is one of the eight primary cardinal vowels, not directly intended to correspond to a vowel sound of a specific language but rather to serve as a fundamental reference point in a phonetic measuring system.[2]
The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents this sound is ⟨a⟩, a double-story lowercase a. In the IPA vowel chart it is positioned at the lower-left corner. However, the accuracy of the quadrilateral vowel chart is disputed, and the sound has been analyzed acoustically as extra-open at a position where the front/back distinction has lost its significance. There are also differing interpretations of the exact quality of the vowel: the classic sound recording of [a] by Daniel Jones is slightly more front but not quite as open as that by John Wells.[3]
In practice, the symbol ⟨a⟩ is often used to represent an open central unrounded vowel.[4] This is the usual practice, for example, in the historical study of the English language. The loss of separate symbols for open and near-open front vowels is usually considered unproblematic, because the perceptual difference between the two is quite small, and very few languages contrast the two. If there is a need to specify the backness of the vowel as fully front one can use the symbol ⟨æ̞⟩, which denotes a lowered near-open front unrounded vowel, or ⟨a̟⟩ with the IPA "advanced" diacritic.
^While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
^John Coleman: Cardinal vowels
^Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
^Keith Johnson: Vowels in the languages of the world Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), p. 9
and 17 Related for: Open front unrounded vowel information
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The open back unroundedvowel, or low back unroundedvowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic...
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The open central unroundedvowel, or low central unroundedvowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. While the International Phonetic...
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Phonetic Alphabet that represents the exact mid back unroundedvowel between close-mid [ɤ] and open-mid [ʌ]. Because no language is known to distinguish...
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between a frontvowel and a back vowel. It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded. Languages may have a mid central rounded vowel (a rounded...
close-mid frontunroundedvowel [e] and an open-mid frontunroundedvowel [ɛ] but also a mid frontunroundedvowel [e̞], a centralized mid frontunrounded vowel...
American mentioned where relevant: the near-openfrontunroundedvowel /æ/ as in pad the open back unroundedvowel /ɑː/ as in father—merged with /ɒ/ as /ɑ/...
The (near) openfront rounded vowel, or (near) low front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound that has not been confirmed to be phonemic in any spoken...
The close central unroundedvowel, or high central unroundedvowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic...
Phonetic Alphabet, ⟨ɑ⟩ represents an open back unroundedvowel, while ⟨a⟩ represents an openfrontunroundedvowel. It has the shape of a script-a. Also...
frontvowel [ø̞] and the unrounded mid frontvowel [e̞]. Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and...
while producing low or openvowels since the lips are being stressed vertically. This may explain why low vowels are usually unrounded. Roundedness is usually...
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