Close-mid central rounded vowel

Not to be confused with Voiceless dental fricative, represented by ⟨θ⟩ in the IPA.

The close-mid central rounded vowel, or high-mid central rounded vowel,^[1] is a type of vowel sound. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɵ⟩, a lowercase barred letter o. The value was specified only in 1993; until then, ⟨ɵ⟩ represented the mid central rounded vowel [ə̹].

Close-mid central rounded vowel
ɵ
IPA Number	323
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɵ
Unicode (hex)	U+0275
X-SAMPA	8
Braille
Image

IPA: Vowels
Front Central Back Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o Mid e̞ ø̞ ə ɤ̞ o̞ Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ Near-open æ ɐ Open a ɶ ä ɑ ɒ
IPA help  audio full chart template Legend: unrounded • rounded

Spectrogram of ɵ

The character ɵ has been used in several Latin-derived alphabets such as the one for Yañalif but then denotes a sound that is different from that of the IPA. The character is homographic with Cyrillic Ө. The Unicode code point is U+019F Ɵ LATIN CAPITAL LETTER O WITH MIDDLE TILDE.

This vowel occurs in Cantonese, Dutch, French, Russian and Swedish as well as in a number of English dialects as a realization of /ʊ/ (as in foot), /ɜː/ (as in nurse) or /oʊ/ (as in goat).

This sound rarely contrasts with the near-close front rounded vowel and so is sometimes transcribed with the symbol ⟨ʏ⟩ (the symbol for the near-close front rounded vowel).

Close-mid central protruded vowel

The close-mid central protruded vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨ɵ⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, symbol for the close central rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨  ̫⟩, can be used as an ad hoc symbol ⟨ɵ̫⟩ for the close central protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is ⟨ɵʷ⟩ or ⟨ɘʷ⟩ (a close central vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.

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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
• Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.

Occurrence

Because central 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
Asturian	Some Western dialects[2]	fuöra	[ˈfwɵɾɐ]	'outside'	Realization of ⟨o⟩ in the diphthong ⟨uo⟩. May also be realized as [ø] or [œ].
Azeri	Tabriz[3]	göz گؤز	[gɵz]	'eye'	Typically transcribed as /œ/.
Chinese	Cantonese	出/ceot7	[tsʰɵt˥]	'to go out'	See Cantonese phonology
Dutch	Standard[4][5]	hut	[ɦɵt]	'hut'	See Dutch phonology
English	Cardiff[6]	foot	[fɵt]	'foot'	More often unrounded [ɘ];[7] corresponds to [ʊ] in other dialects. See English phonology
	General South African[8]				Younger, especially female speakers.[8] Other speakers have a less front vowel [ʊ]. May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʊ̟⟩ or ⟨ʉ̞⟩. See South African English phonology
	Modern Received Pronunciation[9]		[fɵʔt]		[ʊ] in more conservative varieties. See English phonology
	Hull[10]	goat	[ɡɵːt]	'goat'	Corresponds to /oʊ/ in other dialects.
	New Zealand[11]	bird	[bɵːd]	'bird'	Corresponds to /ɜː(r)/ in other dialects. See New Zealand English phonology
French[12]		je	[ʒɵ]	'I'	May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ə⟩ or ⟨ɵ⟩. Also described as mid [ɵ̞].[13][14] May be more front for a number of speakers. See French phonology
German	Swabian[15]	wird	[ʋɵʕ̞d̥]	'becomes'	Allophone of /i/ before /ʁ/.[15]
	Upper Saxon[16]	Wunder	[ˈv̞ɵn(d̥)oˤ]	'wonder'	The example word is from the Chemnitz dialect.
Hiw[17]		yöykön̄	[jɵjkɵŋ]	'forget'
Irish	Munster[18]	dúnadh	[ˈd̪ˠuːn̪ˠө]	'closing'	Allophone of /ə/ adjacent to broad consonants, when the vowel in the preceding syllable is either /uː/ or /ʊ/.[18] See Irish phonology
Kazakh		көз	[kɵz]	'eye'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨œ⟩.
Limburgish	Most dialects[19][20][21]	bluts	[blɵts]	'bump'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʏ⟩. The example word is from the Weert dialect.[19][20][21]
	Maastrichtian[20]	beuk	[bɵːk]	'books'	Sometimes realized as a narrow diphthong [ɵʉ̞];[20] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨øː⟩. Front [øː] in other dialects.[19][22]
Mongolian[23]		өгөх/ögökh	[ɵɡɵx]	'to give'
Norwegian	Stavangersk[24]	gull	[ɡɵl]	'gold'	Near-close [ʉ̞] in other dialects that have this vowel.[24] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉ⟩. See Norwegian phonology
	Urban East[25]	søt	[sɵːt]	'sweet'	Also described as front [ø̫ː];[26] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨øː⟩. See Norwegian phonology
Ripuarian	Kerkrade dialect[27]	sjuts	[ʃɵts]	'marksman'	See Kerkrade dialect phonology
Russian[28]		тётя/tyotya	[ˈtʲɵtʲə]ⓘ	'aunt'	Allophone of /o/ following a palatalized consonant. See Russian phonology
Tajik	Northern dialects[29]	кӯҳ/kūh	[kɵh]	'mountain'	May be realized as mid [ɵ̞], merged with /u/ in the central and southern dialects. See Tajik phonology
Toda		பர்/pȫr	[pɵːr̘]	'name'
Uzbek		koʻz/кўз	[kɵz]	'eye'	Allophone of /o/, especially near velar consonants /k/ and /g/. May be realized as mid [ɵ̞]. See Uzbek phonology
West Frisian	Standard[30][31]	put	[pɵt]	'well'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ø⟩. See West Frisian phonology
	Southwestern dialects[32]	fuotten	[ˈfɵtn̩]	'feet'	Corresponds to [wo] in other dialects.[32] See West Frisian phonology
Xumi	Lower[33]	ľatsö	[ʎ̟ɐtsɵ˦]	'to filter tea'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉ⟩.[33]
	Upper[34]	htö	[htɵ]	'way to do things'	Allophone of /o/ after alveolar consonants; may be realized as [o] or [ɤ] instead.[34]

Close-mid central compressed vowel

Close-mid central compressed vowel
ø̈
ɘ͡β̞
ɘᵝ
ɵ͍

As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the centering diacritic is used with the front rounded vowel [ø], which is normally compressed. Other possible transcriptions are ⟨ɘ͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous [ɘ] and labial compression) and ⟨ɘᵝ⟩ ([ɘ] modified with labial compression).

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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
• 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
Swedish	Central Standard[35]	full	[fø̈lː]	'full'	More often described as mid [ɵ̞ᵝ].[36][37] See Swedish phonology
Siberian Tatar	Baraba	[example needed]

See also

• Index of phonetics articles

Notes

1. While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
2. García, Fernando Álvarez-Balbuena (1 September 2015). "Na frontera del asturllionés y el gallegoportugués: descripción y exame horiométricu de la fala de Fernidiellu (Forniella, Llión). Parte primera: fonética". Revista de Filoloxía Asturiana. 14 (14). ISSN 2341-1147.
3. Mokari & Werner (2016).
4. van Heuven & Genet (2002).
5. Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
6. Collins & Mees (1990:92–93)
7. Collins & Mees (1990:92)
8. Lass (2002), pp. 115–116.
9. Robinson, Jonnie (1 April 2007), "Received Pronunciation Phonology", Diverse voices: language, accent and dialect in the UK, The British Library, archived from the original on 25 December 2018, retrieved 26 October 2012
10. Williams & Kerswill (1999), pp. 143 and 146.
11. Bauer et al. (2007), pp. 98–99.
12. Lindsey, Geoff (15 January 2012). "english speech services | Le FOOT vowel". Retrieved 20 October 2018.
13. Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
14. Lodge (2009), p. 84.
15. Khan & Weise (2013), p. 237.
16. Khan & Weise (2013), p. 236.
17. François (2013), p. 207.
18. Ó Sé (2000).
19. Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
20. Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
21. Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 110.
22. Peters (2006), p. 119.
23. Iivonen & Harnud (2005), pp. 62, 66–67.
24. Vanvik (1979), p. 19.
25. Kristoffersen (2000), pp. 16–17, 33–35, 37, 343.
26. Vanvik (1979), pp. 13, 20.
27. Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997:16). The source describes this vowel as the same as the short u in Standard Dutch lucht, which is close-mid central [ɵ] (van Heuven & Genet (2002)).
28. Jones & Ward (1969), pp. 62–63.
29. Ido (2014), pp. 91–92.
30. Sipma (1913), pp. 6, 8, 10.
31. Tiersma (1999), p. 11.
32. Hoekstra (2003:202), citing Hof (1933:14)
33. Chirkova & Chen (2013), pp. 369–370.
34. Chirkova, Chen & Kocjančič Antolík (2013), p. 389.
35. Andersson (2002), p. 272.
36. Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
37. Rosenqvist (2007), p. 9.

References

• Andersson, Erik (2002), "Swedish", in König, Ekkehard; van der Auwera, Johan (eds.), The Germanic Languages, Routledge language family descriptions, Routledge, pp. 271–312, ISBN 978-0-415-28079-2
• 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
• Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Xumi, Part 1: Lower Xumi, the Variety of the Lower and Middle Reaches of the Shuiluo River", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 363–379, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000157
• Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya; Kocjančič Antolík, Tanja (2013), "Xumi, Part 2: Upper Xumi, the Variety of the Upper Reaches of the Shuiluo River", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (3): 381–396, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000169
• Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (1990), "The Phonetics of Cardiff English", in Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan Richard (eds.), English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change, Multilingual Matters Ltd., pp. 87–103, ISBN 978-1-85359-032-0
• Cox, F.M. (2006), "The acoustic characteristics of /hVd/ vowels in the speech of some Australian teenagers", Australian Journal of Linguistics, 26 (2): 147–179, doi:10.1080/07268600600885494, S2CID 62226994
• Crosswhite, Katherine Margaret (2000), "Vowel Reduction in Russian: A Unified Account of Standard, Dialectal, and 'Dissimilative' Patterns" (PDF), University of Rochester Working Papers in the Language Sciences, 1 (1): 107–172, archived from the original (PDF) on 6 February 2012
• Engstrand, Olle (1999), "Swedish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the usage of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 978-0-521-63751-0
• Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874, S2CID 249404451
• François, Alexandre (2013), "Shadows of bygone lives: The histories of spiritual words in northern Vanuatu", in Mailhammer, Robert (ed.), Lexical and structural etymology: Beyond word histories, Studies in Language Change, vol. 11, Berlin: DeGruyter Mouton, pp. 185–244
• Gussenhoven, Carlos; Aarts, Flor (1999), "The dialect of Maastricht" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 29 (2): 155–166, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006526, S2CID 145782045
• Heijmans, Linda; Gussenhoven, Carlos (1998), "The Dutch dialect of Weert" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28 (1–2): 107–112, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006307, S2CID 145635698
• Hoekstra, Jarich (2003), "Frisian. Standardization in progress of a language in decay" (PDF), Germanic Standardizations. Past to Present, vol. 18, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, pp. 193–209, ISBN 978-90-272-1856-8
• Hof, Jan Jelles (1933), Friesche Dialectgeographie (PDF), The Hague: Martinus Nijhoff, archived from the original (PDF) on 7 October 2016
• Ido, Shinji (2014), "Bukharan Tajik", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 44 (1): 87–102, doi:10.1017/S002510031300011X
• Iivonen, Antti; Harnud, Huhe (2005), "Acoustical comparison of the monophthong systems in Finnish, Mongolian and Udmurt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (1): 59–71, doi:10.1017/S002510030500191X (inactive 1 November 2024), S2CID 145733117{{citation}}: CS1 maint: DOI inactive as of November 2024 (link)
• Jones, Daniel; Ward, Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
• Khan, Sameer ud Dowla; Weise, Constanze (2013), "Upper Saxon (Chemnitz dialect)" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 43 (2): 231–241, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000145
• Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-823765-5
• Lass, Roger (2002), "South African English", in Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.), Language in South Africa, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521791052
• Lodge, Ken (2009), A Critical Introduction to Phonetics, Continuum International Publishing Group, ISBN 978-0-8264-8873-2
• Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000), Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne (in Irish), Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann, ISBN 978-0-946452-97-2
• Mokari, Payam Ghaffarvand; Werner, Stefan (2016), Dziubalska-Kolaczyk, Katarzyna (ed.), "An acoustic description of spectral and temporal characteristics of Azerbaijani vowels", Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 52 (3), doi:10.1515/psicl-2016-0019, S2CID 151826061
• Peters, Jörg (2006), "The dialect of Hasselt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 36 (1): 117–124, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002428
• Rosenqvist, Håkan (2007), Uttalsboken: svenskt uttal i praktik och teori, Stockholm: Natur & Kultur, ISBN 978-91-27-40645-2
• Sipma, Pieter (1913), Phonology & grammar of modern West Frisian, London: Oxford University Press, retrieved 30 March 2017
• Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (1997) [1987], Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer (in Dutch) (2nd ed.), Kerkrade: Stichting Kirchröadsjer Dieksiejoneer, ISBN 90-70246-34-1
• Tiersma, Peter Meijes (1999) [First published 1985 in Dordrecht by Foris Publications], Frisian Reference Grammar (2nd ed.), Ljouwert: Fryske Akademy, ISBN 978-90-6171-886-4
• van Heuven, Vincent J.; Genet, Roos (2002). Wat is het beste IPA-symbool voor de u van put?. Dag van de Fonetiek. Utrecht. A summary of the presentation can be found here Archived 6 October 2018 at the Wayback Machine.
• Vanvik, Arne (1979), Norsk fonetikk, Oslo: Universitetet i Oslo, ISBN 978-82-990584-0-7
• Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 35 (2): 245, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002173
• Verhoeven, Jo (2007), "The Belgian Limburg dialect of Hamont", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (2): 219–225, doi:10.1017/S0025100307002940
• Williams, Ann; Kerswill, Paul (1999), "Dialect levelling: change and continuity in Milton Keynes, Reading and Hull" (PDF), in Foulkes, Paul; Docherty, Gerard (eds.), Urban voices. Accent studies in the British Isles., London: Arnold, pp. 141–162

External links

• List of languages with [ɵ] on PHOIBLE