![cover image](https://wikiwandv2-19431.kxcdn.com/_next/image?url=https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Esling_vowel_chart.png/640px-Esling_vowel_chart.png&w=640&q=50)
Retracted vowel
Vowel sound with tongue pulled into the pharynx / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
A retracted vowel is a vowel sound in which the body or root of the tongue is pulled backward and downward into the pharynx. The most retracted cardinal vowels are [ɑ ɒ], which are so far back that the epiglottis may press against the back pharyngeal wall, and [ʌ ɔ]. Raised or front vowels may be partially retracted, for example by an adjacent uvular consonant or by vowel harmony based on retracted tongue root. In both cases, /i y e ø a o u/, for example, may be retracted to [ɪ ʏ ɛ œ ɑ ɔ ʊ̙].
![Thumb image](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Esling_vowel_chart.png/640px-Esling_vowel_chart.png)
Retracted vowels and raised vowels constitute the traditional, but articulatorily inaccurate, category of back vowels.