| Open-mid back rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɔ | |||
| IPA number | 306 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ɔ | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+0254 | ||
| X-SAMPA | O | ||
| Braille |  | ||
| |||
Theopen-mid back rounded vowel, orlow-mid back rounded vowel,[1] is a type ofvowel sound, used in somespokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɔ⟩. The IPA symbol is aturned letterc and both the symbol and the sound are commonly called "open-o". The nameopen-o represents the sound, in that it is like the sound represented by ⟨o⟩, theclose-mid back rounded vowel, except it is more open. It also represents the symbol, which can be remembered as ano which has been "opened" by removing part of the closed circular shape.
In English, the symbol ⟨ɔ⟩ (or ⟨ɔː⟩) is typically associated with the vowel in "thought", but inReceived Pronunciation ("RP", standardBritish English),Australian English,New Zealand English andSouth African English that vowel is produced with considerably strongerlip rounding and highertongue position than that of cardinal[ɔ], i.e. as close-mid[oː] or somewhat lower. Open-mid[ɔː] or even open[ɒː] realizations are found inNorth American English (where this vowel is oftenindistinguishable from theopen back unrounded vowel in "bra") andScottish English as well asHiberno-English,Northern England English andWelsh English, though in the last three accent groups closer,[oː]-like realizations are also found. In RP, the open-mid realization of/ɔː/ has been obsolete since the 1930s. Pronouncing that vowel as such is subject to correction for non-native speakers aiming at RP.[2][3][4][5]
In Received Pronunciation and Australian English, the open-mid back rounded vowel occurs as the main allophone of theLOT vowel/ɒ/. The contrast between/ɔː/ and/ɒ/ is thus strongly maintained, with the former vowel being realized as close-mid[oː] and the latter as open-mid[ɔ], similarly to the contrast between/o/ and/ɔ/ found inGerman,Italian andPortuguese.[2][3][6]
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| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Tosk | tortë | [ˈtɔɾtə] | 'cake' | |
| Armenian | Eastern[7] | հողմ hoġm | [hɔʁm] | 'storm' | |
| Assamese | কৰ / kor | [kɔɹ] | 'to do' | May also be transcribed as fully low [ɒ] or "over-rounded" [ɒ̹] | |
| Bavarian | Amstetten dialect[8] | wås | [β̞ɔs] | 'what' | Contrasts close[u], near-close[o̝], close-mid[o] and open-mid[ɔ] back rounded vowels in addition to the open central unrounded[ä].[8][9] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɒ⟩. |
| Bengali[10] | অর্থ | [ɔrt̪ʰɔ] | 'meaning' | SeeBengali phonology | |
| Breton[11] | roll | [ˈrɔlː] | 'list' | ||
| Bulgarian[12] | род rod | [rɔt̪] | 'kin' | SeeBulgarian phonology | |
| Catalan[13] | soc | [ˈsɔk] | 'clog' | SeeCatalan phonology | |
| Chinese | Cantonese | 我 ngo5 | [ŋɔː˩˧] | 'I, me, my' | SeeCantonese phonology |
| Hokkien | 某 bó͘ | [bɔ⁵²] | 'wife' | SeeHokkien phonology | |
| Cipu | Tirisino dialect[14] | kødø | [kɔ̟̀ɗɔ̟́] | 'cut down!' | Near-back.[15] |
| Danish | Standard[16][17] | kort | [ˈkʰɔːt] | 'map' | Most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɒː⟩. SeeDanish phonology |
| Dutch | StandardBelgian[18] | och | [ʔɔˤx]ⓘ | 'alas' | 'Very tense, with strong lip-rounding',[19] stronglypharyngealized[20] (although less so in standard Belgian[21]) and somewhat fronted.[18][22] SeeDutch phonology |
| Standard Northern[22] | |||||
| English | Australian[2] | not | [nɔt]ⓘ | 'not' | SeeAustralian English phonology |
| Estuary[23] | |||||
| New Zealand[24] | May be somewhat fronted.[25] Often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɒ⟩. SeeNew Zealand English phonology | ||||
| Received Pronunciation[3][6] | /ɒ/ has shifted up in emerging RP. | ||||
| General American | thought | [θɔt] | 'thought' | Mainly in speakers without thecot–caught merger. It may be lower[ɒ]. (It is rarely lowered to/ɒ/ beforeliquids/lɹ/, and may thus be more familiar to many North Americans inr-colored form,/ɔ˞/.) | |
| Scottish[26] | Most Scottish dialects exhibit the cot-caught merger, the outcome of which is a vowel of[ɔ] quality. | ||||
| Sheffield[27] | goat | [ɡɔːt] | 'goat' | Common realization of theGOAT vowel particularly for males. | |
| Newfoundland[28] | but | [bɔt] | 'but' | Less commonly unrounded[ʌ].[28] SeeEnglish phonology | |
| Faroese | lálla | [ˈlɔtla] | 'seal flipper' | SeeFaroese phonology | |
| French | Parisian[29] | sotte | [sɔt]ⓘ | 'silly' (f.) | The Parisian realization has been variously described as a back vowel[ɔ] centralized to[ɞ] before/ʁ/[29] and central[ɞ].[30] SeeFrench phonology |
| Galician | home | [ˈɔmɪ] | 'man' | SeeGalician phonology | |
| Georgian[31] | სწორი stsori | [st͡sʼɔɾi] | 'correct' | ||
| German | Standard[32] | voll | [fɔl]ⓘ | 'full' | SeeStandard German phonology |
| Hindustani | Hindi | मुहब्बत(mohobbat) | [mɔɦɔbbət̪]ⓘ | 'love','affection' | SeeHindustani phonology. |
| Urdu | محبت(mohobbat) | ||||
| Italian[33] | parola | [päˈrɔ̟ːlä]ⓘ | 'word' | Near-back.[33] SeeItalian phonology | |
| Javanese | ꦫꦱ/råså | [rɔsɔ] | taste, feeling | ||
| Kaingang[34] | pó | [ˈpɔ] | 'stone' | ||
| Kera[35] | [dɔ̟̀l] | 'hard earth' | Near-back.[35] | ||
| Kokborok | kwrwi | [kɔrɔi] | 'not' | ||
| Korean | North Korean | 조선 /Chosŏn | [t͡sɔsɔn] | 'North Korea' | Both ㅓ /ʌ/ and ㅗ /o/ inSouth Korean have merged into [ɔ] in North Korean. SeeKorean phonology |
| Limburgish[36][37] | mòn | [mɔːn] | 'moon' | Lower[ɔ̞ː] in theMaastrichtian dialect.[38] The example word is from the Hasselt dialect. | |
| Lower Sorbian[39] | pšosba | [ˈpʂɔz̪bä] | 'a request' | ||
| Low German | Most dialects | stok | [stɔk] | 'stick' | May be more open[ɒ] in theNetherlands or more closed[o̞] inLow Prussian dialects. |
| Various dialects | slaap | [slɔːp] | 'sleep' | May be as low as[ɒː] and as high as[oː] in other dialects. | |
| Southern Eastphalian | brâd[40] | [brɔːt] | 'bread' | Corresponds to[oː],[ou̯],[ɔu̯],[ɛo̯] in other dialects. | |
| Luxembourgish[41] | Sonn | [zɔn] | 'son' | Possible realization of/o/.[41] SeeLuxembourgish phonology | |
| Malay | Standard | sotong | [sotɔŋ] | 'squid' | Possible realization of/o/ and/u/ in closed final syllables. SeeMalay phonology |
| Negeri Sembilan | كيت/kita | [kitɔ] | 'we' (inclusive) | SeeNegeri Sembilan Malay | |
| Kelantan-Pattani | بياسا /biasa | [bɛsɔ] | 'normal' | SeeKelatan-Pattani Malay | |
| Nepali | पर | [pɔ̜ɾɔ̜] | 'far' | Less rounded. Allophone of/ʌ/ around labial consonants and in isolation.[42] | |
| लामो | [lämɔ] | 'long' | Uncommon post-nasal allophone of/o/, which is commonly raised to[u].[43] | ||
| Norwegian | Some dialects[44] | så | [sɔː] | 'so' | Present e.g. inTelemark; realized as mid[ɔ̝ː] in other dialects.[44] SeeNorwegian phonology |
| Occitan | òda | [ɔðɔ] | 'ode' | SeeOccitan phonology | |
| Odia | ଅର୍ଥ | [ɔɾtʰɔ] | 'meaning' | ||
| Polish[45] | kot | [kɔt̪]ⓘ | 'cat' | SeePolish phonology | |
| Portuguese | Most dialects[46][47] | fofoca | [fɔˈfɔ̞kɐ] | 'gossip' | Stressed vowel might be lower. The presence and use of other unstressed ⟨o⟩ allophones, such as[o̞oʊu], varies according to dialect. |
| Some speakers[48] | bronca | [ˈbɾɔ̃kə] | 'scolding' | Stressed vowel, allophone of nasal vowel/õ̞/. SeePortuguese phonology | |
| Russian | Some speakers[49] | сухой sukhoy | [s̪ʊˈxɔj] | 'dry' | More commonly realized as mid[o̞].[49] SeeRussian phonology |
| Slovak | Standard[50] | ohúriť | [ˈɔɦu̞ːri̞c] | 'to stun' | SeeSlovak phonology |
| Swedish | Standard | moll | [mɔl]ⓘ | 'minor scale' | SeeSwedish phonology |
| Tagalog | oyayi | [ʔɔˈjajɪ] | 'lullaby' | SeeTagalog phonology | |
| Thai | งอngo | [ŋɔː˧] | 'to bend' | SeeThai phonology | |
| Temne[51] | pɔn | [pɔ̟̀n] | 'swamp' | Near-back.[51] | |
| Ukrainian[52] | любов lyubov | [lʲuˈbɔw] | 'love' | SeeUkrainian phonology | |
| Upper Sorbian[39][53] | pos | [pɔs̪] | 'dog' | SeeUpper Sorbian phonology | |
| Welsh | siop | [ʃɔp] | 'shop' | SeeWelsh phonology | |
| West Frisian[54] | rôt | [rɔːt] | 'rat' | SeeWest Frisian phonology | |
| Yiddish | יאָyo | [jɔ] | 'yes' | SeeYiddish phonology. | |
| Yoruba[55] | [example needed] | Nasalized; may be near-open[ɔ̞̃] instead.[55] | |||
