Misplaced Pages

Open-mid back unrounded vowel
ʌ
IPA number	314
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʌ
Unicode (hex)	U+028C
X-SAMPA	V
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

The open-mid back unrounded vowel or low-mid back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʌ⟩, graphically a rotated lowercase "v" (called a turned V but created as a small-capital ⟨ᴀ⟩ without the crossbar, even though some vendors display it as a real turned v). Both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as a "wedge", "caret" or "hat". In transcriptions for English, this symbol is commonly used for the near-open central unrounded vowel and in transcriptions for Danish, it is used for the open back rounded vowel.

Features

• Its vowel height is open-mid, also known as low-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel (a low vowel) and a mid vowel.
• Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Unrounded back vowels tend to be centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-back.
• It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

Before World War II, the /ʌ/ of Received Pronunciation was phonetically close to a back vowel , which has since shifted forward towards [ɐ] (a near-open central unrounded vowel). Daniel Jones reported his speech (southern British) as having an advanced back vowel between his central /ə/ and back /ɔ/; however, he also reported that other southern speakers had a lower and even more advanced vowel that approached cardinal [a]. In American English varieties, such as in the West, the Midwest, and the urban South, the typical phonetic realization of the phoneme /ʌ/ is an open-mid central [ɜ]. Truly backed variants of /ʌ/ that are phonetically can occur in Inland Northern American English, Newfoundland English, Philadelphia English, some of African-American English, and (old-fashioned) white Southern American English in coastal plain and Piedmont areas. However, the letter ⟨ʌ⟩ is still commonly used to indicate this phoneme, even in the more common varieties with central variants [ɐ] or [ɜ]. That may be because of both tradition and some other dialects retaining the older pronunciation.

Notes

1. While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
2. Zetterberg, William. "So close and yet so different: Reconstructing the phonological history of three Southern New Caledonian languages | Lund University". Lund University. Retrieved 9 July 2023.
3. "Anàlisi dialectològica d'uns parlars del Solsonès". prezi.com. Retrieved 2019-11-29.
4. "Scrîver al bulgnaiṡ cum và". bulgnais.com (in Emilian). Archived from the original on 2020-10-26. Retrieved 2020-04-21.
5. ^ Lass (2002), p. 115.
6. Collins & Mees (1990), p. 95.
7. Wells (1982), pp. 614, 621.
8. Wells (1982), p. 614.
9. Wells (1982), p. 485.
10. ^ Cruttenden (2014), p. 122.
11. W. Labov, S. Ash and C. Boberg (1997), A national map of the regional dialects of American English, Department of Linguistics, University of Pennsylvania, retrieved May 27, 2013
12. Cruttenden (2014), p. 91.
13. Thomas (2001), pp. 27–28, 61–63.
14. Trudgill (2004), p. 167.
15. Thomas (2001), pp. 27–28, 73–74.
16. Scobbie, Gordeeva & Matthews (2006), p. 7.
17. Altendorf & Watt (2004), p. 188.
18. "Picardie : phonétique". Retrieved 29 January 2015.
19. Khan & Weise (2013), pp. 235, 238.
20. Khan & Weise (2013), p. 236.
21. Khan & Weise (2013), p. 238.
22. Lawrence (1977), pp. 32–33.
23. Lawrence (1977), pp. 32–33, 36.
24. Ní Chasaide (1999), pp. 114–115.
25. Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
26. Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676, 682.
27. Bishop (1996), p. 230.
28. Lee (1999).
29. ^ Kruspe & Hajek (2009), p. 245.
30. Borg (1987), p. 10.
31. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), pp. 91–2.
32. ^ Yanushevskaya & Bunčić (2015), p. 225.
33. Borgstrøm (1937), p. 76.
34. ^ Keane (2004), p. 114.
35. ^ Nikulin & Carvalho (2019), p. 263.
36. Jones (1972), pp. 86–88.
37. Gordon (2004b), p. 340.
38. Tillery & Bailey (2004), p. 333.
39. Thomas (2001), pp. 27–28, 112–115, 121, 134, 174.
40. Gordon (2004a), pp. 294–296.
41. Roca & Johnson (1999), p. 135.

References

• Altendorf, Ulrike; Watt, Dominic (2004). "The dialects in the South of England: phonology". In Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 181–196. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
• Bishop, Nancy (1996). "A preliminary description of Kensiu (Maniq) phonology" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. 25: 227–253.
• Borg, Arve (1987). Gammalt frå Grue: Grue-mål. Bondekvinnelagene i Grue.
• Borgstrøm, Carl Hj. (1937). The dialect of Barra in the Outer Hebrides. Norsk Tidsskrift for Sprogvidenskap.
• 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. pp. 87–103. ISBN 1-85359-032-0.
• Cruttenden, Alan (2014). Gimson's Pronunciation of English (8th ed.). Routledge. ISBN 9781444183092.
• Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995). "European Portuguese". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 25 (2): 90–94. doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223. S2CID 249414876.
• Gordon, Matthew (2004a). "New York, Philadelphia and other Northern Cities". In Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology. Walter de Gruyter. pp. 294–296. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
• Gordon, Matthew (2004b), "The West and Midwest: Phonology", in Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.), A Handbook of Varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Walter de Gruyter, p. 340, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
• Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2009). "Fonologia e prosódia do Kaingáng falado em Cacique Doble" [Phonology and prosody of Kaingang spoken in Cacique Doble]. Anais do SETA (in Portuguese). 3. Campinas: Editora do IEL-UNICAMP: 675–685.
• Jones, Daniel (1972). An Outline of English Phonetics (9th ed.). Cambridge: W. Heffer & Sons.
• Keane, Elinor (2004). "Tamil". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 34 (1): 111–116. doi:10.1017/S0025100304001549.
• 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.
• Kruspe, Nicole; Hajek, John (2009). "Mah Meri". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 39 (2): 241–248. doi:10.1017/S0025100309003946.
• Lass, Roger (2002). "South African English". In Mesthrie, Rajend (ed.). Language in South Africa. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 9780521791052.
• Lawrence, Erma (1977). Haida Dictionary. Fairbanks: Alaska Native Language Center.
• Lee, Hyun Bok (1999). "Korean". Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press. pp. 120–122. ISBN 0-521-63751-1.
• Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999). "Irish". Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press. pp. 111–116. ISBN 0-521-63751-1.
• Roca, Iggy; Johnson, Wyn (1999). Course in Phonology. Blackwell Publishing.
• Scobbie, James M.; Gordeeva, Olga B.; Matthews, Benjamin (2006), Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: An Overview, Edinburgh: QMU Speech Science Research Centre Working Papers
• Thomas, Erik R. (2001). "An acoustic analysis of vowel variation in New World English". Publication of the American Dialect Society. 85. Duke University Press for the American Dialect Society.
• Tillery, Jan; Bailey, Guy (2004). "The urban south: Phonology". In Kortmann, Bernd; Schneider, Edgar W. (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology. Walter de Gruyter. p. 333. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
• Trudgill, Peter (2004). "The dialect of East Anglia: Phonology". In Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.). A Handbook of Varieties of English. Vol. 1: Phonology. Mouton de Gruyter. pp. 163–177. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
• Wells, J.C. (1982). Accents of English 3: Beyond the British Isles. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-521-28541-0.
• Yanushevskaya, Irena; Bunčić, Daniel (2015). "Russian". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 45 (2): 221–228. doi:10.1017/S0025100314000395.
• Nikulin, Andrey; Carvalho, Fernando O. de (2019). "Estudos diacrônicos de línguas indígenas brasileiras: um panorama". Macabéa - Revista Eletrônica do NETLLI (in Brazilian Portuguese). 8 (2). Crato. doi:10.47295/MREN.V8I2.1910.

External links

• List of languages with [ʌ] on PHOIBLE

v t e International Phonetic Alphabet (chart)
IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association History of the alphabet Extensions for disordered speech (extIPA) Voice Quality Symbols (VoQS) Journal of the IPA (JIPA) Special topics Cursive forms Case variants Obsolete and nonstandard symbols Naming conventions Sinological extensions World Orthography IPA chart for English dialects Encodings ASCII encodings SAMPA X-SAMPA Kirshenbaum TIPA Phonetic symbols in Unicode IPA number IPA Braille
Consonants Pulmonic consonants Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal Manner ↓ Bi­labial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Post­alveolar Retro­flex Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyn­geal/epi­glottal Glottal Nasal m̥ m ɱ̊ ɱ n̼ n̥ n ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ̥ ɴ Plosive p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Sibilant affricate ts dz t̠ʃ d̠ʒ tʂ dʐ tɕ dʑ Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v t̪θ d̪ð tɹ̝̊ dɹ̝ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡʜ ʡʢ ʔh Sibilant fricative s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̠ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ɻ̊˔ ɻ˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j ɰ ʔ̞ Tap/flap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̼ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̆ Trill ʙ̥ ʙ r̥ r ɽ̊r̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ tꞎ d𝼅 c𝼆 ɟʎ̝ k𝼄 ɡʟ̝ Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ ꞎ 𝼅 𝼆 ʎ̝ 𝼄 ʟ̝ Lateral approximant l ɭ ʎ ʟ ʟ̠ Lateral tap/flap ɺ̥ ɺ 𝼈̥ 𝼈 ʎ̆ ʟ̆ IPA help  audio full chart template Symbols to the right in a cell are voiced, to the left are voiceless. Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible. Non-pulmonic consonants BL LD D A PA RF P V U EG Ejective Stop pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ ʡʼ Affricate p̪fʼ t̪θʼ tsʼ t̠ʃʼ tʂʼ tɕʼ kxʼ qχʼ Fricative ɸʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ Lateral affricate tɬʼ c𝼆ʼ k𝼄ʼ q𝼄ʼ Lateral fricative ɬʼ Click (top: velar; bottom: uvular) Tenuis kʘ qʘ kǀ qǀ kǃ qǃ k𝼊 q𝼊 kǂ qǂ Voiced ɡʘ ɢʘ ɡǀ ɢǀ ɡǃ ɢǃ ɡ𝼊 ɢ𝼊 ɡǂ ɢǂ Nasal ŋʘ ɴʘ ŋǀ ɴǀ ŋǃ ɴǃ ŋ𝼊 ɴ𝼊 ŋǂ ɴǂ ʞ   Tenuis lateral kǁ qǁ Voiced lateral ɡǁ ɢǁ Nasal lateral ŋǁ ɴǁ Implosive Voiced ɓ ɗ ᶑ ʄ ɠ ʛ Voiceless ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ᶑ̊ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥ IPA help  audio full chart template Co-articulated consonants Nasal n͡m Labial–alveolar ɳ͡m Labial–retroflex ŋ͡m Labial–velar Plosive t͡pd͡b Labial–alveolar ʈ͡pɖ͡b Labial–retroflex k͡pɡ͡b Labial–velar q͡ʡ Uvular–epiglottal q͡p Labial–uvular Fricative/approximant ɥ̊ɥ Labial–palatal ʍw Labial–velar ɧ Sj-sound (variable) Lateral approximant ɫ Velarized alveolar Implosive ɠ̊͜ɓ̥ ɠ͡ɓ Labial–velar Ejective t͡pʼ Labial–alveolar IPA help full chart template Other Nasal labial–velar approximant Nasal palatal approximant Voiceless bidental fricative Voiceless bilabially post-trilled dental stop Voiceless nasal glottal approximant
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

• Open-mid vowels
• Back vowels
• Unrounded vowels