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Vowels

See also: IPA, Consonants

Edit - 2×	Front	Near-front	Central	Near-back	Back
Close	i • y ɨ • ʉ ɯ • u ɪ • ʏ • ʊ e • ø ɘ • ɵ ɤ • o ə ɛ • œ ɜ • ɞ ʌ • ɔ æ ɐ a • ɶ ɑ • ɒ
Near‑close
Close‑mid
Mid
Open‑mid
Near‑open
Open

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right
represents a rounded vowel.

IPA – number	322
IPA – text	ə
IPA – image
Entity	ə
X-SAMPA	@
Kirshenbaum	@
Sound sample (help·info)

The mid central vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ə, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is @. The IPA symbol is a turned printed letter 'e'. The same symbol may be used for the rounded and the unrounded mid central vowel.

The mid central unrounded vowel is frequently written with the symbol [ə]. However, this symbol does not specifically represent an unrounded vowel, and is frequently used for almost any unstressed obscure vowel. If precision is desired, the symbol for the close-mid central unrounded vowel may be used with a lowering diacritic, [ɘ̞].

• Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel.
• Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
• Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

• Portuguese: European Portuguese açougue [ɘ̞ˈsoɡɯ̽]; Lisbon Portuguese seja [ˈsɘ̞ʒɘ̞]. (The pronunciation varies with dialect, and in Brazilian Portuguese it may be closer to a near open central unrounded vowel.)

Languages may have a mid central rounded vowel (a rounded [ə]), distinct from both the close-mid and open-mid vowels. However, since no language is known to distinguish all three, there is no separate IPA symbol for the mid vowel, and the symbol [ɵ] for the close-mid central rounded vowel is generally used instead. If precision is desired, the lowering diacritic can be used: [ɵ̞].

• Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel.
• Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
• Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded.

• Schwa