Article · Wikipedia archive · Last revised Jul 25, 2026

Open front unrounded vowel

The open front unrounded vowel, or low front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. It is one of the eight primary cardinal vowels, not directly intended to correspond to a vowel sound of a specific language but rather to serve as a fundamental reference point in a phonetic measuring system.

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Open front unrounded vowel
a
IPA number304
Audio sample
Encoding
Entity (decimal)a
Unicode (hex)U+0061
X-SAMPAa
Braille⠁ (braille pattern dots-1)
IPA: Vowels
Front Central Back
Close
•
•
•
Near-close
•
•
Close-mid
•
•
•
Mid
•
•
Open-mid
•
•
•
Near-open
•
Open
•
•
•

Legend: unrounded • rounded

The open front unrounded vowel, or low front unrounded vowel,1 is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. It is one of the eight primary cardinal vowels, not directly intended to correspond to a vowel sound of a specific language but rather to serve as a fundamental reference point in a phonetic measuring system.2

The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) that represents this sound is ⟨a⟩, a double-story lowercase a. In the IPA vowel chart it is positioned at the lower-left corner. However, the accuracy of the quadrilateral vowel chart is disputed, and the sound has been analyzed acoustically as extra-open at a position where the front/back distinction has lost its significance. There are also differing interpretations of the exact quality of the vowel: the classic sound recording of [a] by Daniel Jones is slightly more front but not quite as open as that by John Wells.3

In practice, the symbol ⟨a⟩ is often used to represent an open central unrounded vowel.4 This is the usual practice, for example, in the historical study of the English language. The loss of separate symbols for open and near-open front vowels is usually considered unproblematic, because the perceptual difference between the two is quite small, and very few languages contrast the two. If there is a need to specify the backness of the vowel as fully front one can use the symbol ⟨æ̞⟩, which denotes a lowered near-open front unrounded vowel, or ⟨a̟⟩ with the IPA "advanced" diacritic.

Features

  • Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned far from the roof of the mouth – that is, low in the mouth.
  • Its vowel backness is front, which means the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. This subsumes central open (central low) vowels because the tongue does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does in the mid and close (high) vowels; the difference between an open front vowel and an open back vowel is similar to the difference between a close front and a close central vowel, or a close central and a close back vowel.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
Sagittal section of a vocal tract pronouncing the IPA sound ⟨a⟩. A wavy glottis in this diagram indicates a voiced sound. source ↗

Occurrence

Many languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. For languages that have only a single open vowel, the symbol for this vowel ⟨a⟩ may be used because it is the only open vowel whose symbol is part of the basic Latin alphabet. Whenever marked as such, the vowel is closer to a central [ä] than to a front [a]. However, there may not actually be much of a difference. (See Vowel#Acoustics.)

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Afrikaans Standard5 dak [da̠k] 'roof' Near-front.5 See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic Standard6 أنا (anā) [ana(ː)] 'I' 1st person singular pronoun See Arabic phonology
Azerbaijani7 Standard səs [s̪æ̞s̪] 'sound' Typically transcribed with ⟨æ⟩.
Bulgarian8 най (nay) [n̪a̠j] 'most' Near-front.8
Catalan Majorcan9 sac [ˈs̺ac] 'bag' Majorcan /a/-fronting. More central ([ä] or [ɐ̞]) or back ([ɑ]) in other dialects; fully front [a] in Majorcan Catalan. It can be higher ([æ]).9 See Catalan phonology
Many dialects10 raig [ˈr̺at͡ɕ] 'ray' Allophone of /a/ in contact with palatal consonants.10 It can be higher ([æ]). See Catalan phonology
Chinese Mandarin11 安 (ān) [ʔan˥]ⓘ 'safe' Allophone of /a/ before /n/.11 See Standard Chinese phonology
Dutch Standard1213 aas [aːs] 'bait' Ranges from front to central.14 See Dutch phonology
Utrecht15 bad [bat] 'bath' Corresponds to [ɑ] in Northern Standard Dutch. See Dutch phonology
English Australian16 hat [hat]ⓘ 'hat' Most common pronunciation among younger speakers.16 Older speakers typically use [æ]. See Australian English phonology
California1718 Less open [æ] in other North American varieties. See English phonology and Canadian Shift
Canadian1819
Some Central Ohioan speakers18
Some Texan speakers18
Northern Suburbs of Johannesburg20 Closer [æ] in General South African English. See South African English phonology
Received Pronunciation21 Closer [æ] in Conservative Received Pronunciation. See English phonology
Scouse22 [haθ̠]
East Anglian23 bra [bɹaː] 'bra' Realized as central [äː] by middle-class speakers.23
Inland Northern American24 Less front [ɑ ~ ä] in other American dialects. See Northern Cities Vowel Shift
New Zealand25 [bɹa̠ː] Varies between open near-front [a̠ː], open central [äː], near-open near-front [ɐ̟ː] and near-open central [ɐː].25 May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɐː⟩. See New Zealand English phonology
French Conservative Parisian1326 patte [pat̪] 'paw' Contrasts with /ɑ/, but many speakers have only one open vowel (phonetically central [ä]).27 See French phonology
Quebec28 arrêt [aʁɛ] 'stopping' Contrasts with /ɑ/.28 See Quebec French phonology
German Altbayern accent29 Wassermassen [ˈʋɑsɐmasn̩] 'water masses' Also illustrates the back /ɑ/, with which it contrasts.29 See Standard German phonology
Many Austrian accents29 nah [naː] 'near' Less front in other accents.29 See Standard German phonology
Hindustani Hindi बाप(baap) [baːp] 'father', 'dad' Allophone of [ä~ɑ]. See Hindustani phonology.
Urdu باپ(baap)
Igbo30 ákụ [ákú̙] 'kernel'
Khmer បាត់ (băt) [ɓat] 'to disappear' See Khmer phonology
បាត (bat) [ɓaːt] 'bottom'
Kurdish Palewani (Southern) گه‌ن (gen) [gan] 'bad' Equal to Sorani (Central) near-front [æ]. See Kurdish phonology
Limburgish Many dialects313233 baas [ˈba̠ːs] 'boss' Near-front;313233 realized as central [äː] in some other dialects.34 The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Low German35 Daag / Dag [dax] 'day' Backness may vary among dialects.35
Luxembourgish36 Kap [kʰa̠ːpʰ] 'cap' Near-front; sometimes fronted and raised to [a̝ː].37 See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay Standard رق (rak) [raʔ] 'shelf' Can be central [ä]. See Malay phonology
Norwegian Stavangersk38 hatt [hat] 'hat' See Norwegian phonology
Trondheimsk39 lær [læ̞ːɾ] 'leather'
Polish40 jajo [ˈjajɔ]ⓘ 'egg' Allophone of /ä/ between palatal or palatalized consonants. See Polish phonology
Spanish Eastern Andalusian41 las madres [læ̞ˑ ˈmæ̞ːð̞ɾɛˑ] 'the mothers' Corresponds to [ä] in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology
Murcian41
Swedish Central Standard4243 bank [baŋk] 'bank' The backness has been variously described as front [a],42 near-front [a̠]43 and central [ä].44 See Swedish phonology
Turkish kâğıt [caˈɯt] 'paper' Only occurs with â (a with "circumflex"), which is not originally in the Turkish alphabet. Also described as central [ä].
West Frisian Aastersk45 kaaks [kaːks] 'ship's biscuit' Contrasts with a back /ɑː/.45 See West Frisian phonology
Notes

Notes

  1. While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. John Coleman: Cardinal vowels
  3. Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
  4. Keith Johnson: Vowels in the languages of the world Archived 2016-03-04 at the Wayback Machine (PDF), p. 9
  5. Wissing (2016), section "The unrounded low-central vowel /ɑ/".
  6. Thelwall & Sa'Adeddin (1990), p. 38.
  7. Mokari & Werner (2016), p. ?.
  8. Ternes & Vladimirova-Buhtz (1999), p. 56.
  9. Recasens (1996), pp. 90–92.
  10. Saborit (2009), p. 10.
  11. Mou (2006), p. 65.
  12. Collins & Mees (2003), pp. 95, 104, 132–133.
  13. Ashby (2011), p. 100.
  14. Collins & Mees (2003), p. 104.
  15. Collins & Mees (2003), p. 131.
  16. Cox & Fletcher (2017), p. 179.
  17. Gordon (2004), p. 347.
  18. Thomas (2004:308): A few younger speakers from, e.g., Texas, who show the LOT/THOUGHT merger have TRAP shifted toward [a], but this retraction is not yet as common as in some non-Southern regions (e.g., California and Canada), though it is increasing in parts of the Midwest on the margins of the South (e.g., central Ohio).
  19. Boberg (2005), pp. 133–154.
  20. Bekker (2008), pp. 83–84.
  21. "Case Studies – Received Pronunciation Phonology – RP Vowel Sounds". British Library. Archived from the original on 2018-12-25. Retrieved 2012-10-25.
  22. Watson, Kevin (2007), "Liverpool English" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 37 (3): 351–360, doi:10.1017/s0025100307003180, S2CID 232345844
  23. Trudgill (2004), p. 172.
  24. 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 March 7, 2013.
  25. Bauer et al. (2007), p. 98.
  26. Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 225–227.
  27. Collins & Mees (2013), pp. 226–227.
  28. Walker (1984), p. 53.
  29. Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 64.
  30. Ikekeonwu (1999), p. 109.
  31. Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 110.
  32. Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
  33. Peters (2006), p. 119.
  34. Verhoeven (2007), p. 221.
  35. Prehn (2012), p. 157.
  36. Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 70.
  37. Gilles & Trouvain (2013), pp. 70–71.
  38. Vanvik (1979), p. 17.
  39. Vanvik (1979), p. 15.
  40. Jassem (2003), p. 106.
  41. Zamora Vicente (1967), p. ?.
  42. Bolander (2001), p. 55.
  43. Rosenqvist (2007), p. 9.
  44. Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
  45. van der Veen (2001), p. 102.
References

References

External links