Close-mid back rounded vowel
Vowel sound represented by ⟨o⟩ in IPA
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Legend: unrounded • rounded
The close-mid back rounded vowel, or high-mid back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨⟩.
Close-mid back protruded vowel
The close-mid back protruded vowel is the most common variant of the close-mid back rounded vowel. It is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, the symbol for the close-mid back rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨⟩, can be used as an ad hoc symbol ⟨⟩ for the close-mid back protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is ⟨⟩ or ⟨⟩ (a close-mid back vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
In English, the symbol ⟨⟩ is typically associated with the vowel in the "goat", but in Received Pronunciation and General American, that vowel is a diphthong whose starting point may be unrounded and more centered than . In Received Pronunciation, the closest vowel to cardinal is the THOUGHT vowel found in words such as caught, horse and hoarse. This is transcribed with ⟨⟩ by most sources, though the actual realization is closer to .
For the close-mid near-back protruded vowel that is usually transcribed with the symbol ⟨⟩, see near-close back protruded vowel. If the usual symbol is ⟨⟩, the vowel is listed here.
Features
- Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high 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.
- Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
- Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.
Occurrence
Because back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.
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Close-mid back compressed vowel
As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨⟩ (the opposite of ⟨⟩), will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for compressed back vowels. It was only added to Unicode in 2025, however, and it may take some time for font support to catch up. Compression of the lips can be shown with the letter ⟨⟩ as ⟨⟩ (simultaneous and labial compression) or ⟨⟩ ( modified with labial compression), though that can suggest that the vowel is a diphthong.
Only Wu Chinese is known to contrast it with the more typical protruded (endolabial) close-mid back vowel, but the height of both vowels varies from close to close-mid.
Features
- Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high 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.
- Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
- Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.