Mid vowel

Other names for a mid vowel are lowered close-mid vowel and raised open-mid vowel, though the former phrase may also be used to describe a vowel that is as low as open-mid; likewise, the latter phrase may also be used to describe a vowel that is as high as close-mid.

Vowels

The only mid vowel with a dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the mid central vowel with ambiguous rounding .

The IPA divides the vowel space into thirds, with the close-mid vowels such as or and the open-mid vowels such as or equidistant in formant space between open or and close or . Thus a true mid front unrounded vowel can be transcribed as either a lowered ⟨⟩ (with a lowering diacritic) or as a raised ⟨⟩ (with a raising diacritic). Typical truly mid vowels are thus:

• mid front unrounded vowel or
• mid front rounded vowel or
• mid central unrounded vowel or (most commonly written ⟨⟩)
• mid central protruded vowel or (most commonly written ⟨⟩ as if it were close-mid)
• mid central compressed vowel
• mid back unrounded vowel or
• mid back rounded vowel or