Mid vowel

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IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
Blank vowel trapezoid.svg
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|i]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|y]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɨ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ʉ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɯ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|u]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɪ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ʏ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɪ̈]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ʊ̈]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɯ̽]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ʊ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|e]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ø]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɘ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɵ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɤ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|o]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|e̞]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ø̞]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ə]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɵ̞]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɤ̞]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|o̞]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɛ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|œ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɜ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɞ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ʌ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɔ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|æ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɐ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɞ̞]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|a]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɶ]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ä]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɒ̈]]
[[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɑ]][[Lua error in Module:IPA_symbol at line 37: Invalid data type "wikipage".|ɒ]]
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
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A mid vowel (or a true-mid vowel) is any in a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel.

Vowels

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

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

Languages

Few languages contrast all three heights of mid vowel, because it is rare for a language to distinguish more than four heights of true front or back vowels. One, the Amstetten dialect of Austro-Bavarian, contrasts four heights of front unrounded, front rounded, and back vowels in addition to having an open central vowel. These have been transcribed with the available IPA symbols /i e ɛ æ/, /y ø œ ɶ/, /u o ɔ ɑ/, and /a/.

Amstetten Bavarian
(transcription)
Close i y u
Close-mid e ø o
Open-mid ɛ œ ɔ
Near open æ ɶ̝ ɑ̝
Open a

However, the vowels transcribed /æ ɶ ɑ/ are one-third the distance between open /a/ and close /i y u/, precisely the IPA definition of open-mid vowels [ɛ œ ɔ]. Thus Amstetten Bavarian may be an example of a language that contrasts mid vowels with both open-mid and close-mid vowels.

Amstetten Bavarian
(transcription)
Close i y u
Close-mid e ø o
Mid ø̞
Open-mid ɛ œ ɔ
Open a

The Kensiu language spoken in Malaysia and Thailand is highly unusual in that it phonemically contrasts true-mid vowels with close-mid and open-mid vowels without differences in other parameters such as backness or roundedness.