Mid central vowel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Mid central vowel
ə
IPA number 322
Encoding
Entity (decimal) ə
Unicode (hex) U+0259
X-SAMPA @
Kirshenbaum @
Braille ⠢ (braille pattern dots-26)
Sound
IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
Blank vowel trapezoid.svg
•iy
•ɨʉ
•ɯu
•ɪʏ
•eø
•ɘɵ
•ɤo
•ɛœ
•ɜɞ
•ʌɔ
•æ
•aɶ
•ɑɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
This table contains phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
IPA help • IPA key • chart • Loudspeaker.svg chart with audio • view

The mid central vowel (also known as schwa) is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ə⟩, a rotated lowercase letter e.

While the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association does not define the roundedness of [ə],[1] it is more often unrounded than rounded. The phonetician Jane Setter describes the pronunciation of the unrounded variant as follows: "[ə] is a sound which can be produced by basically relaxing the articulators in the oral cavity and vocalising."[2]

Some languages, such as Danish[3] and Luxembourgish,[4] have a mid central vowel that is variably rounded. In some other languages, things are more complicated, as the change in rounding is accompanied with the change in height and/or backness. For instance, in Dutch, the unrounded allophone of /ə/ is mid central [ə], but its word-final rounded allophone is close-mid near-front [ø̠].[5]

The symbol ⟨ə⟩ is often used for any unstressed obscure vowel, regardless of its precise quality. For instance, the English vowel transcribed ⟨ə⟩ is a central unrounded vowel that can be close-mid [ɘ], mid [ə] or open-mid [ɜ], depending on the environment.[6]

Mid central unrounded vowel[edit]

The mid central unrounded vowel is frequently written with the symbol [ə]. If precision is desired, the symbol for the close-mid central unrounded vowel may be used with a lowering diacritic, [ɘ̞]. Another possibility is using the symbol for the open-mid central unrounded vowel with a raising diacritic, [ɜ̝].

Features[edit]

Occurrence[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Adyghe зы About this sound [zəː] (help·info) 'one'
Albanian është [ˈəʃtə] 'is'
Armenian ընկեր [əŋˈkɛɹ] 'friend'
Assyrian Neo-Aramaic ?/sətwa [sətwɐ] 'winter' Most speakers. Usually raised to [ɪ] in some Tyari dialects.
Bulgarian[7] пара [ˈparə] 'steam' Possible realization of unstressed /ɤ/ and /a/ in post-stressed syllables.[7] See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan Eastern Catalan[8] amb [əm(b)] 'with' Reduced vowel. See Catalan phonology
Most Balearic speakers[8] sec [ˈsək̟] 'dry'
Central Valencian[9] poc [ˈpɒ̝kːə] 'little' Vocalic release found in final consonants. It may vary in quality.
Some Valencian speakers[10] eh tu! [ˈe ˈtuːə̯̆] 'hey you!' Extra short. Diphthongization of final /i/, /u/, /e/, and /o/ before a pause.
Chinese Mandarin 根/gēn About this sound [kən˥] (help·info) 'root' See Standard Chinese phonology
Danish Standard[11][12] hoppe [ˈhɒ̜̽b̥ə] 'mare' Sometimes realized as rounded [ɵ̞].[3] See Danish phonology
Dutch[5] renner [ˈrɛnər] 'runner' See Dutch phonology
English Most dialects Tina [ˈtʰiːnə] 'Tina' Reduced vowel; varies in quality. See English phonology
Cultivated South African[13] bird [bəːd] 'bird' May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɜː⟩. Other South African varieties use a higher, more front and rounded vowel [øː~ ø̈ː].
Norfolk[14]
Received Pronunciation[15] Often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɜː⟩. It is sulcalized, which means the tongue is grooved like in [ɹ]. 'Upper Crust RP' speakers pronounce a near-open vowel [ɐː], but for some other speakers it may actually be open-mid [ɜː]. This vowel corresponds to rhotacized [ɝ] in rhotic dialects.
Indian[16] bust [bəst] 'bust' May be lower. Some Indian varieties merge /ʌ/ and /ə/ like Welsh English.
Wales[17] May also be further back; it corresponds to /ʌ/ in other dialects.
Yorkshire[18] Middle class pronunciation. Other speakers use [ʊ]. Corresponds to /ʌ/ in other dialects.
Estonian[19] kõrv [kərv] 'ear' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɤ⟩; can be mid back [ɤ̞] or close back [ɯ] instead, depending on the speaker.[19] See Estonian phonology
German Standard[20][21] bitte [ˈbɪtə] 'please' Also described as close-mid [ɘ].[22] See Standard German phonology
Chemnitz dialect[23] Wonne [ˈʋɞ̝n̪ə] 'bliss' See Chemnitz dialect phonology
Hindustani दस/دَس [ˈd̪əs] 'ten' See Hindustani phonology
Inuit West Greenlandic[24] [example needed] Allophone of /i/ before and especially between uvulars.[24] See Inuit phonology
Kabardian щы About this sound [ɕəː] (help·info) 'three'
Kashubian jãzëk [jãzək] 'language'
Kensiu[25] [təh] 'to be bald'
Limburgish[26][27][28][29] besjeemp [bəˈʃeːmp] 'embarrassed' Occurs only in unstressed syllables.[26][30][31][32] The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Luxembourgish[4][33] dënn [d̥ən] 'thin' More often realized as slightly rounded [ɵ̞].[4] See Luxembourgish phonology
Macedonian к’смет [ˈkəs̪mɛt̪] 'luck' (archaic) Not considered a vowel phoneme. See Macedonian phonology
Malay Melayu [məlaju] 'Malay'
Marathi अकरा [əkˈra] 'eleven' See Marathi phonology.
Neapolitan guaglione [gwaˈʎːonə] 'boy'
Palauan tilobęd [tilobəd] 'came'
Pashto غوښه [ˈɣwəʂa] 'meat' See Pashto dialects
Piedmontese përché [pərˈke] 'why' May be realized as [a] or [ɑ] instead, depending on the variety.
Portuguese European[34] pagar [pɜ̝ˈɣaɾ] 'to pay' Often corresponds to a near-open vowel [ɐ] in Brazilian Portuguese.[35] See Portuguese phonology
São Paulo[36] cama [ˈkəmɐ] 'bed' Shorter nasal resonance or complete oral vowel in São Paulo and Southern Brazil, while nasal vowel in many other Portuguese dialects.
Southern Brazil
Some speakers[37] conviver [kũviˈveə̯ɾ] 'to coexist' Primarily in Portugal, but also stereotyped as a characteristic of the dialect of Rio de Janeiro (where [ə] for /ɐ/ is also dominant).[38]
Punjabi ਅਮਨ [əmən] 'peace'
Romanian măr [mər] 'apple' Also described as open-mid [ɜ]. See Romanian phonology
Russian это About this sound [ˈɛt̪ə] (help·info) 'this' Unstressed allophone of several vowels. See Russian phonology
Sema[39][40] akütsü [ɐ˩ kə t͡sɨ̞] 'black' Possible word-medial allophone of /ɨ/.[39][40]
Spanish Mexican[citation needed] pesos [ˈpesəs] 'pesos'
Swedish begå [bəˈɡoː] 'to commit' Unstressed allophone of /ɛ/, see Swedish phonology
Welsh Cymru About this sound [ˈkəmrɨ] (help·info) 'Wales' See Welsh phonology
West Frisian gewoan [ɡəˈʋoə̯n] 'normal'

Mid central rounded vowel[edit]

Mid central rounded vowel
ɵ̞
ə̹
ɞ̝

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]. This vowel can also be represented by adding the more rounded diacritic to the schwa symbol, or by combining the raising diacritic with the open-mid central rounded vowel symbol, although it is rare to use such symbols.

Features[edit]

Occurrence[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Danish Standard[3] hoppe [ˈhɒ̜̽b̥ɵ̞] 'mare' Possible realization of /ə/.[3] See Danish phonology
Dutch Standard Belgian[41] neus [nɵ̞ːs] 'nose' Also described as close-mid near-front [ø̠ː]; usually transcribed in IPA with ⟨øː⟩. Diphthongized to [ø̠ʏ̯] in the Standard Netherlandic accent.[42][43] See Dutch phonology
English Some speakers of
New England English[44]		 most [mɵ̞st] 'most' Diphthongized to [ɵ̞ə̯] before /n, t, d/; many speakers tend to merge it with /oʊ/.[44] See English phonology
French[45] je [ʒɵ̞] 'I' Only somewhat rounded;[45] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɵ⟩ or ⟨ə⟩. Also described as close-mid [ɵ].[46] May be more front for a number of speakers. See French phonology
German Chemnitz dialect[23] Wonne [ˈʋɵ̞n̪ə] 'bliss' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɞ⟩. See Chemnitz dialect phonology
Irish Munster[47] scoil [skɵ̞lʲ] 'school' Allophone of /ɔ/ between a broad and a slender consonant.[47] See Irish phonology
Luxembourgish[4] dënn [d̥ɵ̞n] 'thin' Slightly rounded; less often realized as unrounded [ə].[4] See Luxembourgish phonology
Swedish Central Standard[48] full About this sound [fɵ̞lː] (help·info) 'full' Pronounced with compressed lips, more closely transcribed [ɵ̞ᵝ] or [ɘ̞ᵝ]. See Swedish phonology

See also[edit]

References[edit]

  1. ^ International Phonetic Association (1999:167)
  2. ^ "A World of Englishes: Is /ə/ "real"?". Retrieved 8 March 2016. 
  3. ^ a b c d Basbøll (2005:143)
  4. ^ a b c d e Gilles & Trouvain (2013:70)
  5. ^ a b Collins & Mees (2003:129)
  6. ^ Wells (2008:XXV). The source talks about both Received Pronunciation and General American.
  7. ^ a b Ternes & Vladimirova-Buhtz (1999:56)
  8. ^ a b Recasens (1996:59–60)
  9. ^ Saborit (2009:11)
  10. ^ Saborit (2009:43–44)
  11. ^ Allan, Holmes & Lundskær-Nielsen (2011:2)
  12. ^ Basbøll (2005:57, 143)
  13. ^ Lass (2002:116)
  14. ^ Lodge (2009:168)
  15. ^ Roach (2004:242)
  16. ^ Sailaja (2009:24–25)
  17. ^ Wells (1982a:380–381)
  18. ^ Stoddart, Upton & Widdowson (1999:74 and 76)
  19. ^ a b Asu & Teras (2009:368–369)
  20. ^ Kohler (1999:87)
  21. ^ Mangold (2005:37)
  22. ^ "John Wells's phonetic blog: ɘ". Retrieved 28 January 2016. 
  23. ^ a b Khan & Weise (2013:236)
  24. ^ a b Fortescue (1990), p. 317.
  25. ^ Bishop (1996), p. 230.
  26. ^ a b Verhoeven (2007), p. 220.
  27. ^ Peters (2006), pp. 118–119.
  28. ^ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 157, 159.
  29. ^ Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), pp. 108, 110.
  30. ^ Peters (2006), p. 118.
  31. ^ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 157.
  32. ^ Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 108.
  33. ^ Trouvain & Gilles (2009:75)
  34. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
  35. ^ Barbosa & Albano (2004:229)
  36. ^ Produção da Fala. Marchal, Alain & Reis, César. p. 169.
  37. ^ Lista das marcas dialetais e ouros fenómenos de variação (fonética e fonológica) identificados nas amostras do Arquivo Dialetal do CLUP (Portuguese)
  38. ^ Ditongações do falar carioca – WordReference (Portuguese)
  39. ^ a b Teo (2012:369)
  40. ^ a b Teo (2014:28)
  41. ^ Verhoeven (2005:245)
  42. ^ Collins & Mees (2003:133–135)
  43. ^ Gussenhoven (1992:47)
  44. ^ a b Wells (1982b:545)
  45. ^ a b Fougeron & Smith (1993:73)
  46. ^ "english speech services | Le FOOT vowel". Retrieved 20 April 2016. 
  47. ^ a b Ó Sé (2000)
  48. ^ Engstrand (1999:140)

Bibliography[edit]

 
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mid_central_vowel&oldid=725424260"