Vowels
A vowel to the left of a dot is illabial (unrounded); to the right is labial (rounded).
| Palatal | Central | Velar | ||||
| Close |
|
|||||
| Near-close | ||||||
| Close-mid | ||||||
| Mid | ||||||
| Open-mid | ||||||
| Near-open | ||||||
| Open | ||||||
Other vowels are denoted using diacritics; see the section below.
The UPA also uses three characters to denote a vowel of uncertain quality:
- ɜ denotes a vowel of uncertain quality;
- ᴕ denotes a back vowel of uncertain quality;
- ᴕ̈ denotes a front vowel of uncertain quality
If a distinction between close-mid vowels and open-mid vowels is needed, the IPA symbols for the open-mid basic front illabial and back labial vowels, ⟨ɛ⟩ and ⟨ɔ⟩, can be used. However, in keeping with the principles of the UPA, the open-mid front labial and back illabial vowels are still transcribed with the addition of diacritics, as ⟨ɔ̈⟩ and ⟨ɛ̮⟩.
Read more about this topic: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet
Famous quotes containing the word vowels:
“As no one can tell what was the Roman pronunciation, each nation makes the Latin conform, for the most part, to the rules of its own language; so that with us of the vowels only A has a peculiar sound.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“These equal syllables alone require,
Though oft the ear the open vowels tire;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)
“Playing “bop” is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.”
—Duke Ellington (1899–1974)