Central Vowel

A central vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a central vowel is that the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel. The central vowels identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

  • close central unrounded vowel
  • close central rounded vowel
  • close-mid central unrounded vowel
  • close-mid central rounded vowel
  • mid central vowel
  • open-mid central unrounded vowel
  • open-mid central rounded vowel
  • near-open central vowel
  • open central unrounded vowel (unofficial but most frequent usage)

Occasionally, the ad hoc symbols ᵻ, ᵿ (ɪ, ʊ) for near-close central vowels will be seen.

International Phonetic Alphabet
IPA topics
IPA
  • International Phonetic Association
  • History of the IPA
  • Extensions to the IPA
  • Kiel convention (1989)
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Phonetics
  • Diacritics
  • Segments
  • Tone letter
  • Place of articulation
  • Manner of articulation
Special topics
  • Case variants of IPA letters
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Encodings
  • SAMPA
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  • Conlang X-SAMPA
  • Kirshenbaum
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Consonants
IPA pulmonic consonantschart image • audio
Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Radical Glottal
↓ Manner Bila­bial Labio-​dental Den​tal Alve​olar Post­alveolar Retro​flex Alveolo-​palatal Pal​a​tal Ve​lar Uvu​lar Pha​ryn​geal Epi​glot​tal Glot​tal
Nasal m̥ m ɱ n̪ n̥ n n̠ ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̟ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ
Stop p b p̪ b̪ t̪ d̪ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ
Fricative ɸ β f v θ ð s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ ʜ ʢ h ɦ
Approximant ʋ ɹ ɻ j̊ j ɰ
Flap or tap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̯
Trill ʙ r̥ r ɽ͡r ʀ ᴙ *
Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ ɭ˔̊ ʎ̥˔ ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝
Lateral approximant l̪ l̥ l ɭ ʎ̟ ʎ ʟ
Lateral flap ɺ ɺ̠ ʎ̯ ʟ̆
Non-pulmonic consonants
Clicks ʘ ǀ ǃ ǂ ǁ
ʘ̃ ʘ̃ˀ ʘ͡q ʘ͡qʼ ‼
Implosives ɓ ɗ ʄ ᶑ ɠ ʛ
Ejectives pʼ t̪ʼ tʼ cʼ ʈʼ kʼ qʼ
fʼ θʼ sʼ ɬʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ
tsʼ tɬʼ cʎ̝̥ʼ tʃʼ ʈʂʼ kxʼ kʟ̝̊ʼ qχʼ
Affricates
p̪f b̪v ts dz tʃ dʒ tɕ dʑ ʈʂ ɖʐ
tɬ dɮ cç ɟʝ cʎ̥˔ kx ɡɣ kʟ̝̊ ɡʟ̝
qχ ɢʁ
Co-articulated consonants
Continuants ʍ w ɥ ɧ
Occlusives k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m
These tables contain phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers.
Where symbols appear in pairs, left—right represent the voiceless—voiced consonants.
Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible.
* Symbol not defined in IPA.
Chart image
  • Pulmonics
  • Non-pulmonics
  • Affricates
  • Co-articulated
Vowels
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back
Close
•iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ •ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ ə •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ •æ ɐ •aɶ •ä •ɑɒ
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Vowels: IPA help • chart • chart with audio • view

Famous quotes containing the words central and/or vowel:

    “The central paradox of motherhood is that while our children become the absolute center of our lives, they must also push us back out in the world.... But motherhood that can narrow our lives can also broaden them. It can make us focus intensely on the moment and invest heavily in the future.”
    —Ellen Goodman (20th century)

    “Brute animals have the vowel sounds; man only can utter consonants.”
    —Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)