From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

IPA – number	305
IPA – text	ɑ
IPA – image
Entity	ɑ
X-SAMPA	A
Kirshenbaum	A
Sound sample (help·info)

The open back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɑ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is A. The symbol ɑ is called script a because it lacks the extra hook on top of a printed letter 'a', which corresponds to a different vowel, the open front unrounded vowel. Script a, which has its linear stroke on the right, should not be confused with turned script a ɒ, which has its linear stroke on the left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.

Features

• Its vowel height is open, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth.
• Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant
• Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurs in

• Dutch: bad [bɑt], "bath" (backness varies with dialect and generation of speaker)
• English: (RP and GA) spa [spɑː] father [fɑːðɚ]; (GA) hot [hɑt]; (CaE) ball [bɑːl]
  • In AuE, this vowel occurs only as the first part of the diphthong [ɑe], as in light [lɑet], buy [bɑe].
• Finnish: kana [kɑnɑ], 'hen'; kaali [kɑːli], "cabbage"
• French: pâte [pɑt], "dough" (in varieties that distinguish pâte from patte)
• Hungarian: bal [bɑ̽l], "left"
• Navajo: ashkii [ɑʃkɪː], "boy"
• Russian: кал [kɑl], "feces"
• Vietnamese: tai [tɑ̄j], "ear"