Central Vowel

- is any in a class 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.
Close Central Unrounded Vowel

Also called as 'high central unrounded vowel'

( ) namely the lower-case letter i with a horizontal bar

Its vowel height is close, also known as high, which means the tongue is positioned as close as
possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as
a consonant.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: rude, IPA: [d], Meaning: 'rude'

Close Central Rounded Vowel

Also called as 'high central rounded vowel'

( ) referred to as "barred u"

Its vowel height is close, also known as high, which means the tongue is positioned as close as
possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as
a consonant.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and
the inner surfaces exposed.
Ex. Word: choose, IPA: [ttz], Meaning: 'choose'

Close-mid Central Unrounded Vowel

Also called as 'high-mid central unrounded vowel'

( ) a mirrored letter e

Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned
halfway between a close vowel (a high vowel) and a mid vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: foot, IPA: [ft], Meaning: 'foot'

Close-mid Central Rounded Vowel

Also called as 'high-mid central rounded vowel'

( ) a lowercase barred letter o

Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned
halfway between aclose vowel (a high vowel) and a mid vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and
the inner surfaces exposed.
Ex. Word: goat, IPA: [t], Meaning: 'goat'

Mid Central Vowel

Also known as schwa

( ) a rotated lowercase letter e

Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close
vowel and an open vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: bird, IPA: [bd], Meaning: 'bird'

Open-mid Central Unrounded Vowel

Also known as ' low-mid central unrounded vowel'

( ) is neither the digit 3 nor the Cyrillic small letter Ze

Its vowel height is open-mid, also known as low-mid, which means the tongue is positioned
halfway between an open vowel (a low vowel) and a mid vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: bet, IPA: [bt], Meaning: 'bet'

Open-mid Central Rounded Vowel

Also known as ' low-mid central rounded vowel'

( ) called closed reversed epsilon

Its vowel height is open-mid, also known as low-mid, which means the tongue is positioned
halfway between an open vowel (a low vowel) and a mid vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.
Ex. Word: but, IPA: [b ], Meaning: 'but'

Near-open Central Vowel

Also known as ' near-low central vowel'

( ) a rotated lowercase letter a

Its vowel height is near-open, also known as near-low, which means the tongue is positioned
similarly to an open vowel, but is slightly more constricted that is, the tongue is positioned
similarly to a low vowel, but slightly higher.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: nut, IPA: [nt], Meaning: 'nut'

Close Central Compressed Vowel

( ) the centering diacritic is used with the front rounded vowel [y]

Its vowel height is close, also known as high, which means the tongue is positioned as close as
possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as
a consonant.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn
together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.
Ex. Word: ful, IPA: [fl], Meaning: 'ugly'

Near-close Central Unrounded Vowel

Also known as ' near-high central unrounded vowel'

( ) most common symbol

Its vowel height is near-close, also known as near-high, which means the tongue is not quite so
constricted as aclose vowel (high vowel).

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: good, IPA: [d], Meaning: 'good'

Near-close Central Protuded Vowel

( ) an old diacritic for labialization

Its vowel height is near-close, also known as near-high, which means the tongue is not quite so
constricted as aclose vowel (high vowel).

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and
the inner surfaces exposed.
Ex. Word: hut, IPA: [ t], Meaning: 'hut'

Near-close Central Compressed Vowel

( ) normally compressed

Its vowel height is near-close, also known as near-high, which means the tongue is not quite so
constricted as a close vowel (high vowel).

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn
together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.
Ex. Word: gull, IPA: [ l], Meaning: 'gold'

Mid Central Unrounded Vowel

( ) used with a lowering diacritic

Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close
vowel and an open vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: bust, IPA: [bst], Meaning: 'bust'

Mid Central Protuded Vowel

Also called as 'mid central rounded vowel'

()

Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close
vowel and an open vowel.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.
Ex. Word: most, IPA: [m st], Meaning: 'most'

Open Central Unrounded Vowel

Also called as ' low central unrounded vowel'

( a ) no dedicated letter for this sound between front [a] and back []

Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned as far as
possible from the roof of the mouth that is, as low as possible in the mouth.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel. This often subsumes open (low) front vowels, because the tongue
does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does for the close (high) vowels; the
difference between an open front vowel and an open back vowel is equal to the difference
between a close front and a close central vowel, or a close central and a close back vowel.

It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Ex. Word: time, IPA: [tm], Meaning: 'time'

Open Central Rounded Vowel

Also known as 'low central rounded vowel'

( ) no dedicated letter for this sound between front [] and back []

Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned as far as
possible from the roof of the mouth that is, as low as possible in the mouth.

Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front
vowel and a back vowel.

It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.