# Open central unrounded vowel

The **open central unrounded vowel** is a vowel sound used in many of the world's languages, though it is one of the most common and the [International Phonetic Alphabet](https://www.edgepedia.org/international-phonetic-alphabet) (IPA) has never given it a letter of its own.<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup> A proposal to adopt small capital A ⟨ᴀ⟩ as its symbol was voted down by the IPA Council in December 2011, with 17 no votes, 12 yes, and 1 abstention.<sup>[2](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/news/201112/ipa-council-votes-against-new-symbol)</sup> It is documented in languages including Catalan, Mandarin Chinese, Czech, Danish, Dutch, Australian English, and Amstetten Bavarian.<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup><sup> • </sup><sup>[6](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/e15a6e5a-fec3-4584-a799-84e31a4d5ad9/downloads/close_front_rounded_vowel_example.pdf)</sup>

It is one of the most common vowels in the world's languages, yet the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) has never given it a letter of its own.<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>

| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Rejected symbol | Small capital A ⟨ᴀ⟩, voted down by the IPA Council in December 2011 (17 no, 12 yes, 1 abstention)<sup>[2](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/news/201112/ipa-council-votes-against-new-symbol)</sup> |

## Definition and features

- **Open height.** The tongue is positioned far from the roof of the mouth, that is, low in the mouth; open vowels are also called low vowels.
- **Central backness.** The tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel. At open height this distinction loses much of its force, because the tongue does not have as much flexibility in positioning as it does for close (high) vowels; the difference between an open front vowel and an open back vowel is comparable to the difference between a close front and a close central vowel.
- **Unrounded lips.** The lips are not rounded.

## Transcription in the IPA

The IPA officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between the front [a] and the back [ɑ].

This arrangement creates genuine ambiguity. Textbooks also warn that exact phonetic definitions of low-vowel symbols vary in usage, and that ⟨a⟩ may be used for a back vowel or a low front vowel in published sources.<sup>[3](https://www.cambridge.org/gb/files/1413/8018/5069/PhoneticsOverview.pdf)</sup> Sinologists sometimes sidestep the issue with ⟨ᴀ⟩ (small capital A), a non-IPA letter; the Shanghai Chinese illustration in the *Journal of the International Phonetic Association* notes that /a/ is often transcribed /A/ in Sinological literature as a non-IPA symbol for a central, open unrounded vowel.<sup>[4](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/E58F14205E5EFF63067C6A180DB7AEEA/S0025100315000043a.pdf/div-class-title-shanghai-chinese-div.pdf)</sup>

## The campaign for a dedicated symbol

The gap in the vowel chart has been debated repeatedly. William J. Barry and Jürgen Trouvain, phoneticians at the Institute of Phonetics, Saarland University, argued in a 2008 paper in the *Journal of the International Phonetic Association* that the lack of a central open vowel is a logical and practical gap in the IPA vowel chart, unsatisfactory in particular because more languages have a single open vowel with an apparently more central than fronted or backed quality.<sup>[5](https://www.coli.uni-saarland.de/~trouvain/Barry_Trouvain_2008.pdf)</sup> Their observation about the chart's structure was specific: the chart includes unrounded and rounded variants of central vowels at all cardinal heights except open.<sup>[5](https://www.coli.uni-saarland.de/~trouvain/Barry_Trouvain_2008.pdf)</sup>

In June 2011 the IPA Council received a formal request from Barry and Jürgen Trouvain to vote on adopting a standard symbol for the central open unrounded vowel. A first vote in June and July 2011, with only 15 of 30 members voting, was 8 in favor and 7 against; after renewed discussion, a December 2011 resolution to adopt [A] (small-cap A) under 'Other symbols' was defeated with all 30 members voting, at 17 no, 12 yes, and 1 abstention. The IPA therefore did not add a symbol for this vowel to the alphabet or chart.<sup>[2](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/news/201112/ipa-council-votes-against-new-symbol)</sup>

## Occurrence in languages

Documented examples include<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>

- **Catalan**: *sac* [ˈs̺äk] 'bag', the general pronunciation of stressed /a/, subject to assimilation to front or back allophones; in most Eastern dialects it alternates with a reduced [ə] or [ɐ].<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>- **Mandarin Chinese**: 塌 (tā) [tʰä˥] 'collapse'.
- **Czech**: *prach* [präx] 'dust'.<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>
- **Danish** (Standard): *barn* [ˈpɑ̈ːˀn] 'child'.<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>
- **Dutch**: *zaal* 'hall', ranging from front to central, and possibly back in non-standard accents.<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>
- **Australian English**: *bra* [bɹɐ̞ː].<sup>[1](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)</sup>
- **Amstetten Bavarian**: contrasts several front rounded vowel heights in addition to the open central unrounded [ä].<sup>[6](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/e15a6e5a-fec3-4584-a799-84e31a4d5ad9/downloads/close_front_rounded_vowel_example.pdf)</sup>

True three-way contrasts in the low unrounded region are rare. The Hamont-Achel dialect of [Limburgish](https://www.edgepedia.org/limburgish) has been reported to contrast long versions of the open front, central, and back unrounded vowels, as well as short front and back versions; the short versions do not contrast directly with the open central vowel, which there can only be long.<sup>[9](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C526FB3C25A213C314E5BA6B9DB73EA4/S0025100307002940a.pdf/the-belgian-limburg-dialect-of-hamont.pdf)</sup>

## Related vowels

The vowel sits between two symbols that do have dedicated letters: the [open front unrounded vowel](https://www.edgepedia.org/open-front-unrounded-vowel) [a] (IPA number 304, Unicode U+0061) and the open back unrounded vowel [ɑ].<sup>[7](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/common_files/pdfs/pdfs_IPA_charts_E/IPA_Kiel_sl.pdf)</sup> Nearby in the central column are the near-open central [ɐ] and the open-mid central [ɜ]; on the IPA chart, where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right represents a rounded vowel.<sup>[8](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/inter_chart_2018/IPA_2018.html)</sup>

## References

1. [Open central unrounded vowel, Folkway Wiki](https://folkway.org/wiki/Open_central_unrounded_vowel)
2. [IPA Council votes against new symbol, International Phonetic Association](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/news/201112/ipa-council-votes-against-new-symbol)
3. [Phonetics Overview, Cambridge University Press](https://www.cambridge.org/gb/files/1413/8018/5069/PhoneticsOverview.pdf)
4. [Illustrations of the IPA: Shanghai Chinese, Journal of the International Phonetic Association](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/E58F14205E5EFF63067C6A180DB7AEEA/S0025100315000043a.pdf/div-class-title-shanghai-chinese-div.pdf)
5. [Barry, W. J. & Trouvain, J. (2008). Do we need a symbol for a central open vowel? JIPA 38(2)](https://www.coli.uni-saarland.de/~trouvain/Barry_Trouvain_2008.pdf)
6. [Close front rounded vowel examples](https://img1.wsimg.com/blobby/go/e15a6e5a-fec3-4584-a799-84e31a4d5ad9/downloads/close_front_rounded_vowel_example.pdf)
7. [IPA symbol list in IPA Kiel, International Phonetic Association](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/common_files/pdfs/pdfs_IPA_charts_E/IPA_Kiel_sl.pdf)
8. [Interactive IPA Chart, International Phonetic Association](https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/IPAcharts/inter_chart_2018/IPA_2018.html)
9. [The Belgian Limburg dialect of Hamont, Journal of the International Phonetic Association (Cambridge University Press)](https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/C526FB3C25A213C314E5BA6B9DB73EA4/S0025100307002940a.pdf/the-belgian-limburg-dialect-of-hamont.pdf)

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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Languages and linguistics › Linguistics › Phonetics and phonology › Speech sound classes and features*

*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*

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