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)
“Playing “bop” is like playing Scrabble with all the vowels missing.”
—Duke Ellington (1899–1974)
“These equal syllables alone require,
Though oft the ear the open vowels tire;”
—Alexander Pope (1688–1744)