Mid vowel


A mid vowel is any in a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned midway between an open vowel and a close vowel.
Other names for a mid vowel are lowered close-mid vowel and raised open-mid vowel, though the former phrase may also be used to describe a vowel that is as low as open-mid; likewise, the latter phrase may also be used to describe a vowel that is as high as close-mid.

Vowels

The only mid vowel with a dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the mid central vowel with ambiguous rounding.
The IPA divides the vowel space into thirds, with the close-mid vowels such as or and the open-mid vowels such as or equidistant in formant space between open or and close or. Thus a true mid front unrounded vowel can be transcribed as either a lowered or as a raised . Typical truly mid vowels are thus:
Few languages contrast all three heights of mid vowel, because it is rare for a language to distinguish more than four heights of true front or back vowels. One, the Amstetten dialect of Austro-Bavarian, contrasts four heights of front unrounded, front rounded, and back vowels in addition to having an open central vowel. These have been transcribed with the available IPA symbols,,, and.
However, the vowels transcribed are one-third the distance between open and close, precisely the IPA definition of open-mid vowels. Thus Amstetten Bavarian may be an example of a language that contrasts mid vowels with both open-mid and close-mid vowels.
The Kensiu language spoken in Malaysia and Thailand is highly unusual in that it phonemically contrasts true-mid vowels with close-mid and open-mid vowels without differences in other parameters such as backness or roundedness.
FrontCentralBack
Closeiɯu
Near-closeɪ
Close-mide̝ɚo̝
Mideəo
Open-midɛʌɔ
Opena
Diphthongs

FrontCentralBack
Closeĩɯ̃ũ
Near-closeɪ̃
Close-midẽ̝õ̝
Midẽõ
Open-midɛ̃ʌ̃ɔ̃
Openã
Diphthongsĩẽ