Vowel sound represented by ⟨ʌ⟩ in IPA
The open-mid back unrounded vowel or low-mid back unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʌ⟩, graphically a rotated lowercase "v" (called a turned V but created as a small-capital ⟨ᴀ⟩ without the crossbar), even though some vendors display it as a real turned v. Both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as a "wedge", "caret" or "hat". In transcriptions for English, this symbol is commonly used for the near-open central unrounded vowel and in transcriptions for Danish, it is used for the open back rounded vowel.
Occurrence
Language |
Word |
IPA |
Meaning |
Notes
|
Catalan
|
Solsonès[2]
|
tarda
|
[ˈtaɾð̞ʌ̃ː]
|
'afternoon'
|
Realization of final unstressed /ə/
|
Emilian-Romagnol[3]
|
most Emilian dialects
|
Bulåggna
|
[buˈlʌɲːɐ]
|
'Bologna'
|
It corresponds to a sound between /ɔ/ to /ä/; written ò in some spellings
|
English |
Cape Town |
lot |
[lʌt] |
'lot' |
It corresponds to a weakly rounded [ɒ̈] in all other South African dialects. See South African English phonology
|
Natal
|
Cardiff |
thought |
[θʌːt] |
'thought' |
For some speakers it may be rounded and closer. See English phonology
|
General South African |
no |
[nʌː] |
'no' |
May be a diphthong [ʌʊ̯] instead. See South African English phonology
|
General American |
gut |
[ɡʌt] (help·info) |
'gut' |
In some dialects, fronted to [ɜ], or fronted and lowered to [ɐ]. See English phonology and Northern Cities Vowel Shift
|
Inland Northern American[9]
|
Multicultural London
|
Newfoundland
|
Northern East Anglian
|
Philadelphia
|
Scottish
|
Some Estuary English speakers
|
French |
Picardy[16] |
alors |
[aˈlʌʀ̥] |
'so' |
Corresponding to /ɔ/ in standard French.
|
German |
Chemnitz dialect |
machen |
[ˈmʌχɴ̩] |
'to do' |
Allophone of /ʌ, ʌː/ (which phonetically are central [ɜ, ɜː]) before and after /ŋ, kʰ, k, χ, ʁ/. Exact backness varies; it is most posterior before /χ, ʁ/.
|
Haida |
ḵwaáay |
[qʷʰʌʔáːj] |
'the rock' |
Allophone of /a/ (sometimes also /aː/) after uvular and epiglottal consonants.
|
Irish |
Ulster dialect |
ola |
[ʌl̪ˠə] |
'oil' |
See Irish phonology
|
Kaingang |
[ˈɾʌ] |
'mark' |
Varies between back [ʌ] and central [ɜ].
|
Kashmiri
|
از
|
[ʌz]
|
'today'
|
Allophone of [ɐ]. Used only in monosyllables. Typical of the Srinagar variety.
|
Kensiu |
[hʌʎ] |
'stream' |
|
Korean |
너 / neo |
[nʌ̹] |
'you' |
See Korean phonology
|
Lillooet |
[example needed] |
|
|
Retracted counterpart of /ə/.
|
Mah Meri |
[example needed] |
|
|
Allophone of /ə/; can be mid central [ə] or close-mid back [ɤ] instead.
|
Nepali |
असल/asal |
[ʌsʌl] |
'good' |
See Nepali phonology
|
Oʼodham
|
Pima
|
|
|
|
corresponds to [ɨ] in Papago.
|
Portuguese |
Greater Lisbon area |
leite |
[ˈɫ̪ʌjt̪ɨ̞] |
'milk' |
Allophone of /ɐ/ before a non-syllabic /i/. Corresponds to [e] in other accents. See Portuguese phonology
|
Russian |
Standard Saint Petersburg |
голова/golová |
[ɡəɫ̪ʌˈvä] |
'head' |
Corresponds to [ɐ] in standard Moscow pronunciation; occurs mostly immediately before stressed syllables. See Russian phonology
|
Tamil |
[example needed] |
|
|
Nasalized. Phonetic realization of the sequence /am/, may be [õ] or [ã] instead. See Tamil phonology
|
Xavante
|
|
[jʌm]
|
'seed'
|
The nasal version [ʌ̃] also occurs.
|
Before World War II, the /ʌ/ of Received Pronunciation was phonetically close to a back vowel [ʌ], which has since shifted forward towards [ɐ] (a near-open central unrounded vowel). Daniel Jones reported his speech (southern British) as having an advanced back vowel [ʌ̟] between his central /ə/ and back /ɔ/; however, he also reported that other southern speakers had a lower and even more advanced vowel that approached cardinal [a]. In American English varieties, such as in the West, the Midwest, and the urban South, the typical phonetic realization of the phoneme /ʌ/ is an open-mid central [ɜ]. Truly backed variants of /ʌ/ that are phonetically [ʌ] can occur in Inland Northern American English, Newfoundland English, Philadelphia English, some of African-American English, and (old-fashioned) white Southern American English in coastal plain and Piedmont areas. However, the letter ⟨ʌ⟩ is still commonly used to indicate this phoneme, even in the more common varieties with central variants [ɐ] or [ɜ]. That may be because of both tradition and some other dialects retaining the older pronunciation.