Central vowel

A central vowel, also known before as a mixed vowel, is any in a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages. The biggest thing of a central vowel is that the tongue is put halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel. (Using this, unrounded central vowels are usually further forward and rounded central vowels are further back.)

The central vowels that have their own symbols^[1] in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

• close central unrounded vowel [ɨ]
• close central protruded vowel [ʉ]
• close-mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ] (older releases may use ⟨ë⟩)
• close-mid central rounded vowel [ɵ] (older releases may use ⟨ö⟩)
• mid central vowel with double-meaning rounding [ə]
• open-mid central unrounded vowel [ɜ] (older releases may use ⟨ɛ̈⟩)
• open-mid central rounded vowel [ɞ] (older releases may use ⟨ɔ̈⟩)
• near-open central vowel with double-meaning rounding [ɐ] (typically used for an unrounded vowel; if precision is wanted, ⟨ɜ̞⟩ may be used for an unrounded vowel and ⟨ɞ̞⟩ for a rounded vowel)

There also are central vowels that do not have their own symbols in the IPA:

• close central compressed vowel [ÿ]
• near-close central unrounded vowel [ɨ̞], [ɪ̈], [ɪ̠] or [ɘ̝] (unofficial symbol: ⟨ᵻ⟩)
• near-close central protruded vowel [ʉ̞], [ʊ̈], [ʊ̟] or [ɵ̝] (unofficial symbol: ⟨ᵿ⟩)
• near-close central compressed vowel [ʏ̈]
• mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ̞] or [ɜ̝] (usually written ⟨ə⟩)
• mid central protruded vowel [ɵ̞] or [ɞ̝] (usually written ⟨ɵ⟩ as if it were close-mid)
• mid central compressed vowel [əᵝ]
• open central unrounded vowel [ä] (usually written ⟨a⟩ as if it were front)
• open central rounded vowel [ɒ̈]

• Front vowel
• Back vowel
• List of phonetics topics
• Relative articulation

1. ↑ International Phonetic Association (2021). Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: a guide to the use of the international phonetic alphabet (22. printing ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-65236-0.