Open-mid back rounded vowel - Definition and Overview

IPA - Unicode	ɔ
IPA - image
X-SAMPA	O
Kirshenbaum	O
Sound sample

The open-mid back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɔ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is O. The IPA symbol is a turned letter c and both the symbol and the sound are commonly called "open-o". Features of this vowel:

• Its vowel height is open-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel and a mid vowel.
• Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
• Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded.

This vowel occurs in most dialects of English, and is the sound represented by the letters au in haul or the letter a in ball.