title: Mid vowel
text: # Mid vowel
  
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  A mid vowel (or a true-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 [ə].
  
  The IPA divides the vowel space into thirds, with the close-mid vowels such as [e] or [o] and the open-mid vowels such as [ɛ] or [ɔ] equidistant in formant space between open [a] or [ɒ] and close [i] or [u]. Thus a true mid front unrounded vowel can be transcribed as either a lowered ⟨e̞⟩ (with a lowering diacritic) or as a raised ⟨ɛ̝⟩ (with a raising diacritic). Typical truly mid vowels are thus:
  
  * mid front unrounded vowel [e̞] or [ɛ̝]
  * mid front rounded vowel [ø̞] or [œ̝]
  * mid central unrounded vowel [ɘ̞] or [ɜ̝] (most commonly written ⟨ə⟩)
  * mid central protruded vowel [ɵ̞] or [ɞ̝] (most commonly written ⟨ɵ⟩ as if it were close-mid)
  * mid central compressed vowel [əᵝ]
  * mid back unrounded vowel [ɤ̞] or [ʌ̝]
  * mid back rounded vowel [o̞] or [ɔ̝]
  
  ## Languages
  
  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.
  
  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.
  
  Kensiu oral vowels :
  
  | | Front | Central | Back |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Close | i | ɯ | u |
  | Near-close | ɪ | | |
  | Close-mid | e̝ | ɚ | o̝ |
  | Mid | e | ə | o |
  | Open-mid | ɛ | ʌ | ɔ |
  | Open | | a | |
  | Diphthongs | ie | | |
  
  Kensiu nasal vowels :
  
  | | Front | Central | Back |
  | - | - | - | - |
  | Close | ĩ | ɯ̃ | ũ |
  | Near-close | ɪ̃ | | |
  | Close-mid | ẽ̝ | | õ̝ |
  | Mid | ẽ | | õ |
  | Open-mid | ɛ̃ | ʌ̃ | ɔ̃ |
  | Open | | ã | |
  | Diphthongs | ĩẽ | | |
  
  vteInternational Phonetic Alphabet (chart) :
  
  IPA topics :
  
  Consonants :
  
  Vowels :
  
  Front
  
  Central
  
  Back
  
  Close
  
  i
  
  y
  
  ɨ
  
  ʉ
  
  ɯ
  
  u
  
  Near-close
  
  ɪ
  
  ʏ
  
  ʊ
  
  Close-mid
  
  e
  
  ø
  
  ɘ
  
  ɵ
  
  ɤ
  
  o
  
  Mid
  
  e̞
  
  ø̞
  
  ə
  
  ɤ̞
  
  o̞
  
  Open-mid
  
  ɛ
  
  œ
  
  ɜ
  
  ɞ
  
  ʌ
  
  ɔ
  
  Near-open
  
  æ
  
  ɐ
  
  Open
  
  a
  
  ɶ
  
  ä
  
  ɑ
  
  ɒ
  
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