Mid vowel

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A mid vowel is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a mid vowel is that the tongue is positioned mid-way between an open vowel and a close vowel. The only mid vowel with a dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the mid central vowel Template:IPA, a symbol which is also used for the vowel schwa.

The IPA divides the vowel space into thirds, with the close-mid vowels such as Template:IPA or Template:IPA and the open-mid vowels such as Template:IPA or Template:IPA equidistant in formant space between open [a] and close [i] or [u]. Thus a true mid front vowel could be transcribed as either a lowered Template:IPA or a raised Template:IPA.

Few languages contrast all three heights of mid vowel, since it is rare for a language to distinguish more than four heights of true front or back vowels. One, the Amstetten dialect of Bavarian German, 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 Template:IPA, Template:IPA, Template:IPA, and /a/.

	Amstetten Bavarian (transcription)
Close	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Close-mid	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Open-mid	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Near open	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Open		Template:IPA

However, the vowels transcribed Template:IPA are one-third the distance between open /a/ and close /i y u/, precisely the IPA definition of open-mid vowels Template:IPA. Thus Amstetten Bavarian may be an example of a language that contrasts mid vowels with both open-mid and close-mid vowels.

	Amstetten Bavarian (formant space)
Close	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Close-mid	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Mid	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Open-mid	Template:IPA	Template:IPA	Template:IPA
Open		Template:IPA

fr:Voyelle moyenne

he:תנועות אמצעיות