Back vowel

A back vowel is a type of vowel sound used in spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Back vowels are sometimes also called dark vowels because they are perceived as sounding darker than the front vowels. The back vowels which have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:


 * close back unrounded vowel
 * close back rounded vowel
 * close-mid back unrounded vowel
 * close-mid back rounded vowel
 * open-mid back unrounded vowel
 * open-mid back rounded vowel
 * open back unrounded vowel
 * open back rounded vowel

There also are back vowels which don't have dedicated symbols in the IPA:
 * near-close back unrounded vowel or
 * near-close back rounded vowel or  (normally written, i.e. as if it were near-back)
 * mid back unrounded vowel or  (normally written, i.e. as if it were close-mid)
 * mid back rounded vowel or  (normally written, i.e. as if it were close-mid)
 * near-open back unrounded vowel or  (normally written, i.e. as if it were fully open)
 * near-open back rounded vowel or  (normally written, i.e. as if it were fully open)