Near-open vowel

A near-open vowel or a near-low vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-open vowel is that the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but slightly more constricted. Near-open vowels are sometimes described as lax variants of the fully open vowels. The near-open vowels with dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:


 * near-open front unrounded vowel
 * near-open central vowel without specified rounding (usually used for an unrounded vowel)

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