Near-back vowel

A near-back vowel (also called a back-central vowel or a centralized back vowel) is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth.

The only near-back vowel which has a dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the near-close near-back vowel without specified rounding.

There also are near-back vowels which don't have dedicated symbols in the IPA:
 * close near-back unrounded vowel, or
 * close near-back rounded vowel, or
 * near-close near-back unrounded vowel, , or
 * near-close near-back rounded vowel, , or
 * close-mid near-back unrounded vowel, or
 * close-mid near-back rounded vowel, or
 * mid near-back unrounded vowel, , or
 * mid near-back rounded vowel, , or
 * open-mid near-back unrounded vowel, or
 * open-mid near-back rounded vowel, or
 * near-open near-back unrounded vowel, or
 * near-open near-back rounded vowel, or
 * open near-back unrounded vowel or
 * open near-back rounded vowel or