Editing Back vowel (section)

{{Short description|Type of vowel sound}}
{{IPA vowels|class=floatright}}
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A '''back vowel''' is any in a class of [[vowel]] sound used in spoken [[language]]s. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the highest point of the tongue is positioned relatively back 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 vowel]]s.<ref>{{cite book|last=Tsur|first=Reuven|title=The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception|publisher=Duke University Press|date=February 1992|page=20 |isbn=978-0-8223-1170-6 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=1yh4p69MaI4C&q=dark+vowels&pg=PA20}}</ref>

'''Near-back''' vowels are essentially a type of back vowels; no language is known to contrast back and near-back vowels based on backness alone.

The category "back vowel" comprises both [[raised vowel]]s and [[retracted vowel]]s.