Editing Open central unrounded vowel (section)

==Occurrence==
Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel. Because the IPA uses {{angbr|a}} for both front and central unrounded open vowels, it is not always clear whether a particular language uses the former or the latter. However, there may not actually be a difference. (See {{slink|Vowel|Acoustics}}.)

{| class="wikitable" style="clear: both;"
! colspan="2" | Language !! Word !! [[International Phonetic Alphabet|IPA]] !! Meaning !! Notes
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Burmese language|Burmese]]{{sfnp|Watkins|2001|pp=292–293}} || {{lang|my|[[Burmese alphabet|မာ]]}} / [[Romanization of Burmese|''m'''a''''']] || {{IPA|[mä]}} || 'hard' || Oral allophone of {{IPA|/a/}} in open syllables; realized as near-open {{IPAblink|ɐ}} in other environments.{{sfnp|Watkins|2001|pp=292–293}}
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Catalan language|Catalan]] || {{lang|ca|[[Catalan orthography|s'''a'''c]]}} || {{IPA|[säk]}} || 'bag' || See [[Catalan phonology]]
|-
| [[Chinese language|Chinese]] || [[Standard Chinese|Mandarin]]{{sfnp|Lee|Zee|2003|pp=110–111}} || {{lang|cmn-Hani|[[Chinese characters|塌]]}}／{{lang|cmn-Latn|[[Pinyin|t'''ā''']]}}
|{{Audio-IPA|Zh-tā.ogg|[tʰä˥]|help=no}}
| 'collapse'
| See [[Standard Chinese phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Czech language|Czech]]{{sfnp|Dankovičová|1999|p=72}}{{sfnp|Šimáčková|Podlipský|Chládková|2012|p=228}} || {{lang|cs|[[Czech orthography|pr'''a'''ch]]}} || {{IPA|[präx]}} || 'dust' || See [[Czech phonology]]
|-
| [[Danish language|Danish]] || Standard{{sfnp|Grønnum|1998|p=100}} || {{lang|da|[[Danish alphabet|b'''ar'''n]]}} || {{IPA|[ˈpɑ̈ːˀn]}} || 'child' || Typically transcribed in IPA with {{angbr IPA|ɑː}}. See [[Danish phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Dutch language|Dutch]]{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=104}}{{sfnp|Verhoeven|2005|p=245}} || {{lang|nl|[[Dutch orthography|z'''aa'''l]]}} || {{IPA|[zäːɫ]}} || 'hall' || Ranges from [[Open front unrounded vowel|front]] to central;{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2003|p=104}} in non-standard accents it may be [[Open back unrounded vowel|back]]. See [[Dutch phonology]]
|-
| rowspan="10" | [[English language|English]] || [[Australian English|Australian]]{{sfnp|Cox|Fletcher|2017|pp=64–65}} || rowspan="6" | ''[[English orthography|br'''a''']]'' || rowspan="6" | {{IPA|[bɹɐ̞ː]}} || rowspan="6" | 'bra' || Typically transcribed in IPA with {{angbr IPA|ɐː}}. See [[Australian English phonology]]
|-
| [[East Anglian English|East Anglian]]{{sfnp|Trudgill|2004|p=172}} || Used mostly by middle-class speakers; can be front {{IPAblink|aː}} instead.{{sfnp|Trudgill|2004|p=172}}
|-
| [[General American]]{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}} || In the [[Midwest]]. Can be back {{IPAblink|ɑ|ɑː}} instead.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=476}}
|-
| [[New Zealand English|New Zealand]]{{sfnp|Bauer|Warren|Bardsley|Kennedy|2007|p=98}}{{sfnp|Hay|Maclagan|Gordon|2008|pp=21–23}} || Can be more front {{IPAblink|a|a̠ː}} and/or higher {{IPA|[{{IPA link|ɐ|ɐ̟ː}} ~ {{IPA link|ɐː}}]}} instead.{{sfnp|Bauer|Warren|Bardsley|Kennedy|2007|p=98}}{{sfnp|Hay|Maclagan|Gordon|2008|pp=21–23}} It may be transcribed in IPA with {{angbr IPA|ɐː}}. See [[New Zealand English phonology]]
|-
| rowspan="3" |[[Mid-Ulster English|Mid-Ulster]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |Can be more front {{IPAblink|a}} instead.
|-
| rowspan="4" |''[[English orthography|tr'''a'''p]]''
|{{IPA|[t̪͆ɹäp]}}
| rowspan="4" |'trap'
|-
| Some [[Canadian English|Canadian]] and [[California English|Californian]] speakers{{sfnp|Esling|Warkentyne|1993|p=?}}{{sfnp|Boberg|2004|pp=361–362}} || {{IPA|[t̠ɹ̝̊äp̚]}} || See [[Canadian Shift]] and [[English phonology]]
|-
| [[Multicultural London English|Multicultural London]]{{sfnp|Kerswill|Torgerson|Fox|2006|p=30}} || {{IPA|[t̠ɹ̝̊äʔp]}} || More front {{IPAblink|a}} in other [[Southern England English]].
|-
| [[Northern England English|Northern England]]{{sfnp|Boberg|2004|p=361}} || {{IPA|[tʰɹäp]}} || More front {{IPAblink|a}} in [[Scouse]].
|-
| [[French language|French]] || Parisian{{sfnp|Fougeron|Smith|1993|p=73}}{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2013|pp=226–227}} || {{lang|fr|[[French orthography|p'''a'''tte]]}} || {{IPA|[pät̪]}} || 'paw' || Older speakers have two contrastive open vowels: front {{IPAslink|a}} and back {{IPAslink|ɑ}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|2013|pp=226–227}} See [[French phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[German language|German]]{{sfnp|Kohler|1999|p=87}}{{sfnp|Dudenredaktion|Kleiner|Knöbl|2015|p=34}} || {{lang|de|[[German orthography|K'''a'''tze]]}} || {{IPA|[ˈkʰät͡sə]}} || 'cat' || Can be more front or more back in regional [[Standard German]].{{sfnp|Dudenredaktion|Kleiner|Knöbl|2015|p=64}} See [[Standard German phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" |[[Hindi]]
|[[Devanagari|आकार / '''''a'''k'''aa'''r'']]
|{{IPA|[äkäːɾ]}}
|'shape'
|Contrasts with the Mid-central vowel [[Mid central vowel|[ə]]]. See [[Hindi phonology]].
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Hungarian language|Hungarian]]{{sfnp|Szende|1994|p=92}} || {{lang|hu|[[Hungarian alphabet|l'''á'''b]]}} || {{IPA|[läːb]}}|| 'leg'|| See [[Hungarian phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Italian language|Italian]]{{sfnp|Rogers|d'Arcangeli|2004|p=119}} || {{lang|it|[[Italian alphabet|c'''a'''s'''a''']]}} || {{IPA|[ˈkäːsä]}}|| 'home'|| See [[Italian phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Japanese language|Japanese]]{{sfnp|Okada|1999|p=117}} || {{lang|ja|[[kanji|蚊]]}} / {{lang|ja-Latn|[[Romanization of Japanese|k'''a''']]}} || {{Audio-IPA|ja-ka.ogg|[kä]|help=no}}|| 'mosquito'|| See [[Japanese phonology]]
|-
| [[Limburgish language|Limburgish]] || [[Hamont-Achel dialect]]{{sfnp|Verhoeven|2007|p=221}} || {{lang|li|[[Limburgish#Orthography|z'''aa'''k]]}} || {{IPA|[ˈzǎ̠ːk]}} || 'business' || Front {{IPAblink|aː}} in other dialects.
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Lithuanian language|Lithuanian]] || {{lang|lt|[[Lithuanian orthography|r'''a'''tas]]}} || {{IPA|[räːtɐs̪]}}|| 'wheel' || See [[Lithuanian phonology]]
|-
| rowspan="2" |[[Malay language|Malay]]
|[[Malay language|Standard]]
|[[Jawi alphabet|رق]] ''/ [[Latin script|r'''a'''k]]''
|{{IPA|[räʔ]}}
|'shelf'
|See [[Malay phonology]]
|-
|[[Kelantan-Pattani Malay|Kelantan-Pattani]]
|[[Jawi alphabet|سست]] ''/ [[Latin script|ses'''a'''t]]''
|{{IPA|[səˈsäʔ]}}
|'lost'
|See [[Kelantan-Pattani Malay]]
|-
|colspan="2"| [[Malayalam language|Malayalam]]
|[[Malayalam script|വാൾ]]
||{{IPA|[ʋäːɭ̩]}}
||'sword'
||See [[Malayalam phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Polish language|Polish]]{{sfnp|Jassem|2003|p=105}} || {{lang|pl|[[Polish orthography|k'''a'''t]]}} || {{Audio-IPA|Pl-kat.ogg|[kät̪]|help=no}} || 'executioner' || See [[Polish phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]]{{sfnp|Cruz-Ferreira|1995|p=91}} || {{lang|pt|[[Portuguese orthography|v'''á''']]}} || {{IPA|[vä]}}|| 'go' || See [[Portuguese phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Romanian language|Romanian]]{{sfnp|Sarlin|2014|p=18}} || {{lang|ro|[[Romanian alphabet|c'''a'''l]]}} || {{IPA|[käl]}} || 'horse' || See [[Romanian phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Serbo-Croatian]]{{sfnp|Kordić|2006|p=4}}{{sfnp|Landau|Lončarića|Horga|Škarić|1999|p=67}} || {{lang|sh-Cyrl|[[Serbian Cyrillic alphabet|п'''а'''с]]}} / {{lang|sh-Latn|[[Gaj's Latin alphabet|p'''a'''s]]}} || {{IPA|[pâ̠s̪]}} || 'dog' || See [[Serbo-Croatian phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Spanish language|Spanish]]{{sfnp|Martínez-Celdrán|Fernández-Planas|Carrera-Sabaté|2003|p=256}} || {{lang|es|[[Spanish orthography|r'''a'''t'''a''']]}} || {{IPA|[ˈrät̪ä]}}|| 'rat'|| See [[Spanish phonology]]
|-
| [[Swedish language|Swedish]] || Central Standard{{sfnp|Engstrand|1999|p=140}}{{sfnp|Riad|2014|p=35}} || {{lang|sv|[[Swedish alphabet|b'''a'''nk]]}} || {{IPA|[bäŋk]}} || 'bank' || Also described as front {{IPAblink|a}}.{{sfnp|Bolander|2001|p=55}}{{sfnp|Rosenqvist|2007|p=9}} See [[Swedish phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Thai language|Thai]]{{sfnp|Tingsabadh|Abramson|1993|p=25}} || {{lang|th|[[Thai script|บางกอก]]}} / [[Romanization of Thai|''baang-gɔ̀ɔk'']]|| {{Audio-IPA|Th-Bangkok.ogg|[bäːŋ˧.kɔːk̚˨˩]}} || '[[Bangkok]]' || See [[Thai phonology]]
|-
| [[Turkish language|Turkish]]{{sfnp|Zimmer|Orgun|1999|p=155}} || Standard || {{lang|tr|[[Turkish alphabet|'''a'''t]]}} || {{IPA|[ät̪]}} || 'horse' || Also described as back {{IPAblink|ɑ}}.{{sfnp|Göksel|Kerslake|2005|p=10}} See [[Turkish phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" |[[Welsh language|Welsh]]
|{{lang|cy|[[Welsh orthography|si'''a'''r'''a'''d]]}}
|{{IPA|[ʃäräd]}}
|'talk'
|See [[Welsh phonology]]
|-
| colspan="2" | [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]]{{sfnp|Bamgboṣe|1966|p=166}} || {{lang|yo|[[Yoruba alphabet|'''à'''b'''á''']]}} || {{IPA|[ä̀.bä́]}}|| 'idea' || See [[Yoruba phonology]]
|}