The open back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is A. The symbol is called ''script a'' because it lacks the extra hook on top of a printed letter 'a', which corresponds to a different vowel, the open front unrounded vowel. ''Script a'', which has its linear stroke on the right, should not be confused with ''turned script a'' , which has its linear stroke on the left and corresponds to a rounded version of this vowel, the open back rounded vowel.

Features

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Its vowel height is open, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth.

Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant

Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

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! colspan="2" align="center" | Language !! Word !! IPA!! Meaning !! Notes |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Angor||align="center"| ''ape'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'father' || |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Dutch ||align="center"| ''bad'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'bath' || Backness varies among dialects. See Dutch phonology |- | rowspan="2" align="center"| English ||align-"center"| CaE ||align="center"| ''ball'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'ball' || rowspan="2"| See English phonology |- |align-"center"| RP and GA||align="center"| ''spa'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'spa' |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Finnish||align="center"| ''kana'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'hen' || See Finnish phonology |- | colspan="2" align="center"| French ||align="center"| ''pâte'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'dough'|| Only in dialects that distinguish ''pâte'' from ''patte''. See French phonology |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Hungarian ||align="center"| ''bal'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'left' || See Hungarian phonology |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Navajo ||align="center"| ''ashkii'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'boy'|| |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Norwegian ||align="center"| ''hat'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'hate'|| See Norwegian phonology |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Plautdietsch ||align="center"| ''Gott'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'God'|| |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Russian ||align="center"| палка ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'stick' || Only occurs both before and after an unpalatalized consonant. See Russian phonology |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Swedish ||align="center"| hаt ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'hate' || See Swedish phonology |- | colspan="2" align="center"| Vietnamese ||align="center"| ''tai'' ||align="center"| ||align="center"| 'ear'|| See Vietnamese phonology

Category:Vowels

br:Vogalenn digor a-dreñv plaen
de:Ungerundeter offener Hinterzungenvokal
fr:Voyelle basse postérieure non arrondie
ja:非円唇後舌広母音
ko:후설 비원순 저모음
pl:Samogłoska otwarta tylna niezaokrąglona