The vowel space
Vowels are described by tongue height (close to open), horizontal position (front to back), and lip rounding. [i] is close front unrounded; [y] is close front rounded; [ɯ] is close back unrounded; [u] is close back rounded. A vowel chart is a conventional quadrilateral, not a floor plan of the mouth. The placement reflects articulatory and acoustic relationships, and real realizations occupy continuous regions rather than fixed points. In official paired cells, the right symbol is rounded.
The complete chart below includes central vowels and near-close, open-mid and near-open values as well as the familiar [a e i o u]. Symbols can be combined with diacritics: [ã] indicates nasalization, [aː] length, and [a̝] raising. These do not require separate basic vowel letters. Schwa [ə] denotes a mid central vowel; it does not automatically mean “unstressed” in every language.
Interactive reference
The IPA vowel space
Every basic vowel symbol on the official IPA chart. Select a vowel to inspect tongue height, backness and lip rounding.
Tap a symbol to see what its chart position and notation mean. This is a description, not a recording or reconstruction of an ancient speaker.
Vowel space
Rows run from close (high tongue) to open (low tongue); columns run front to back. In paired cells, unrounded is left and rounded right. Near-close and near-open symbols have their own rows.
| Height | Front | Central | Back |
|---|---|---|---|
| Close | |||
| Near-close | — | ||
| Close-mid | |||
| Mid | — | — | |
| Open-mid | |||
| Near-open | — | ||
| Open | — |
Source
Adapted from the International Phonetic Association’s official chart (2026 issue, revised 2015/2005), copyright © 2026 International Phonetic Association. The chart and this interactive adaptation of its symbol arrangement are available under CC BY-SA 4.0. No Handbook audio is reproduced.
Contrast versus context
Vowel nasalization may be phonemic or conditioned by nearby sounds. WALS gives French /pɛ̃/ “bread” versus /pɛ/ “peace” as a contrast, while Thai /mɛː/ → [mɛ̃ː] “mother” illustrates contextual nasalization in its description. These are modern-language teaching comparisons and rely on the cited analyses, not claims about any ancient text. The same visible diacritic therefore does not tell you whether a property distinguishes words in the language under study.
Duration likewise needs analysis. A longer phone [aː] is a phonetic observation; a language's /a/ versus /aː/ opposition is a phonological claim. If an ancient script marks two vowels differently, compare minimally different words, metrical positions and historical developments before inferring exact acoustic duration.
Modern-language examples on this page clarify a linguistic pattern. They do not establish unattested sounds or forms for an ancient language. Follow the cited sources below and keep editorial readings separate from the surviving trace.