A 'back vowel' is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a back vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. The back vowels identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

★ close back unrounded vowel

★ close back rounded vowel

★ close-mid back unrounded vowel

★ close-mid back rounded vowel

★ open-mid back unrounded vowel

★ open-mid back rounded vowel

★ open back unrounded vowel

★ open back rounded vowel
See also: List of phonetics topics

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