NEAR-OPEN VOWEL

A 'near-open vowel' is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-open vowel is that the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but slightly more constricted. Near-open vowels are sometimes described as 'lax' variants of the fully-open vowels. The near-open vowels for which separate symbols exist in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

★ near-open front unrounded vowel []

★ near-open central vowel []