Editing Kazakh language (section)

===Vowels===
Kazakh has a system of 12 phonemic vowels, 3 of which are diphthongs. The rounding contrast and {{IPA|/æ/}} generally only occur as phonemes in the first syllable of a word, but do occur later allophonically; see the section on harmony below for more information. Moreover, the {{IPA|/æ/}} sound has been included artificially due to the influence of Arabic, Persian and, later, Tatar languages during the Islamic period.<ref name="slaviccenters">{{Cite book|url=https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/sites/slaviccenters.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/kazakh-grammar.pdf|title=A Grammar of Kazakh|last1=Wagner|first1=John Doyle|last2=Dotton|first2=Zura |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230326024834/https://slaviccenters.duke.edu/sites/slaviccenters.duke.edu/files/file-attachments/kazakh-grammar.pdf |archive-date=Mar 26, 2023}}</ref> It can be found in some native words, however.

According to Vajda, the front/back quality of vowels is actually one of neutral versus [[retracted tongue root]].<ref name="Vajda"/>

Phonetic values are paired with the corresponding character in Kazakh's Cyrillic and current Latin alphabets.

{| class="wikitable" style=text-align:center
|+Kazakh vowel phonemes
!
![[Front vowel|Front]]<br />([[Advanced and retracted tongue root|Advanced tongue root]])
![[Central vowel|Central]]<br />(Relaxed tongue root)
![[Back vowel|Back]]<br />(Retracted tongue root)
|-
! [[Close vowel|Close]]
| {{IPAlink|ɪ̞}} {{angle bracket|і/ı}}
| {{IPAlink|ʉ}} {{angle bracket|ү/ü}}
| {{IPAlink|o̙}} {{angle bracket|ұ/ū}}
|-
! [[Diphthong]]
| {{IPA|je̘}} {{angle bracket|е/e}}
| {{IPA|əj}} {{angle bracket|и/i}}
| {{IPA|ʊw}} {{angle bracket|у/u}}
|-
! [[Mid vowel|Mid]]
| {{IPAlink|e}} {{angle bracket|э/e}} 
| {{IPAlink|ə}} {{angle bracket|ы/y}}
| {{IPAlink|o̞}} {{angle bracket|о/o}}
|-
! [[Open vowel|Open]]
| {{IPAlink|æ̝}} {{angle bracket|ә/ä}}
| {{IPAlink|ɵ}} {{angle bracket|ө/ö}}
| {{IPAlink|ɑ̝}} {{angle bracket|а/a}}
|}

{| class="wikitable"
|+Kazakh vowels by their pronunciation
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]] and [[Central vowel|central]]
! colspan="2" |[[Back vowel|Back]]
|-
!{{small|[[Unrounded vowel|unrounded]]}}
!{{small|[[Rounded vowel|rounded]]}}
!{{small|unrounded}}
!{{small|rounded}}
|-
![[Close vowel|Close]]
|{{IPAlink|ɪ̞}} {{angle bracket|і/ı}}
|{{IPAlink|ʏ̞}} {{angle bracket|ү/ü}}
|{{IPAlink|ə}} {{angle bracket|ы/y}}
|{{IPAlink|o̙}} {{angle bracket|ұ/ū}}
|-
![[Open vowel|Open]]
|{{IPA|je̘}} {{angle bracket|е/e}} / {{IPAlink|æ}} {{angle bracket|ә/ä}}
|{{IPAlink|ɵ}} {{angle bracket|ө/ö}}
|{{IPAlink|ɑ̝}} {{angle bracket|а/a}}
|{{IPAlink|o̞}} {{angle bracket|о/o}}
|}
* There is significant debate over the Kazakh vowel phoneme chart, but all analysis agrees on an eight-vowel system with {{IPA|[æ]}} being artificially added due to influence from Arabic and Persian.
* The vowel {{IPA|/e̞/|lang=kk}} is often pronounced {{IPA|/je̞/|lang=kk}} at the beginning of the word, with exceptional root e-. Urban Kazakh tends to palatalize all {{IPA|/e̞/|lang=kk}}, caused by Russian influence.<ref name="Muhamedowa">{{Cite book |last=Muhamedowa |first=Raihan |title=Kazakh: A Comprehensive Grammar |date=2016-09-24 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-138-82863-6 |edition=1st |location=London New York |language=English}}</ref>