The near-open central vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ɐ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is 6. The symbol ɐ is a turned printed letter 'a'.

Features of this vowel:

• Its vowel height is near-open, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but slightly more constricted.
• Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.

Occurs in:

• German besser [ˈbɛsɐ]
• New England English winter [ˈwɪntɐ]
• European Portuguese amo [ˈɐmɔ]
• Australian and New Zealand English cut [kɐt] and cart [kɐːt]