While the International Phonetic Alphabet officially has no dedicated letter for this sound between front [a] and back [ɑ], it is normally written ⟨a⟩.
If precision is required, it can be specified by using diacritics, typically centralized ⟨ä⟩.
[2][3][4] Most languages have some form of an unrounded open vowel.
Because the IPA uses ⟨a⟩ for both front and central unrounded open vowels, it is not always clear whether a particular language uses the former or the latter.
Shaded areas denote articulations judged impossible.