Backvokaalit
Backvokaalit (back vowels) are vowels articulated with the tongue body positioned toward the back of the mouth. They are defined in relation to front vowels, with central vowels lying between front and back. Backness is a primary dimension of vowel articulation, often combined with tongue height (high, mid, low) and lip rounding.
The defining property of back vowels is tongue retreat. This back position influences both articulation and
Commonly attested back vowels across languages include high back rounded [u], high back unrounded [ɯ], mid back
Back vowels contrast with front vowels and, in many languages, with central vowels as part of a
Phonetically, back vowels typically exhibit relatively low F2 values in spectrograms, reflecting the tongue's posterior position,