Usage
The letter O is the fourth most common letter in English language. O is most commonly associated with the Open-mid back rounded vowel, Mid back rounded vowel or close-mid back rounded vowel in many languages. This form is colloquially termed the "long o" as in boat in English, but it is actually most often a diphthong /oʊ/ (realized dialectically anywhere from to ). In English there is a "short O" as in fox, which also has several pronunciations. In most dialects of British English, it is either an open-mid back rounded vowel or an open back rounded vowel ; in American English, it is most commonly unrounded back to central vowel to .
Common digraphs include ⟨oo⟩, which represents either /uː/, /ʊ/ or /ʌ/; ⟨oi⟩ which typically represents the diphthong /ɔɪ/, like the pronunciation of ⟨oi⟩ in "boil"; and ⟨ao⟩, ⟨oe⟩, and ⟨ou⟩ which represent a variety of pronunciations depending on context and etymology.
Other languages use O for various values, usually back vowels which are at least partly open. Derived letters such as Ö and Ø have been created for the alphabets of some languages to distinguish values that were not present in Latin and Greek, particularly rounded front vowels.
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, represents the close-mid back rounded vowel.
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