Phonetics and the IPA 5, Exercise 2: description to symbol close back rounded [u] close-mid front unrounded [e] open-mid back rounded [ɔ] close front rounded [y] Primary cardinal vowels among them: [u] (no. 8), [e] (no. 2) and [ɔ] (no. 6). [y] is not one of the eight primary cardinal vowels (the primary list is [i e ɛ a ɑ ɔ o u]). Note: Jones's cardinal [e] is "upper-middle", the chart's close-mid; the cardinal [ɔ] is "lower-middle", the chart's open-mid.