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Close back unrounded vowel

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
For the Latin letter, see Ɯ. Not to be confused with the Armenian letter ա (U+0561), the Cyrillic letter ш (U+0448), or the Tamil letter ய (U+0BAF).

Close back unrounded vowel
ɯ
IPA number316
Audio sample
Duration: 1 second.
Encoding
Entity (decimal)ɯ
Unicode (hex)U+026F
X-SAMPAM
Braille⠲ (braille pattern dots-256)⠥ (braille pattern dots-136)
IPA: Vowels
Front Central Back
Close
•
•
•
Near-close
•
•
Close-mid
•
•
•
Mid
•
•
Open-mid
•
•
•
Near-open
•
Open
•
•
•

Legend: unrounded • rounded

The close back unrounded vowel, or high back unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɯ⟩. Typographically, it is a turned letter ⟨m⟩.

The close back unrounded vowel can in many cases be considered the vocalic equivalent of the voiced velar approximant [ɰ].

Features

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  • Its vowel height is close, also known as high, which means the tongue is positioned close to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
  • Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned back in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Unrounded back vowels tend to be centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-back.
  • Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
Spectrogram of [ɯ]

Occurrence

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Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Acehnese[2] eu [ɯ] 'see' Also described as closer to [ɨ].[3][4]
Arara[5] îput [ɯput̚] 'my skin' Frequent realisation of /ɨ/.[5]
Arbëresh Arbëreshë [ɑɾbɯɾeʃ] 'Arbëreshë' /ə/ in standard Albanian.
Azerbaijani bahalı / باهالیٛ [bɑhɑˈɫɯ] 'expensive' Closer to an [ɘ].[6]
Bashkir ҡыҙ / قىُث / qıđ [qɯð] 'girl'
Chinese Mandarin 刺 / cì [t͡sʰɯ˥˩] 'thorn'
Wuhan dialect, Southwestern Mandarin 去 / keu [kʰɯ] 'to go'
Some Wu dialects 父 / vu [vɯ] 'father'
Xiang 火 / xu [xɯ] 'fire'
Chuvash ыхра / ıxra [ɯɣra] 'garlic'
Crimean Tatar джаным / canım [dʒanɯm] 'my dear'
English Some California speakers[7] goose [ɡɯˑs] 'goose' Corresponds to [uː] in other dialects.
New Zealand[8][9] treacle [ˈtɹ̝̊iːkɯ] 'treacle' Possible realization of the unstressed vowel /ɯ/, which is variable in rounding and ranges from central to (more often) back and close to close-mid.[8][9] Corresponds to /əl/ in other accents. Develops from dark L; See New Zealand English phonology
Some Philadelphia speakers[10] plus [pɫ̥ɯs] 'plus' Used by some speakers; the exact height and backness is variable.[10] It corresponds to [ʌ] in other accents. See English phonology
South African[11] pill [pʰɯ̞ɫ] 'pill' Near-close; possible allophone of /ɪ/ before the velarised allophone of /l/.[11] See South African English phonology
Eastern Khanty Vakh-Vasyugan[12] пӛӈк [pɯŋk] 'hazel grouse' See Eastern Khanty phonology
Estonian[13] kõrv [kɯrv] 'ear' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɤ⟩; can be close-mid central [ɘ] or close-mid back [ɤ] instead, depending on the speaker.[13] See Estonian phonology
Irish Ulster caol [kʰɯːl̪ˠ] 'narrow' See Irish phonology
Japanese[14] 空気 / kūki [kɯːkʲi]ⓘ 'air' May be compressed [ɯᵝ].[15] See Japanese phonology
Katukina[16] [babɯˈdʒɯ] 'oscar (fish)'
Kazakh қыс / qys / قىس [qɯs] 'winter' May be pronounced as qəs
Korean[17] 음식 飮食 / eumsik [ɯːmɕ͈ik̚] 'food' See Korean phonology
Kurdish Kurmanji (Northern) tirş [tˤɯɾʃ] 'sour' See Kurdish phonology. The "i" after "t" always uses this sound if the "t" is "tˤ". However, it can also appear at other places.
Sorani (Central) ترش / tirş
Kyrgyz кыз / قىز / qyz [qɯz] 'girl' See Kyrgyz phonology
Minangkabau Some speakers mandudu [mändɯdɯ] 'to push ahead' Normally [u] in standard Minangkabau language.
Panará[18] [tɯˈsəʰ] 'to breathe'
Romanian Some speakers când [kɯnd] 'when' Typically described as ⟨ɨ⟩. See Romanian phonology
Scottish Gaelic caol [kʰɯːl̪ˠ] 'thin' See Scottish Gaelic phonology
Sop düm [dɯm] 'tree' See Sop language
Tamil அழகு / aḻagu [əɻəgɯ] 'beauty' Normally [u] elsewhere.
Thai Standard[19] ขึ้น / khuen/khîn [kʰɯn˥˩] 'to go up'
Turkish[20] sığ [sɯː]ⓘ 'shallow' Described variously as close back [ɯ],[20] near-close near-back [ɯ̽][21] and close central [ɨ].[22] See Turkish phonology
Turkmen ýaşyl / یاشیٛل [jɑːˈʃɯl] 'green'
Uyghur تىلىم / tılım/tilim [tɯlɯm] 'my language' In complementary distribution with /ɪ/. See Uyghur phonology
Vietnamese tư [tɯ] 'fourth' See Vietnamese phonology

Near-close near-back unrounded vowel

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See also: Near-close central unrounded vowel and Near-close near-back compressed vowel
Near-close near-back unrounded vowel
ɯ̽
Audio sample
Duration: 1 second.
Near-close back unrounded vowel
ɯ̞
ɤ̝

Some languages have a near-close near-back unrounded vowel, or near-high near-back unrounded vowel, which is more centralized than a typical [ɯ].

The International Phonetic Alphabet has no dedicated symbol for this sound, but it may be represented as [ɯ̽] (mid-centralized ⟨ɯ⟩) or [ɯ̞̈] (lowered and centralized ⟨ɯ⟩). It may also be transcribed as [ʊ̜] (less rounded ⟨ʊ⟩), but because ⟨ʊ⟩ is defined by the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association as rounded (whereas ⟨ə⟩ and ⟨ɐ⟩ do not specify rounding),[23] the symbol [ʊ̜] can also signify a weakly rounded [ʊ], rather than the fully unrounded vowel that is described in this article. John C. Wells transcribes this vowel with the para-IPA symbol ⟨ω⟩ in his Accents of English,[24] though Sinological phonetic notation uses this symbol instead for a near-open back rounded vowel [ɒ̝]. John Esling uses ⟨ᵻ⟩ to represent this sound in his iPA Phonetics mobile application,[25] though this is more typically used to represent a near-close central unrounded vowel [ɪ̈].

For precision, a near-close back unrounded vowel, or near-high back unrounded vowel, may also be described, and is attested in a few spoken languages. This sound can be represented in the IPA as [ɯ̞] (lowered ⟨ɯ⟩) or [ɤ̝] (raised ⟨ɤ⟩). However, some phoneticians argue that all lip position inverses of the primary cardinal vowels are centralized (with the exception of ⟨ɒ⟩) based on formant acoustics,[26] so that there may be no substantial difference between a near-close near-back unrounded vowel [ɯ̽] and its fully back counterpart [ɯ̞].

Features

[edit]

Occurrence

[edit]
Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
English African-American[27] hook [hɯ̽k] 'hook' Possible realization of /ʊ/.[27]
California[7] Often pronounced with spread lips. Corresponds to /ʊ/ in other accents.[7] See English phonology
Tidewater[28] May be rounded [ʊ] instead.[28]
Cardiff[29] [ɯ̽k] Also described as close-mid central [ɘ ~ ɵ].[30]
New Zealand[8][9] treacle [ˈtɹ̝̊iːkɯ̞]ⓘ 'treacle' Possible realization of the unstressed vowel /ɯ/, which is variable in rounding and ranges from central to (more often) back and close to close-mid.[8][9] It corresponds to /əl/ in other accents. See New Zealand English phonology
Some Philadelphia speakers[10] plus [pɫ̥ɯ̞s] 'plus' Used particularly by male speakers; can be lower [ʌ̝ ~ ʌ] instead.[10] It corresponds to [ʌ] in other accents. See English phonology
South African[11] pill [pʰɯ̽ɫ] 'pill' Possible allophone of /ɪ/ before the velarised allophone of /l/.[11] Also described as close-mid [ɤ].[31] See South African English phonology
Irish Ulster[32] ag gail [ə ˈɡɯ̽lˠ] 'boiling' Allophone of /ɪ/.[32] See Irish phonology
Korean[33] 어른/eoreun [ə̝ːɾɯ̞n] 'seniors' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩. See Korean phonology
Portuguese European[34] pegar [pɯ̽ˈɣäɾ]ⓘ 'to grab' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɨ⟩ or ⟨ə⟩. Appears only in unstressed syllables.[34] See Portuguese phonology
Turkish Standard[35] sığ [sɯ̽ː] 'shallow' Also described as close back [ɯ] and close central [ɨ].[36] See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese Hanoi[37] từ [t̻ɯ̽˧˨]ⓘ 'word' Common allophone of /ɯ/.[37] See Vietnamese phonology
Yine[38] [tɯ̽wɯ̽] 'salt' Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩.[38]

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. ^ Durie, Mark (1990). "Proto-Chamic and Acehnese Mid Vowels: Towards Proto-Aceh-Chamic" (PDF). Bulletin of the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. LII, Part 1: 100–111. doi:10.1017/S0041977X00021297. S2CID 162224060. Archived from the original (PDF) on 14 July 2010.
  3. ^ Asyik, Abdul Gani. "The Agreement System in Acehnese" (PDF). Mon-Khmer Studies. XI: 1–33. Archived from the original (PDF) on 30 July 2009. Retrieved 21 May 2012.
  4. ^ Al-Harbi, Awwad Ahmad Al-Ahmadi (January 2003). "Acehnese Coda Condition: An Optimality-Theoretic Account" (PDF). Umm Al-Qura University Journal of Educational and Social Sciences and Humanities. 15 (1): 9–28.
  5. ^ Jump up to: a b Alves (2013), p. 269.
  6. ^ Ghaffarvand-Mokari & Werner 2016, p. 514.
  7. ^ Jump up to: a b c Ladefoged (1999), pp. 42–43.
  8. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Warren, Paul. NZE Phonology (PDF) (Report). Victoria University of Wellington. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2024.
  9. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Bauer & Warren (2004), p. 585.
  10. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Gordon (2004), p. 290.
  11. ^ Jump up to: a b c d Bowerman (2004), p. 936.
  12. ^ V.N. Solovar; G.L. Nakhracheva; A.A. Shiyanova (2016), Диалекты хантыйского языка., Khanty-Mansiysk{{citation}}: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)
  13. ^ Jump up to: a b Asu & Teras (2009), p. 369.
  14. ^ Labrune (2012), p. 25.
  15. ^ Okada (1999), p. 118.
  16. ^ dos Anjos (2012), p. 129.
  17. ^ Lee (1999), p. 122.
  18. ^ Vasconcelos (2013), p. 182.
  19. ^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993), p. 24.
  20. ^ Jump up to: a b Göksel & Kerslake (2005:10)
  21. ^ Kılıç & Öğüt (2004)
  22. ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999:155)
  23. ^ International Phonetic Association (1999), p. 180.
  24. ^ Wells (1982:xvii)
  25. ^ Esling, John H.; Moisik, Scott R.; Coey, Christopher (2015). iPA Phonetics: Multimodal iOS application for phonetics instruction and practice (PDF). 18th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences (ICPhS XVIII). ISSN 2412-0669.
  26. ^ Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
  27. ^ Jump up to: a b Wells (1982), p. 557.
  28. ^ Jump up to: a b Wells (1982), p. 536.
  29. ^ Wells (1982), p. 386.
  30. ^ Collins & Mees (1990), pp. 92, 94.
  31. ^ Wells (1982), p. 617.
  32. ^ Jump up to: a b Ní Chasaide (1999), p. 114.
  33. ^ Lee (1999), p. 121.
  34. ^ Jump up to: a b Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
  35. ^ Kılıç & Öğüt (2004)
  36. ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
  37. ^ Jump up to: a b Kirby (2011), p. 384.
  38. ^ Jump up to: a b Urquía Sebastián & Marlett (2008), p. 366.

References

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