Close central unrounded vowel
Vowel sound represented by ⟨ɨ⟩ in IPA
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The close central unrounded vowel, or high central unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is â¨É¨â©, namely the lower-case letter i with a horizontal bar. Both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as barred i.
| Close central unrounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɨ | |||
| IPA number | 317 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɨ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0268 | ||
| X-SAMPA | 1 | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
Occasionally, this vowel is transcribed â¨Ã¯â© (centralized â¨iâ©) or â¨É¯Ìâ© (centralized â¨É¯â©).[2]
The close central unrounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the rare post-palatal approximant [È·Ì].[3]
Features
- 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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
- It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
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Occurrence
/ɨ/ is uncommon as a phoneme in Indo-European languages, occurring most commonly in some Slavic languages, such as Belarusian and Russian (see Ñ). However, it is very common as a separate phoneme in the indigenous languages of the Americas and is often in phonemic contrast with other close vowels such as /i/ and /u/ both in modern living languages as well as reconstructed proto-languages (such as Proto-Uto-Aztecan). Campbell, Kaufman, and Smith-Stark identify the presence of this vowel phoneme as an areal feature of a Mesoamerican Sprachbund (although that is not a defining feature of the entire area).[4]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acehnese | tupeue | [tupɨÉ] | 'to know' | Asyik[5] and Al-Ahmadi Al-Harbi[6] describe this sound as such while Durie[7] describes it as closer to [ɯ] | |
| Aikanã[8] | tɨi | [Ëtɨi] | 'aunt' | It also happens as allophone of /a/ before [i].[8] | |
| Angami | Khonoma[9] | prü | [pɻɨ˨] | 'hail stone' | The height varies between close [ɨ] and mid [É].[9] Typically transcribed in IPA with â¨Éâ©. |
| Arhuaco | ikÊ | [ɪkʼɨ] | 'Arhuaco language' | ||
| Armenian | Meghri | Õ¡Õ£Õ¡ÖÕ¡Õ¯/agarak | [hɨËgÉrak] | 'farm' | |
| Bantawa | Ilam, Nepal | küma | [kɨma] | 'afraid' | |
| Chinese | Hokkien | 豬/tir | [tɨ˥] | 'pig' | |
| Mandarin | å/shà | [Êɨ˧˥] | 'ten' | Typically transcribed in IPA with â¨ÊÌ©â© or â¨É»Ìâ©. | |
| English | Northern England English | council | [ËkaÊnsɨl] | 'council' | Especially encountered in fast and casual speech. May be encountered in the Midlands to a lesser degree as well. |
| Southeastern English[10] | rude | [ɹɨËd] | 'rude' | May be rounded [ÊË], or a diphthong [ÊÊ̯~ÉÊ̯] instead. | |
| GuaranÃ[11] | yvy | [ɨÊɨ] | 'earth' | ||
| Hausa[12] | cin abinci | [tÌ Êin abɨntÌ Êi] | 'to eat' | Allophone of /i/.[12] | |
| Irish | Munster[13] | caora | [kɨËÉ¾Ë É] | 'sheep' | Allophone of /i/ between broad consonants.[13] See Irish phonology |
| Kalagan[14] | [pɨËnɨt̪] | 'beard' | |||
| Kashmiri[15] | ÚÙÙÙÙ/cûnun | [tÍ¡sɨnÊn] | 'peach' | ||
| Kera[16] | [ɡɨÌɡɨÌr] | 'knee' | |||
| Khmer | áá·á/kÄ«t | [kɨt] | 'to think' | See Khmer phonology | |
| Kurdish[17][18] | Palewani (Southern) | کر٠اشاÙ/kirmaÅan | [cʰɨɾmäËÊäËn] | 'Kermanshah' | Equal to Kurmanji and Sorani [ɪ]. See Kurdish phonology |
| Latgalian[19] | dyžan | [Ëd̪ɨÊän̪] | 'very much' | See Latgalian phonology | |
| Malay | Kelantan-Pattani | ngecat | [Åɨ.caÊ] | 'to paint' | See Kelantan-Pattani Malay |
| Malayalam | à´à´àµ/aadu | [aËÉɨ] | 'goat' | See Malayalam phonology | |
| Mongolian[20] | Ñ Ò¯ÑиÑ/huÄir | [xutÊʰɨɾÉÌ] | 'difficult' | ||
| Matis[21] | [kɨËnɨ] | 'wall' | |||
| Mono[22] | dɨ | [dɨ] | 'count' | ||
| Mpade[23] | sɨm | [sɨm] | 'to eat' | ||
| Norwegian[24] | fin | [fɨ:n] | 'nice' | Only dialects in Meldal and Gudbrandsdalen | |
| Paicî[25] | [example needed] | May be transcribed in IPA with â¨É¯â©. | |||
| Romanian[26] | înot | [ɨËn̪oÌt̪] | 'I swim' | See Romanian phonology | |
| Russian[27] | ÑÑ/ty | â | 'you' (singular/informal) | Occurs only after unpalatalized consonants. Near-close when unstressed.[27] See Russian phonology | |
| Sahaptin[28] | kʼsit | [kʼsɨt] | 'cold' | Epenthetic. No lengthened equivalent | |
| Sanumá[29] | [taËaɨ] | 'to see' | The nasal version [ɨÌ] also occurs.[30] | ||
| Scottish Gaelic | Lewis[31] | tuilleadh | [Ët̪ʰɨÊÉÉ£] | 'more' | Allophone of /ɯ/ when short and in proximity to slender consonants. |
| Shipibo[32] | tenaitianronki | [Ët̪ɨnÉiÌtiÌÉÌɽõÌÉ£iÌ] | [translation needed] | Possible realization of /ɯ/ after coronal consonants.[32] | |
| Sirionó[33] | [eËsɨ] | 'dry wood' | |||
| Sundanese | anjeun | [andÍ¡Êɨn] | 'you' | May be close back [ɯ], close-mid central [É], or close-mid back [ɤ] by younger speakers. | |
| Sümi[34] | sü | [Êɨ˩] | 'to hurt' | Described variously as close [ɨ][34] and near-close [ɨÌ].[35] | |
| Swedish | Bohuslän[36] | bli | [blɨËᶻ] | 'to become' | A fricated vowel that corresponds to [iË] in Central Standard Swedish.[36] See Swedish phonology |
| Närke[36] | |||||
| Tajik | Bukharan[37] | ÒижÒиж/cižciž | [ÊɨÊÊɨÊ] | 'the sound of wood sawing' | Allophone of /i/ in the environment of uvular consonants.[37] |
| Tamil[38] | vály (வாலà¯) | [väËlɨ] | 'tail' | Epenthetic vowel inserted in colloquial speech after word-final liquids; can be rounded [Ê] instead.[38] See Tamil phonology | |
| Tera[39] | zu̱ | [zɨ] | 'said' | ||
| Tsou[40] | hahocngx, hahocngÊ | [ha.Ëho.tÍ¡sÅɨ] | 'man' | /ɨ/, with free variant [Ê]. Used to be written as â¨Êâ©, but changed to â¨xâ© for more convenient typing.[40] | |
| Tupi | ybytyra | [ɨβɨËtɨɾa] | 'mountain' | See Tupian Phonology | |
| Turkish | Standard[41] | sÄ±Ä | [sɨË] | 'shallow' | Also described as close back [ɯ][42] and near-close near-back [ɯ̽].[43] Typically transcribed in IPA with â¨É¯â©. See Turkish phonology |
| Balkans[44] | eski | [es.'kɨ] | 'old' | Word-final merger of standard Turkish sounds /i/ and /ɯ/, shift of /y/ and /u/ into single phoneme due to interactions caused by Balkan sprachbund. Dombrowski[44] transcribes this phoneme as /i/. | |
| Udmurt[45] | yrgete/ÑÑгеÑÑ[46] | [ɨrÉ¡ete] | 'it growls' | ||
| Vietnamese[47] | bÆ°ng | [ÊÉɨÅ˧˧] | 'to carry' | ||
| Wayuu | paanüküin | [pa:nɨkɨinË] | 'your mouth' | ||
| Welsh | Northern dialects[48] | llun | [ɬɨËn] | 'picture' | Close when long.[48] /ɨË/ merges with /iË/ in southern dialects. See Welsh phonology |
| Yaeyama | pïtu | [pɨtu] | 'person' | ||
| Zapotec | Tilquiapan[49] | nɨ | [nɨ] | 'be sour' | |
The sound of Polish â¨yâ© is often represented as /ɨ/, but actually it is a close-mid advanced central unrounded vowel, more narrowly transcribed [ÉÌ].[50] Similarly, European Portuguese unstressed â¨eâ©, often represented as /ɨ/, is actually a near-close near-back unrounded vowel,[51] more narrowly transcribed using ad hoc symbols such as [ɯ̽] (mid-centralized), [ɯÌ] (fronted) and [ÊÌ] (less rounded, i.e. unrounded).
Near-close central unrounded vowel
Some languages feature the near-close central unrounded vowel, which is slightly lower. It is most often transcribed in IPA with â¨É¨Ìâ© and â¨ÉªÌâ©, but â¨ÉÌâ© is also possible. In many British dictionaries, this vowel has been transcribed â¨Éªâ©, which captures its height; in the American tradition it is more often â¨É¨â©, which captures its centrality, or â¨áµ»â©,[52] which captures both. â¨áµ»â© is also used in a number of other publications, such as Accents of English by John C. Wells. In the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, â¨áµ»â© represents variation between /ɪ/ and /É/.[53]
Features
- Its vowel height is near-close, also known as near-high, which means the tongue is not quite so constricted as a close vowel (high vowel).
- Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
- It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Amharic[54] | á¥á/sûr | [sɨÌr] | 'root' | Near-close.[54] | |
| Berber | Central Atlas Tamazight[55] | âµ â´·âµâµ/khdim | [ÏdɨÌm] | 'to work' | Epenthetically inserted into consonant clusters before labial and coronal consonants. |
| English | Inland Southern American[56] | good | [ɡɨÌd] | 'good' | Corresponds to [Ê] in other dialects. See English phonology |
| Southeastern English[57] | [ɡɪÌd] | May be rounded [ÊÌ] instead;[57] it corresponds to [Ê] in other dialects. See English phonology | |||
| London[58][59] | lip | [lɪÌÊp] | 'lip' | Possible realization of /ɪ/.[58][59] | |
| South African[60] | [lɨÌp] | For some speakers it can be equal to [É]. General and Broad varieties of SAE have an allophonic variation, with [ɪ] ([i] in Broad) occurring near velar and palatal consonants, and [ɨÌ~É] elsewhere. See South African English phonology | |||
| Southern American[61] | [lɪÌp] | Allophone of /ɪ/ before labial consonants, sometimes also in other environments.[61] | |||
| Irish | goirt | [ɡɨÌÉ¾Ë tʲ] | 'salty' | Allophone of /i/ between broad consonants. See Irish phonology | |
| Ulster[62] | saol | [sɨÌl] | 'life' | Allophone of /ɪ/. Near-close.[62] | |
| Mah Meri[63] | [dÍ¡ÊäbɨÌÊÍ¡kÌ] | 'to be drunk' | |||
| Mapudungun[64] | müá¹a | [mÉÌËn̪ÉÌ] | 'male cousin on father's side' | Unstressed allophone of /É/.[64] | |
| Tera[39] | vu̱r | [vɨÌr] | 'to give' | Allophone of /ɨ/ in closed syllables.[65] | |
| Welsh | Northern dialects[48] | pump | [pɨÌmp] | 'five' | Near-close when short.[48] /ɨÌ/ merges with /ɪ/ in southern dialects. See Welsh phonology |