Near-close near-front unrounded vowel
Vowel sound represented by ⟨ɪ⟩ in IPA
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The near-close near-front unrounded vowel, or near-high near-front 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 â¨Éªâ© (a Latin small capital I). The International Phonetic Association advises serifs on the symbol's ends.[2] Some sans-serif fonts do meet this typographic specification.[3] Prior to 1989, there was an alternate IPA symbol for this sound, â¨É©â© (a Latin iota); use of this symbol is no longer sanctioned by the IPA,[4] though it may still be found in some modern writings.[5]
| Near-close near-front unrounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɪ | |||
| IPA number | 319 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɪ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+026A | ||
| X-SAMPA | I | ||
| Braille |  | ||
| |||
The Handbook of the International Phonetic Association defines [ɪ] as a mid-centralized (lowered and centralized) close front unrounded vowel (transcribed [i̽] or [ïÌ]), and the current official IPA name of the vowel transcribed with the symbol â¨Éªâ© is a near-close near-front unrounded vowel.[6]
However, some languages have a vowel that is somewhat lower than the canonical value of [ɪ], though it still fits the definition of a mid-centralized [i]. It occurs in some dialects of English (such as Californian, General American and modern Received Pronunciation)[7][8][9] as well as some other languages (such as Icelandic),[10][11] and it can be narrowly transcribed with [ɪÌ] (a lowered â¨Éªâ©), [eÌ ] (a backed â¨eâ©), or [ÉÌ] (a fronted â¨Éâ©). For precision, this can be described as a close-mid near-front unrounded vowel.
Additionally, in some languages (such as Danish, Luxembourgish and Sotho),[12][13][14][15] there is a fully front near-close unrounded vowel (a sound between cardinal â¨iâ© and â¨eâ©), which can be transcribed in IPA with [ɪÌ], [iÌ] or [eÌ]. For precision, this can be described as a near-close front unrounded vowel, or near-high front unrounded vowel. There may be phonological reasons not to transcribe the fully front variant with the symbol â¨Éªâ©, which may incorrectly imply a relation to the close â¨iâ©.[citation needed]
Sometimes, especially in broad transcription, this vowel is transcribed with a simpler symbol â¨iâ©, which technically represents the close front unrounded vowel.
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 front, which means the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. The prototypical [ɪ] is somewhat further back (near-front) than the neighboring cardinal vowels.
- It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
Sagittal section of a vocal tract pronouncing the IPA sound â¨Éªâ©. Note that a wavy glottis in this diagram indicates a voiced sound.
Spectrogram of [ɪ]
.png)
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Abenaki | nis | [nɪs] | 'two' | The quality varies between near-close [ɪ] and close [i].[16][17][18] See Abenaki phonology | |
| Afrikaans | Standard[19] | meter | [ËmɪÌËtÉr] | 'meter' | Close-mid. Allophone of /ɪÉ/ in less stressed words and in stressed syllables of polysyllabic words. In the latter case, it is in free variation with the diphthongal realization [ɪÉ̯ ~ ÉªÌ¯É ~ ɪÉ].[19] See Afrikaans phonology |
| Arabic | Kuwaiti[20] | بÙÙÙت (bint) | [bɪnt] | 'girl' | Corresponds to /i/ in Classical Arabic. Contrasts with /i/ or [iË][20][21] See Arabic phonology |
| Lebanese[21] | بÙرÙÙÙØ© (birké) | [bɪrke] | 'pool' | ||
| Burmese[22] | áá¼á Ạ(mracÊ») | [mjɪÊ] | 'root' | Allophone of /i/ in syllables closed by a glottal stop and when nasalized.[22] | |
| Catalan | Balearic[23] | mirar | [mɪËɾÉ(ɾ)] | 'to look' | Unstressed allophone of /i/. See Catalan phonology |
| Valencian[23] | |||||
| Standard Valencian | naixement | [najÉɪËmẽn̪t̪] | 'birth' | Unstressed allophone of /e/ in the suffix -ixement. In non-standard variants also in contact with palatals and sometimes initial /es-/. See Catalan phonology | |
| Chinese | Shanghainese[24] | ä¸ (ih) | [ɪÌÊË¥] | 'one' | Close-mid; appears only in closed syllables. Phonetically, it is nearly identical to /É/ ([eÌ ]), which appears only in open syllables.[24] |
| Czech | Bohemian[25] | byli | [Ëbɪlɪ] | 'they were' | The quality has been variously described as near-close near-front [ɪ][25] and close-mid front [ɪÌË].[26] It corresponds to close front [i] in Moravian Czech.[26] See Czech phonology |
| Danish | Standard[12][14] | hel | [ËheÌËËl] | 'whole' | Fully front; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.[12][14] It is typically transcribed in IPA with â¨eËâ© - the way it is pronounced in the conservative variety.[27] The Danish vowel transcribed in IPA with â¨Éªâ© is pronounced similarly to the short /e/.[28] See Danish phonology |
| Dutch | Standard[29][30][31] | blik | â | 'glance' | The Standard Northern realization is near-close [ɪ],[29][30] but the Standard Belgian realization has also been described as close-mid [ɪÌ].[31] Some regional dialects have a vowel that is slightly closer to the cardinal [i].[32] See Dutch phonology |
| English | Californian[7] | bit | â | 'bit' | Close-mid.[7][8] See English phonology |
| General American[8] | |||||
| Estuary[33] | [bɪÊt] | Can be fully front [ɪÌ], near-front [ɪ] or close-mid [ɪÌ], with other realizations also being possible.[33] | |||
| Received Pronunciation[9][34] | Close-mid [ɪÌ] for younger speakers, near-close [ɪ] for older speakers.[9][34] | ||||
| General Australian[35] | [bɪÌt] | Fully front;[35] also described as close [i].[36] See Australian English phonology | |||
| Inland Northern American[37] | [bɪt] | The quality varies between near-close near-front [ɪ], near-close central [ɪÌ], close-mid near-front [ɪÌ] and close-mid central [É].[37] | |||
| Philadelphian[38] | The height varies between near-close [ɪ] and close-mid [ɪÌ].[38] | ||||
| Welsh[39][40][41] | Near-close [ɪ] in Abercrave and Port Talbot, close-mid [ɪÌ] in Cardiff.[39][40][41] | ||||
| New Zealand[42][43] | bed | [beÌd] | 'bed' | The quality varies between near-close front [eÌ], near-close near-front [ɪ], close-mid front [e] and close-mid near-front [eÌ ].[42] It is typically transcribed in IPA with â¨eâ©. In the cultivated variety, it is mid [eÌ].[43] See New Zealand English phonology | |
| Some Australian speakers[44] | Close-mid [e] in General Australian, may be even lower for some other speakers.[44] See Australian English phonology | ||||
| Some South African speakers[45] | Used by some General and Broad speakers. In the Broad variety, it is usually lower [É], whereas in the General variety, it can be close-mid [e] instead.[45] Typically transcribed in IPA with â¨eâ©. See South African English phonology | ||||
| French | Quebec[46] | petite | [pÉtÍ¡sɪt] | 'small' | Allophone of /i/ in closed syllables.[46] See Quebec French phonology |
| German | Standard[47] | bitte | â | 'please' | Close-mid; for some speakers, it may be as high as [i].[47] See Standard German phonology |
| Hindustani[48] | Hindi | दिल (dil) | [d̪ɪl] | 'heart' | Hindustani phonology |
| Urdu | د٠(dil) | ||||
| Hiw[49] | qrÌÄ | [kÊ·gâÍ¡Êɪ] | 'dolphin' | Contrasts both with /i/ and with /e/.[50] | |
| Hungarian[51] | visz | [vɪs] | 'to carry' | Typically transcribed in IPA with â¨iâ©. See Hungarian phonology | |
| Icelandic[10][11] | vinur | [ËÊɪÌËnÊÌɾ] | 'friend' | Close-mid.[10][11] See Icelandic phonology | |
| Kabiye | kabÉ©yÉ | [kà bɪÌjÉÌ] | 'Kabiye' | -ATR front vowel. See Kabiye language | |
| Kazakh | бÑÑ (bır) | [bɪÌɾ] | 'one' | Close-mid. See Kazakh phonology | |
| Limburgish[52][53] | hin | [ɦɪÌn] | 'chicken' | Near-close [ɪ][53] or close-mid [ɪÌ],[52] depending on the dialect. The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. | |
| Luxembourgish[13] | Been | [beÌËn] | 'leg' | Fully front.[13] Typically transcribed in IPA with â¨eËâ©. See Luxembourgish phonology | |
| Malay | kecil | [kÉtÍ¡Êɪl] | 'small' | Allophone of /i/ in closed-final syllables. May be [e] or [eÌ] depending on the speaker. See Malay phonology | |
| Norwegian[54] | litt | [lɪÌtË] | 'a little' | The example word is from Urban East Norwegian, in which the vowel has been variously described as near-close front [ɪÌ][54] and close front [i].[55] See Norwegian phonology | |
| Portuguese | Brazilian[56] | cine | [Ësinɪ] | 'cine' | Reduction and neutralization of unstressed /e/ (can be epenthetic), /É/ and /i/. Can be voiceless. See Portuguese phonology |
| Russian[57][58] | деÑево (derevo) | â | 'tree' | Backness varies between fully front and near-front. It occurs only in unstressed syllables.[57][58] See Russian phonology | |
| Saterland Frisian[59] | Dee | [deÌË] | 'dough' | Phonetic realization of /eË/ and /ɪ/. Near-close front [eÌË] in the former case, close-mid near-front [ɪÌ] in the latter. Phonetically, the latter is nearly identical to /ÉË/ ([eÌ Ë]).[59] | |
| Scottish Gaelic[60] | fios | [fɪs̪] | 'information' | Allophone of /i/ before broad consonants and in unstressed syllables. | |
| Sicilian[61] | unni | [Ëunnɪ] | 'Where' | Unstressed allophone of [i]. See Sicilian vowel system | |
| Sinhala[62] | පà·à¶»à·à¶¸à· (pirimi) | [ËpiÌɾiÌmiÌ] | 'male' | Fully front;[62] typically transcribed in IPA with â¨iâ©. | |
| Slovak[63][64] | rýchly | [ËriÌËxliÌ] | 'fast' | Typically fully front.[63] See Slovak phonology | |
| Sotho[15] | ho leka | [hÊÌ lɪÌkʼÉÌ] | 'to attempt' | Fully front; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.[15] See Sotho phonology | |
| Spanish | Eastern Andalusian[65] | mis | [mɪÌË] | 'my' (pl.) | Fully front. It corresponds to [i] in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology |
| Murcian[66] | |||||
| Swedish | Central Standard[67][68] | sill | â | 'herring' | The quality has been variously described as close-mid front [ɪÌË],[67] near-close front [ɪÌ][68] and close front [i].[69] See Swedish phonology |
| Temne[70] | pim | [pÃÌm] | 'pick' | Fully front;[70] typically transcribed in IPA with â¨iâ©. | |
| Turkish[71] | müÅteri | [myÌ Êt̪ÉÌËɾɪ] | 'customer' | Allophone of /i/ described variously as "word-final"[71] and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase".[72] See Turkish phonology | |
| Ukrainian[73][74] | иÑÑй (yrij) | [ɪrij] | 'Iriy' | See Ukrainian phonology | |
| Welsh | mynydd | [mÉnɪð] | 'mountain' | See Welsh phonology | |
| Yoruba[75] | kini | [kÄ©i] | 'what' | Fully front; typically transcribed in IPA with â¨Ä©â©. It is nasalized, and may be close [Ä©] instead.[75] | |