Close back unrounded vowel

Close back unrounded vowel
Close back unrounded vowel
ɯ
IPA number	316
Audio sample
	source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɯ
Unicode (hex)	U+026F
X-SAMPA	M
Braille
Image

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⟩; given its relation to the sound represented by the letter ⟨u⟩, it can be considered a ligature of 2 ⟨u⟩'s.

IPA: Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i y	ɨ ʉ	ɯ u
Near-close	ɪ ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e ø	ɘ ɵ	ɤ o
Mid	e̞ ø̞	ə	ɤ̞ o̞
Open-mid	ɛ œ	ɜ ɞ	ʌ ɔ
Near-open	æ	ɐ
Open	a ɶ	ä	ɑ ɒ

Legend: unrounded • rounded

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

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 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.
It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

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]
Arbëreshë		Arbëreshë	[ɑɾbɯɾeʃ]	'Arbëreshë'	/ə/ in standard Albanian.
Azerbaijani		bahalı	[bɑhɑˈɫɯ]	'expensive'	Closer to an [ɘ]^[6]
Bashkir		ҡыҙ / qıď	[qɯð]	'girl'
Chinese	Mandarin	刺 / cì	[t͡sʰɯ˥˩]	'thorn'
	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	African-American^[7]	hook	[hɯ̞k]	'hook'	Near-close; possible realization of /ʊ/.^[7]
	Tidewater^[8]	hook	[hɯ̞k]	'hook'	Near-close; may be rounded [ʊ] instead.^[8]
	Some California speakers^[9]	goose	[ɡɯˑs]	'goose'	Corresponds to [uː] in other dialects.
	New Zealand^[10]^[11]	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.^[10]^[11] Corresponds to /əl/ in other accents. Develops from dark L; See New Zealand English phonology
	Some Philadelphia speakers^[12]	plus	[pɫ̥ɯs]	'plus'	Used by some speakers; the exact height and backness is variable.^[12] It corresponds to [ʌ] in other accents. See English phonology
	South African^[13]	pill	[pʰɯ̞ɫ]	'pill'	Near-close; possible allophone of /ɪ/ before the velarised allophone of /l/.^[13] See South African English phonology
Estonian^[14]		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.^[14] See Estonian phonology
Irish	Ulster	caol	[kʰɯːl̪ˠ]	'narrow'	See Irish phonology
Japanese^[15]		空気 / kūki	[kɯːki]^ⓘ	'air'	May be compressed [ɯᵝ].^[16] See Japanese phonology
Katukina^[17]			[babɯˈdʒɯ]	'oscar (fish)'
Kazakh		қыс/qys/قىس	[qɯs]	'winter'	May be pronounced as [qəs]
Korean^[18]		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.
Kurdish	Sorani (Central)	ترش / tirş	[tˤɯɾʃ]	'sour'
Kyrgyz		кыз / qyz / قىز	[qɯz]	'girl'	See Kyrgyz phonology
Panará^[19]			[tɯˈsəʰ]	'to breathe'
Portuguese	European^[20]	pegar	[pɯ̞ˈɣäɾ]^ⓘ	'to grab'	Reduced vowel. Near-close.^[20] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɨ⟩. See Portuguese phonology
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	[əɻəɣɯ]	'beauty'	Known by the Tamil grammar phenomenon குற்றியலுகரம்
Thai	Standard^[21]	ขึ้น / khuen/khîn	[kʰɯn˥˩]	'to go up'
Turkish^[22]		sığ	[sɯː]	'shallow'	Described variously as close back [ɯ],^[22] near-close near-back [ɯ̞]^[23] and close central [ɨ].^[24] 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

Notes

^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ 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.
^ ^a ^b Alves (2013), p. 269.
^ Ghaffarvand-Mokari & Werner 2016, p. 514.
^ ^a ^b Wells (1982), p. 557.
^ ^a ^b Wells (1982), p. 536.
^ Ladefoged (1999), pp. 42–43.
^ ^a ^b Warren, Paul. NZE Phonology (PDF) (Report). Victoria University of Wellington. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2024.
^ ^a ^b Bauer & Warren (2004), p. 585.
^ ^a ^b Gordon (2004), p. 290.
^ ^a ^b Bowerman (2004), p. 936.
^ ^a ^b Asu & Teras (2009), p. 369.
^ Labrune (2012), p. 25.
^ Okada (1999), p. 118.
^ dos Anjos (2012), p. 129.
^ Lee (1999), p. 122.
^ Vasconcelos (2013), p. 182.
^ ^a ^b Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993), p. 24.
^ ^a ^b Göksel & Kerslake (2005:10)
^ Kiliç & Öğüt (2004)
^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999:155)

References

Alves, Ana Carolina Ferreira (2013). "Aspectos do sistema fonológico de Arara (Karib)" (PDF). Boletim do Museu Paraense Emílio Goeldi. Ciências Humanas. 8 (2): 265–277. doi:10.1590/S1981-81222013000200003.
Asu, Eva Liina; Teras, Pire (2009). "Estonian". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 39 (3): 367–372. doi:10.1017/s002510030999017x.
Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul (2004), "New Zealand English: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 580–602, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
Bowerman, Sean (2004), "White South African English: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 931–942, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223, S2CID 249414876
dos Anjos, Zoraide (2012). "Fonologia Katukina-Kanamari". LIAMES: Línguas Indígenas Americanas. 12 (1): 123–156. doi:10.20396/liames.v0i12.1486.
Ghaffarvand-Mokari, Payam; Werner, Stefan (2016), "An acoustic description of spectral and temporal characteristics of Azerbaijani vowels", Poznań Studies in Contemporary Linguistics, 52 (3), doi:10.1515/psicl-2016-0019, S2CID 151826061
Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (2005), Turkish: a comprehensive grammar, Routledge, ISBN 978-0415114943
Gordon, Matthew J. (2004), "New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 282–299, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
International Phonetic Association (1999), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
Kiliç, Mehmet Akif; Öğüt, Fatih (June 2004). "A high unrounded vowel in Turkish: is it a central or back vowel?". Speech Communication. 43 (1–2): 143–154. doi:10.1016/j.specom.2004.03.001.
Labrune, Laurence (2012), The Phonology of Japanese, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-954583-4
Ladefoged, Peter (1999), "American English", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 41–44
Lee, Hyun Bok (1999), "Korean", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 120–123, ISBN 0-521-63751-1
Okada, Hideo (1999), "Japanese", in International Phonetic Association (ed.), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 117–119, ISBN 978-0-52163751-0
Tingsabadh, M.R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur S. (1993). "Thai". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 23 (1): 24–26. doi:10.1017/S0025100300004746. S2CID 242001518.
Vasconcelos, Eduardo A. (2013). Investigando a hipótese Cayapó do Sul-Panará (PhD). Campinas: University of Campinas. doi:10.47749/T/UNICAMP.2013.929939. hdl:20.500.12733/1622968.
Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Vol. 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511611766. ISBN 0-52128541-0 .
Zimmer, Karl; Orgun, Orhan (1999), "Turkish" (PDF), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 154–158, ISBN 0-521-65236-7, archived from the original (PDF) on 25 July 2018, retrieved 20 November 2015

External links

List of languages with [ɯ] on PHOIBLE

[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.

[FOOTNOTEAlves2013269-5] Alves (2013), p. 269.

[FOOTNOTEGhaffarvand-MokariWerner2016514-6] Ghaffarvand-Mokari & Werner 2016, p. 514.

[FOOTNOTEWells1982557-7] Wells (1982), p. 557.

[FOOTNOTEWells1982536-8] Wells (1982), p. 536.

[FOOTNOTELadefoged199942–43-9] Ladefoged (1999), pp. 42–43.

[victoriauniv-10] Warren, Paul. NZE Phonology (PDF) (Report). Victoria University of Wellington. p. 3. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 January 2024.

[FOOTNOTEBauerWarren2004585-11] Bauer & Warren (2004), p. 585.

[FOOTNOTEGordon2004290-12] Gordon (2004), p. 290.

[FOOTNOTEBowerman2004936-13] Bowerman (2004), p. 936.

[FOOTNOTEAsuTeras2009369-14] Asu & Teras (2009), p. 369.

[FOOTNOTELabrune201225-15] Labrune (2012), p. 25.

[FOOTNOTEOkada1999118-16] Okada (1999), p. 118.

[FOOTNOTEdos_Anjos2012129-17] s Anjos (2012), p. 129.

[FOOTNOTELee1999122-18] Lee (1999), p. 122.

[FOOTNOTEVasconcelos2013182-19] Vasconcelos (2013), p. 182.

[FOOTNOTECruz-Ferreira199591-20] Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.

[FOOTNOTETingsabadhAbramson199324-21] Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993), p. 24.

[gk-22] Göksel & Kerslake (2005:10)

[23] Kiliç & Öğüt (2004)

[24] Zimmer & Orgun (1999:155)

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