View source for Latin epsilon

{{Redirect|ɛ|similar looking letters|Epsilon|and|Reversed Ze|the sound in the IPA represented by /ɛ/|Open-mid front unrounded vowel}}

{{short description|Letter of the Latin alphabet}}
{{Infobox grapheme
|name=Ɛ
|letter=Ɛ ɛ
|variations=
|image=File:Latin letter open E.svg
|imageclass=skin-invert-image
|imagesize=200px
|imagealt=Upper and lower case Latin Epsilon
|script=[[Latin script]]
|type=[[Alphabet]]
|typedesc=ic and [[Logogram|logographic]]
|language=
|phonemes={{flex list|[{{IPAlink|ɛ}}]&nbsp;[{{IPAlink|e̙}}]&nbsp;[{{IPAlink|ʕ}}]}}
|unicode=U+0190, U+025B
|alphanumber=
|number=
|fam1=<hiero>A28</hiero>
|fam2=[[Image:Proto-semiticE-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|Heh]]
|fam3=[[File:Protohe.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|He]]
|fam4=[[File:PhoenicianE-01.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|Phoenician He]]
|fam5=[[Image:phoenician he.svg|class=skin-invert-image|20px|He]]
|fam6=[[Epsilon|Ε ε ϵ]]
|usageperiod=
|children=
|sisters=
|equivalents=
|associates=
|direction=Left-to-Right
}}

[[File:Book of Mormon - Fante.jpg|thumb|[[Fante dialect|Fante]] translation of the ''[[Book of Mormon]]''; note the use of the Latin epsilon in the word ''N'AHYƐMU''.]]
'''Latin epsilon''' or '''open E''' (majuscule: '''Ɛ''', minuscule: '''ɛ''') is a letter of the extended [[Latin alphabet]], based on the [[lowercase]] of the [[Greek alphabet|Greek]] letter [[epsilon (letter)|epsilon]] (ε). It was introduced in the 16th century by [[Gian Giorgio Trissino]]<ref name="Concise History of the Language Sciences">{{cite book|title=Concise History of the Language Sciences|year=2014|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VCqLBQAAQBAJ|page=154}}</ref> to represent the pronunciation of the "open e" (the letter [[e]] pronounced as the [[open-mid front unrounded vowel]]) in the [[Italian language]]; this use of the letter has since become the standard in [[IPA notation]]<ref name="Concise History of the Language Sciences"/> {{see below|{{section link||Use in phonetic alphabets}}, below}}. Since the 20th century, the letter also occurs in the orthographies of many [[Niger–Congo languages|Niger–Congo]] and [[Nilo-Saharan languages|Nilo-Saharan]] languages, such as [[Ewe language|Ewe]], [[Akan language|Akan]], [[Lingala]], [[Dinka language|Dinka]] and [[Maasai language|Maasai]], for the vowel {{IPAblink|ɛ}} or {{IPA|[e̙]}}, and is included in the [[African reference alphabet]].

In the [[Berber Latin alphabet]] used in Algerian Berber school books,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.freemorocco.com/tamazight-dzayer.html|title=Tamazight-Dzayer|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201121152422/http://www.freemorocco.com/tamazight-dzayer.html|archive-date=2020-11-21|url-status=dead}}</ref> and before that proposed by the French institute [[Institut national des langues et civilisations orientales|INALCO]], it represents a [[voiced pharyngeal fricative]] {{IPA|[ʕ]}}. Some authors use [[Ƹ|ƹayin]] {{angle bracket|ƹ}} instead;{{Citation needed|date=August 2024}} both letters are similar in shape with the [[Ayin#Arabic_ʿayn|Arabic ʿayn]] {{angle bracket|ع}}.

==Use in phonetic alphabets==
The [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] (IPA) uses various forms of the Latin epsilon:
*{{Unichar|025B|LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN E}} represents the [[open-mid front unrounded vowel]]
*{{Unichar|025D|LATIN SMALL LETTER REVERSED OPEN E WITH HOOK}} represents the [[R-colored vowel|rhotacized open-mid central vowel]]
*{{Unichar|025E|LATIN SMALL LETTER CLOSED REVERSED OPEN E}} represents the [[open-mid central rounded vowel]] (shown as {{Unichar|029A|LATIN SMALL LETTER CLOSED OPEN E}} on the [[History of the International Phonetic Alphabet#1993 revision|1993 IPA chart]])

The [[Uralic Phonetic Alphabet]] uses various forms of the Latin epsilon:<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.unicode.org/L2/L2002/02141-n2419-uralic-phonetic.pdf|title=L2/02-141: Uralic Phonetic Alphabet characters for the UCS|date=2002-03-20|first1=Michael|last1=Everson|authorlink1=Michael Everson|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
*{{Unichar|1D08|LATIN SMALL LETTER TURNED OPEN E}}
*{{Unichar|1D4B|MODIFIER LETTER SMALL OPEN E}}
*{{Unichar|1D4C|MODIFIER LETTER SMALL TURNED OPEN E}}

==List of languages that use Latin epsilon==
===Niger-Congo===
[[Akan languages|Akan]], [[Bambara language|Bambara]], [[Baoulé language|Baule]], [[Dagbani language|Dagbani]], [[Dogon languages|Dogon]], [[Duala language|Douala]]. [[Ewe language|Ewe]], [[Fante dialect|Fante]], [[Farefare language|Frafra]], [[Fon language|Fon]], [[Ga language|Ga]], [[Dyula language|Jula]], [[Kabiye language|Kabiye]], [[Kpelle language|Kpelle]], [[Kuya language|Kuya]], [[Lingala]], [[Loma language|Loma]], [[Mende language|Mende]], [[Mooré|Moore]], [[Soninke language|Soninke]], [[Twi]], [[Vai language|Vai]], [[Yoruba language|Yoruba]] (in Benin)

===Nilo-Saharan===
[[Dinka language|Dinka]], [[Maasai language|Maasai]], [[Nuer language|Nuer]], [[Songhay languages|Songhai]], [[Zarma language|Zarma]].

==Unicode==
Latin epsilon is called "Open E" in Unicode.<ref>{{cite web|title=Unicode Technical Note #27: Known Anomalies in Unicode Character Names|author=Asmus Freytag|author2=Rick McGowan |author3=Ken Whistler |date=2006-05-08|accessdate=2009-02-24|url=https://www.unicode.org/notes/tn27/|publisher=The Unicode Consortium|quote=This is actually a Latin epsilon and should have been so called.}}</ref>
[[Image:Greek lc epsilon.svg|class=skin-invert-image|thumb|It looks similar to the lowercase [[epsilon]].]] {{charmap
|0190|name1=LATIN Capital LETTER OPEN E
|025B|name2=LATIN SMALL LETTER OPEN E
}}

==See also==
* [[Open O]]
* [[Writing systems of Africa#Latin|Writing systems of Africa (section on Latin script)]]
* [[Open-mid front unrounded vowel]]
* Greek [[Epsilon]]
* Reversed Ze [[Ԑ]] (Cyrillic script)

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{Latin script|E
| show pairs = no
}}

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Phonetic transcription symbols|Ez]]
[[Category:Latin-script letters|Ez]]
[[Category:Vowel letters]]