Near-close near-front unrounded vowel

The near-close near-front unrounded vowel, or near-high near-front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is Template:Angbr IPA (a Latin small capital I). The International Phonetic Association advises serifs on the symbol's ends. Some sans-serif fonts do meet this typographic specification. Prior to 1989, there was an alternate IPA symbol for this sound, Template:Angbr IPA (a Latin iota); use of this symbol is no longer sanctioned by the IPA,Template:Sfnp though it may still be found in some modern writings.

The Handbook of the International Phonetic Association defines as a mid-centralized (lowered and centralized) close front unrounded vowel (transcribed or ), and the current official IPA name of the vowel transcribed with the symbol Template:Angbr IPA is a near-close near-front unrounded vowel.Template:Sfnp

However, some languages have a vowel that is somewhat lower than the canonical value of , though it still fits the definition of a mid-centralized . It occurs in some dialects of English (such as Californian, General American and modern Received Pronunciation)Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp as well as some other languages (such as Icelandic),Template:Sfnp and it can be narrowly transcribed with (a lowered Template:Angbr IPA) or (a backed Template:Angbr IPA). For precision, this can be described as a close-mid near-front unrounded vowel.

Additionally, in some languages (such as Danish, Luxembourgish and Sotho),Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp there is a fully front near-close unrounded vowel (a sound between cardinal Template:IPAalink and Template:IPAalink), which can be transcribed in IPA with , or . 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 Template:Angbr IPA, which may incorrectly imply a relation to the close Template:Angbr IPA.

Sometimes, especially in broad transcription, this vowel is transcribed with a simpler symbol Template:Angbr IPA, which technically represents the close front unrounded vowel.

Features

Template:Near-close vowel Template:Front vowel The prototypical is somewhat further back (near-front) than the neighboring cardinal vowels. Template:Unrounded vowel

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abenaki		nis		'two'	The quality varies between near-close [ɪ] and close [i]. See Abenaki phonology
Afrikaans	StandardTemplate:Sfnp			'meter'	Close-mid. Allophone of in less stressed words and in stressed syllables of polysyllabic words. In the latter case, it is in free variation with the diphthongal realization .Template:Sfnp See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic	KuwaitiTemplate:Sfnp	(bint)		'girl'	Corresponds to in Classical Arabic. Contrasts with or Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Arabic phonology
	LebaneseTemplate:Sfnp	(birké)		'pool'
BurmeseTemplate:Sfnp		မြစ် (mracʻ)		'root'	Allophone of in syllables closed by a glottal stop and when nasalized.Template:Sfnp
Catalan	BalearicTemplate:Sfn			'to look'	Unstressed allophone of . See Catalan phonology
	ValencianTemplate:Sfn
	Standard Valencian			'birth'	Unstressed allophone of in the suffix -ixement. In non-standard variants also in contact with palatals and sometimes initial . See Catalan phonology
Chinese	ShanghaineseTemplate:Sfnp	()		'one'	Close-mid; appears only in closed syllables. Phonetically, it is nearly identical to (Template:IPAblink), which appears only in open syllables.Template:Sfnp
Czech	BohemianTemplate:Sfnp			'they were'	The quality has been variously described as near-close near-front Template:Sfnp and close-mid front .Template:Sfnp It corresponds to close front Template:IPAblink in Moravian Czech.Template:Sfnp See Czech phonology
Danish	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'whole'	Fully front; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp It is typically transcribed in IPA with Template:IPAalink - the way it is pronounced in the conservative variety.Template:Sfnp The Danish vowel transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA is pronounced similarly to the short .Template:Sfnp See Danish phonology
Dutch	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'glance'	The Standard Northern realization is near-close ,Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp but the Standard Belgian realization has also been described as close-mid .Template:Sfnp Some regional dialects have a vowel that is slightly closer to the cardinal Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Dutch phonology
English	CalifornianTemplate:Sfnp	bit	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'bit'	Close-mid.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See English phonology
	General AmericanTemplate:Sfnp
	EstuaryTemplate:Sfnp				Can be fully front , near-front or close-mid , with other realizations also being possible.Template:Sfnp
	Received PronunciationTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				Close-mid for younger speakers, near-close for older speakers.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
	General AustralianTemplate:Sfnp				Fully front;Template:Sfnp also described as close Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Australian English phonology
	Inland Northern AmericanTemplate:Sfnp				The quality varies between near-close near-front , near-close central Template:IPAblink, close-mid near-front and close-mid central Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
	PhiladelphianTemplate:Sfnp				The height varies between near-close and close-mid .Template:Sfnp
	WelshTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				Near-close in Abercrave and Port Talbot, close-mid in Cardiff.Template:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
	New ZealandTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	bed		'bed'	The quality varies between near-close front , near-close near-front , close-mid front Template:IPAblink and close-mid near-front Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp It is typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. In the cultivated variety, it is mid Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See New Zealand English phonology
	Some Australian speakersTemplate:Sfnp				Close-mid Template:IPAblink in General Australian, may be even lower for some other speakers.Template:Sfnp See Australian English phonology
	Some South African speakersTemplate:Sfnp				Used by some General and Broad speakers. In the Broad variety, it is usually lower Template:IPAblink, whereas in the General variety, it can be close-mid Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See South African English phonology
French	QuebecTemplate:Sfnp			'small'	Allophone of in closed syllables.Template:Sfnp See Quebec French phonology
German	StandardTemplate:Sfnp		Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'please'	Close-mid; for some speakers, it may be as high as Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
HindustaniTemplate:Sfnp	Hindi	(dil)		'heart'	Hindustani phonology
	Urdu	(dil)
HiwTemplate:Sfnp				'dolphin'	Contrasts both with and with .Template:Sfnp
HungarianTemplate:Sfnp				'to carry'	Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Hungarian phonology
IcelandicTemplate:Sfnp				'friend'	Close-mid.Template:Sfnp See Icelandic phonology
Kabiye				'Kabiye'	-ATR front vowel. See Kabiye language
Kazakh		(bır)		'one'	Close-mid. See Kazakh phonology
LimburgishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'chicken'	Near-close Template:Sfnp or close-mid ,Template:Sfnp depending on the dialect. The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
LuxembourgishTemplate:Sfnp				'leg'	Fully front.Template:Sfnp Typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay		kecil		'small'	Allophone of in closed-final syllables. May be [[[:Template:IPA link]]] or [[[:Template:IPA link]]] depending on the speaker. See Malay phonology
NorwegianTemplate:Sfnp				'a little'	The example word is from Urban East Norwegian, in which the vowel has been variously described as near-close front Template:Sfnp and close front Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Norwegian phonology
Portuguese	BrazilianTemplate:Sfnp			'cine'	Reduction and neutralization of unstressed (can be epenthetic), and . Can be voiceless. See Portuguese phonology
RussianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		(derevo)	Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'tree'	Backness varies between fully front and near-front. It occurs only in unstressed syllables.Template:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp See Russian phonology
Saterland FrisianTemplate:Sfnp				'dough'	Phonetic realization of and . Near-close front in the former case, close-mid near-front in the latter. Phonetically, the latter is nearly identical to (Template:IPAblink).Template:Sfnp
Scottish GaelicTemplate:Sfnp				'information'	Allophone of before broad consonants and in unstressed syllables.
Sicilian				'Where'	Unstressed allophone of Template:IPAblink. See Sicilian vowel system
SinhalaTemplate:Sfnp		(pirimi)		'male'	Fully front;Template:Sfnp typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA.
SlovakTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'fast'	Typically fully front.Template:Sfnp See Slovak phonology
SothoTemplate:Sfnp				'to attempt'	Fully front; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.Template:Sfnp See Sotho phonology
Spanish	Eastern AndalusianTemplate:Sfnp			'my' (pl.)	Fully front. It corresponds to Template:IPAblink in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology
	MurcianTemplate:Sfnp
Swedish	Central StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		Template:ErrorTemplate:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'herring'	The quality has been variously described as close-mid front ,Template:Sfnp near-close front Template:Sfnp and close front Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See Swedish phonology
TemneTemplate:Sfnp				'pick'	Fully front;Template:Sfnp typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA.
TurkishTemplate:Sfnp				'customer'	Allophone of described variously as "word-final"Template:Sfnp and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase".Template:Sfnp See Turkish phonology
UkrainianTemplate:Sfnp		(yrij)		'Iriy'	See Ukrainian phonology
Welsh		mynydd		'mountain'	See Welsh phonology
YorubaTemplate:Sfnp		kini		'what'	Fully front; typically transcribed in IPA with Template:Angbr IPA. It is nasalized, and may be close Template:IPAblink instead.Template:Sfnp

References

• Template:Accents of English

External links

• Template:Phoible
• Template:Phoible