Close front unrounded vowel

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Close front unrounded vowel
i
IPA number301
Encoding
Entity (decimal)i
Unicode (hex)U+0069
X-SAMPAi
Kirshenbaumi
Braille⠊ (braille pattern dots-24)
Listen

The close front unrounded vowel, or high front unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound that occurs in most spoken languages, represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by the symbol i. It is similar to the vowel sound in the English word meet—and often called long-e in American English.[2] Although in English this sound has additional length (usually being represented as /iː/) and is not normally pronounced as a pure vowel (it is a slight diphthong), some dialects have been reported to pronounce the phoneme as a pure sound.[3] A pure [i] sound is also heard in many other languages, such as French, in words like chic.

The close front unrounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the palatal approximant [j]. The two are almost identical featurally. They alternate with each other in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages, [i̯] with the non-syllabic diacritic and [j] are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.

Languages that use the Latin script commonly use the letter ⟨i⟩ to represent this sound, though there are some exceptions: in English orthography that letter is usually associated with /aɪ/ (as in bite) or /ɪ/ (as in bit), and /iː/ is more commonly represented by ⟨e⟩, ⟨ea⟩, ⟨ee⟩, ⟨ie⟩ or ⟨ei⟩, as in the words scene, bean, meet, niece, conceive; (see Great Vowel Shift). Irish orthography reflects both etymology and whether preceding consonants are broad or slender, so such combinations as ⟨aí⟩, ⟨ei⟩, and ⟨aío⟩ all represent /iː/.

Features[edit]

IPA: Vowels
Front Central Back
Close
i
•
y
ɨ
•
ʉ
ɯ
•
u
Near-close
ɪ
•
ʏ
ɨ̞
•
ʉ̞
ɯ̞
•
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
•
ɒ̈
ɑ
•
ɒ

Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded

  • Its vowel height is close, also known as high, which means the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
  • Its vowel backness is front, which means the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Note that rounded front vowels are often centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-front.
  • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence[edit]

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Afrikaans Standard[4] dief [dif] 'thief' See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic Standard[5] دين‎ [d̪iːn] 'religion' See Arabic phonology
Armenian Eastern[6] իմ [im] 'my'
Bavarian Amstetten dialect[7] [example needed]
Bulgarian[8] кит [kit̪] 'whale' See Bulgarian phonology
Catalan[9] sis [ˈs̠is̠] 'six' See Catalan phonology
Chinese Mandarin[10][11] 七 / qī About this sound[tɕʰi˥] 'seven' See Standard Chinese phonology
Cantonese[12] 詩 / sī About this sound[siː˥] 'poem' See Cantonese phonology
Shanghainese[13] 低 [ti˩] 'low'
Czech Standard[14][15] bílý About this sound[ˈbiːliː] 'white' See Czech phonology
Moravian[16] byli [ˈbili] 'they were' Corresponds to [ɪ ~ ɪ̟˕] in Bohemian Czech.[16][14] See Czech phonology
Danish Standard[17][18] mile [ˈmiːlə] 'dune' See Danish phonology
Dutch Standard[19][20] biet About this sound[bit] 'beet' See Dutch phonology
Antwerpian accent[21] lip [lip] 'lip' Regional realization of /ɪ/; lower [ɪ ~ ɪ̞] in Belgian Standard Dutch.[20][22] See Dutch phonology
English[23] All dialects free About this sound[fɹiː] 'free' Depending on dialect, can be pronounced as a diphthong. See English phonology
Australian[24] bit [bit] 'bit' Also described as near-close front [ɪ̟].[25] See Australian English phonology
Estonian[26] tiik [tiːk] 'pond' See Estonian phonology
Faroese[27] linur [ˈliːnʊɹ] 'soft' See Faroese phonology
Filipino ipis [ipis] 'cockroach'
Finnish[28][29] viisi [ˈʋiːsi] 'five' See Finnish phonology
French[30][31] fini [fini] 'finished' See French phonology
Georgian[32] სამი [ˈsɑmi] 'three'
German Standard[33][34] Ziel About this sound[t͡siːl] 'goal' See Standard German phonology
Many speakers[35] bitte About this sound[ˈb̥itə] 'please' The usual realization of /ɪ/ in Switzerland, Austria and partially also in Western and Southwestern Germany (Palatinate, Swabia).[35] See Standard German phonology
Greek Modern Standard[36][37] κήπος / kípos [ˈc̠ipo̞s̠] 'garden' See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian[38] ív [iːv] 'arch' See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic[39][40] fínt [fin̥t] 'fine' See Icelandic phonology
Italian[41] bile [ˈbiːle̞] 'rage' See Italian phonology
Japanese[42] 銀/gin About this sound[ɡʲiɴ] 'silver' See Japanese phonology
Kaingang[43] nuki [ˈndukːi] 'in the belly'
Korean[44] 아이 / ai [ɐi] 'child' See Korean phonology
Latin Classical [45] vis [wiːs] 'force'
Limburgish[46][47] bies [biːs²] 'animal' The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Lithuanian rytas [ˈrʲiːtɐs] 'morning' See Lithuanian phonology
Lower Sorbian[48] kij [kʲij] 'stick'
Luxembourgish[49] Kiischt [kʰiːʃt] 'cherry' See Luxembourgish phonology
Persian بیست [bist] 'twenty'
Polish[50] miś About this sound[ˈmʲiɕ] 'teddy bear' See Polish phonology
Portuguese[51] fino [ˈfinu] 'thin' Also occurs as an unstressed allophone of other vowels. May be represented by ⟨y⟩. See Portuguese phonology
Romanian[52] insulă [ˈin̪s̪ulə] 'island' See Romanian phonology
Russian[53] лист About this sound[lʲis̪t̪] 'leaf' Only occurs word-initially or after palatalized consonants. See Russian phonology
Sema[54] pi [pì] 'to say' Also described as near-close front [i̞].[55]
Serbo-Croatian[56] vile / виле [ʋîle̞] 'hayfork' See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Shiwiar[57] [example needed]
Sioux Lakota[58][59] ǧí [ʀí] 'it's brown'
Spanish[60] tipo [ˈt̪ipo̞] 'type' May also be represented by ⟨y⟩. See Spanish phonology
Sotho[61] ho bitsa [huˌbit͡sʼɑ̈] 'to call' Contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.[61] See Sotho phonology
Swahili misikiti [misikʰitʰi] 'mosques'
Swedish Central Standard[62][63] bli [bliː] 'to stay' Often realized as a sequence [ij] or [iʝ] (hear the word: About this sound[blij]); it may also be fricated [iᶻː] or, in some regions, fricated and centralized ([ɨᶻː]).[63][64] See Swedish phonology
Thai[65] กริช [krìt] 'dagger'
Turkish[66][67] ip [ip] 'rope' See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[68] місто ['misto] 'city, town' See Ukrainian phonology
Upper Sorbian[48][69] bić [bʲit͡ʃ] 'to beat' See Upper Sorbian phonology
West Frisian[70] dyk [dik] 'road' See West Frisian phonology
Yoruba[71] [example needed]
Zapotec Tilquiapan[72] diza [d̪iza] 'Zapotec'

Notes[edit]

  1. ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
  2. ^ Maddox, Maeve. "DailyWritingTips: The Six Spellings of "Long E"". www.dailywritingtips.com. Retrieved July 20, 2014.
  3. ^ Labov, William; Sharon, Ash; Boberg, Charles (2006). The Atlas of North American English. Berlin: Mouton-de Gruyter. chpt. 17. ISBN 3-11-016746-8.
  4. ^ Donaldson (1993), p. 2.
  5. ^ Thelwall (1990), p. 38.
  6. ^ Dum-Tragut (2009), p. 13.
  7. ^ Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:290)
  8. ^ Ternes & Vladimirova-Buhtz (1999), p. 56.
  9. ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992), p. 54.
  10. ^ Lee & Zee (2003), p. 110.
  11. ^ Duanmu (2007), pp. 35–36.
  12. ^ Zee (1999), pp. 59–60.
  13. ^ Chen & Gussenhoven (2015), p. 328.
  14. ^ a b Dankovičová (1999), p. 72.
  15. ^ Šimáčková, Podlipský & Chládková (2012), p. 228.
  16. ^ a b Šimáčková, Podlipský & Chládková (2012), pp. 228–229.
  17. ^ Grønnum (2005), p. 268.
  18. ^ Basbøll (2005), p. 45.
  19. ^ Gussenhoven (1992), p. 47.
  20. ^ a b Verhoeven (2005), p. 245.
  21. ^ Verhoeven (2005), p. 246.
  22. ^ Collins & Mees (2003), p. 128.
  23. ^ Roach (2004), p. 240.
  24. ^ Cox & Palethorpe (2007), p. 344.
  25. ^ Cox & Fletcher (2017), p. 65.
  26. ^ Asu & Teras (2009), p. 368.
  27. ^ Árnason (2011), pp. 68, 74.
  28. ^ Iivonen & Harnud (2005), pp. 60, 66.
  29. ^ Suomi, Toivanen & Ylitalo (2008), p. 21.
  30. ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993), p. 73.
  31. ^ Collins & Mees (2013), p. 225.
  32. ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006), pp. 261–262.
  33. ^ Hall (2003), pp. 78, 107.
  34. ^ Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 34.
  35. ^ a b Dudenredaktion, Kleiner & Knöbl (2015), p. 64.
  36. ^ Arvaniti (2007), p. 28.
  37. ^ Trudgill (2009), p. 81.
  38. ^ Szende (1994), p. 92.
  39. ^ Árnason (2011), p. 60.
  40. ^ Einarsson (1945:10), cited in Gussmann (2011:73)
  41. ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004), p. 119.
  42. ^ Okada (1991), p. 94.
  43. ^ Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
  44. ^ Lee (1999), p. 121.
  45. ^ Wheelock's Latin (1956).
  46. ^ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), p. 159.
  47. ^ Peters (2006), p. 119.
  48. ^ a b Stone (2002), p. 600.
  49. ^ Gilles & Trouvain (2013), p. 70.
  50. ^ Jassem (2003), p. 105.
  51. ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 92.
  52. ^ Sarlin (2014), p. 18.
  53. ^ Jones & Ward (1969), p. 30.
  54. ^ Teo (2014), p. 27.
  55. ^ Teo (2012), p. 368.
  56. ^ Landau et al. (1999), p. 67.
  57. ^ Fast Mowitz (1975), p. 2.
  58. ^ Rood & Taylor (1996).
  59. ^ Lakota Language Consortium (2004). ALPHABET alphabet.htm Lakota letters and sounds.
  60. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003), p. 256.
  61. ^ a b Doke & Mofokeng (1974), p. ?.
  62. ^ Engstrand (1999), p. 140.
  63. ^ a b Riad (2014), p. 21.
  64. ^ Engstrand (1999), p. 141.
  65. ^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993), p. 24.
  66. ^ Zimmer & Organ (1999), p. 155.
  67. ^ Göksel & Kerslake (2005), p. 10.
  68. ^ Danyenko & Vakulenko (1995), p. 4.
  69. ^ Šewc-Schuster (1984), p. 20.
  70. ^ Tiersma (1999), p. 10.
  71. ^ Bamgboṣe (1969), p. 166.
  72. ^ Merrill (2008), p. 109.

References[edit]

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