Near-close back unrounded vowel
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| Near-close back unrounded vowel | |
|---|---|
| ɯ̞ | |
| ɤ̝ | |
| ɯ̽ | |
| Listen | |
The near-close back unrounded vowel or near-high back unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of a vowel sound, used in a few spoken languages. Acoustically it is a near-close back-central unrounded vowel.[2] The International Phonetic Alphabet can represent this sound as ⟨ɯ̞⟩ (lowered [ɯ]) or as ⟨ɤ̝⟩ (raised [ɤ]).
By analogy to [ʊ], this vowel can be transcribed as a mid-centralized close back unrounded vowel [ɯ] (ɯ̽), a symbol equivalent to a more complex ⟨ɯ̞̈⟩ (lowered and centralized [ɯ]). However, acoustic analysis of cardinal vowels as produced by Daniel Jones and John C. Wells has shown that basically all cardinal back unrounded vowels but the open [ɑ] (so not just [ɯ] but also [ɤ] and [ʌ]) are near-back (or back-central) in their articulation, so that there may be no substantial difference between a near-close back unrounded vowel and its near-back counterpart.[2] In his Accents of English, John C. Wells transcribes this vowel with a non-IPA symbol ⟨ω⟩.
Theoretically it can also be represented in the IPA as ⟨ʊ̜⟩ (less rounded [ʊ]), but because [ʊ] is defined by the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association as rounded (rather than unspecified for rounding as [ə] and [ɐ]),[3] the symbol ⟨ʊ̜⟩ can also signify a weakly rounded [ʊ], rather than a fully unrounded vowel that is described in this article.
It is phonemic in Korean.
Contents
Features[edit]
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Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded |
- 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 back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible 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[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | African-American[4] | hook | [hɯ̞k] | 'hook' | Possible realization of /ʊ/.[4] |
| California[5] | Often pronounced with spread lips. Corresponds to /ʊ/ in other accents.[5] See English phonology | ||||
| Tidewater[6] | May be rounded [ʊ] instead.[6] | ||||
| Cardiff[7] | [ɯ̞k] | Also described as close-mid central [ɘ ~ ɵ].[8] | |||
| New Zealand[9][10] | treacle |  [ˈtɹ̝̊iːkɯ̞] |
'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.[9][10] It corresponds to /əl/ in other accents. See New Zealand English phonology | |
| Some Philadelphia speakers[11] | plus | [pɫ̥ɯ̞s] | 'plus' | Used particularly by male speakers; can be lower [ʌ̝ ~ ʌ] instead.[11] It corresponds to [ʌ] in other accents. See English phonology | |
| South African[12] | pill | [pʰɯ̞ɫ] | 'pill' | Possible allophone of /ɪ/ before the velarised allophone of /l/.[12] Also described as close-mid [ɤ].[13] See South African English phonology | |
| Irish | Ulster[14] | ag gail | [ə ˈɡɯ̞lˠ] | 'boiling' | Allophone of /ɪ/.[14] See Irish phonology |
| Korean[15] | 어른/eoreun | [ə̝ːɾɯ̞n] | 'seniors' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩. See Korean phonology | |
| Portuguese | European[16] | pegar | [pɯ̞ˈɣäɾ] | 'to hold' | Typically transcibred in IPA with ⟨ɨ⟩ or ⟨ə⟩. Appears only in unstressed syllables.[16] See Portuguese phonology |
| Turkish | Standard[17] | sığ | [sɯ̞ː] | 'shallow' | Also described as close back [ɯ] and close central [ɨ].[18] See Turkish phonology |
| Vietnamese | Hanoi[19] | từ | [t̻ɯ̞˧˨] | 'word' | Common allophone of /ɯ/.[19] See Vietnamese phonology |
| Yine[20] | [tɯ̞wɯ̞] | 'salt' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩.[20] | ||
Notes[edit]
- ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
- ^ a b Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
- ^ International Phonetic Association (1999), p. 180.
- ^ a b Wells (1982), p. 557.
- ^ a b Ladefoged (1999), pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Wells (1982), p. 536.
- ^ Wells (1982), p. 386.
- ^ Collins & Mees (1990), pp. 92, 94.
- ^ a b "NZE Phonology" (PDF). Victoria University of Wellington. p. 3.
- ^ a b Bauer & Warren (2004), p. 585.
- ^ a b Gordon (2004), p. 290.
- ^ a b Bowerman (2004), p. 936.
- ^ Wells (1982), p. 617.
- ^ a b Ní Chasaide (1999), p. 114.
- ^ Lee (1999), p. 121.
- ^ a b Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
- ^ Kılıç & Öğüt (2004)
- ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999), p. 155.
- ^ a b Kirby (2011), p. 384.
- ^ a b Urquía Sebastián & Marlett (2008), p. 366.
References[edit]
- Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul (2004), "New Zealand English: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive, A handbook of varieties of English, 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, A handbook of varieties of English, 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 931–942, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
- Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (1990), "The Phonetics of Cardiff English", in Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan Richard, English in Wales: Diversity, Conflict, and Change, Multilingual Matters Ltd., pp. 87–103, ISBN 1-85359-032-0
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
- Göksel, Asli; Kerslake, Celia (2005), Turkish: a comprehensive grammar (PDF), Routledge, ISBN 978-0415114943, archived from the original (PDF) on 26 November 2014
- Gordon, Matthew J. (2004), "New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive, A handbook of varieties of English, 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
- Kirby, James P. (2011), "Vietnamese (Hanoi Vietnamese)" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 41 (3): 381–392, doi:10.1017/S0025100311000181
- 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, Cambridge University Press, pp. 120–122, ISBN 0-521-63751-1
- Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999), "Irish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 111–16, ISBN 0-521-63751-1
- Urquía Sebastián, Rittma; Marlett, Stephen A. (2008), "Yine", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 38 (3): 365–369, doi:10.1017/S0025100308003356
- Wells, John C. (1982). Accents of English. Volume 2: The British Isles (pp. i–xx, 279–466), Volume 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press. ISBN 0-52128540-2, 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
