Close-mid central unrounded vowel

Close-mid central unrounded vowel
ɘ
ë
IPA number	397
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɘ
Unicode (hex)	U+0258
X-SAMPA	@\
Kirshenbaum	@<umd>
Braille
Image
Sound
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The close-mid central unrounded vowel, or high-mid central 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 ⟨ɘ⟩. This is a mirrored letter e, and should not be confused with the schwa ⟨ə⟩, which is a turned e. It was added to the IPA in 1993; before that, this vowel was transcribed ⟨ë⟩ (Latin small letter e with umlaut, not Cyrillic small letter yo). This letter may be used with a lowering diacritic ⟨ɘ̞⟩, to denote the mid central unrounded vowel.

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low".

Features

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ •ɯ̽ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ •əɵ̞ •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ •æ •ɐɞ̞ •aɶ •äɒ̈ •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
This table contains phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help]
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• Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high vowel) and a mid vowel.

• Its vowel backness is central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.

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

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Catalan	Central Valencian[1]	poc	[ˈpɒ̝kːɘ]	'little'	Vocalic release found in final consonants. Typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ə⟩. See Catalan phonology
Dutch	Standard[2][3][4]	bit	[bɘ̟t]	'bit'	Somewhat fronted;[2][3][4] typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɪ⟩, the way it's pronounced in some dialects.[5] See Dutch phonology
English	Australian[6][7]	bird	[bɘːd]	'bird'	Typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɜː⟩. See Australian English phonology
	Southern Michigan[8]		[bɘ˞ːd]		Rhotacized.
	Cardiff[9]	foot	[fɘ̠t]	'foot'	Somewhat retracted;[9] corresponds to /ʊ/ in other dialects. See English phonology
	New Zealand[10]	bit	[bɘt]	'bit'	Corresponds to /ɪ/ in other dialects. See English phonology
	Southern American[11]	nut	[nɘt]	'nut'	Some dialects.[11] Corresponds to /ʌ/ in other dialects. See English phonology
German	Standard[12]	bitte	[ˈbɪtɘ]	'please'	Also described as mid [ə].[13][14] See Standard German phonology
Irish	Munster[15]	sáile	[ˈsˠɰaːlʲɘ]	'salt water'	Usually transcribed [ɪ̽]. It is an allophone of /ə/ next to non-palatal slender consonants.[15] See Irish phonology
Jebero[16]		[ˈiʃɘk]		'bat'
Kaingang[17]		[ˈᵐbɘ]		'tail'	Varies between central [ɘ] and back [ɤ].[18]
Kazakh		тіл	[tɘl]	'language'
Kensiu[19]		[ɟɘ˞h]		'to trim'	Rhotacized; may be transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɚ⟩.[19]
Korean		어른	[ɘː.ɾɯn]	'senior'	See Korean phonology.
Lizu[20]		[Fkɘ]		'eagle'	Allophone of /ə/ after velar stops.[20]
Mapudungun[21]		elün	[ë̝ˈlɘn]	'to leave (something)'
Mongolian[22]		үсэр	[usɘɾɘ̆]	'jump'
Mono[23]		dœ	[dɘ]	'be (equative)'	May be transcribed in IPA as ⟨ə⟩.[23]
Norman		acataer	[akatɘ]	'to buy'	May be [u ~ o ~ e] depending on the region. In Jèrriais it's spelled aï and pronounced [aɪ].
Northern Qiang	Mawo dialect	[ɘ ʑu]		'a pile'
Northern Tiwa	Taos dialect	[ˌpʼɒ̀ˑxɘ̄ˈɬɑ̄ːnæ]		'star'	Allophone of /ɤ/. See Taos phonology
Paicî		??	[kɘ̄ɾɘ̄]	'spider'
Polish[24]		tymczasowy	[t̪ɘ̟mt͡ʂäˈs̪ɔvɘ̟]	'temporary'	Somewhat fronted;[24] typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɨ⟩. See Polish phonology
Romanian	Moldavian dialects[25]	casă	[ˈkäsɘ]	'house'	Corresponds to [ə] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Russian[26]		солнце	[ˈs̪o̞n̪t̪͡s̪ɘ]	'sun'	This occurs only for some speakers after /t͡s/.[26] See Russian phonology
Sama	Sibutu[27]	[miˈwɘːʔ]		'lost'	Allophone of /ɨ/ in word-final stressed syllables before /ʔ/; can be transcribed in IPA as ⟨ə⟩.[27]
Shiwiar[28]
Skolt Sami		vuõˊlǧǧem	[vʲuɘlɟ͡ʝːɛm]	'I left'
Vietnamese[29]		vợ	[vɘ˨˩ˀ]	'wife'	Typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ɤ⟩. See Vietnamese phonology
Xumi	Upper[30]	[LPmɘ̃dɐ]		'upstairs'	Nasalized; occurs only in this word.[30] It is realized as mid [ə̃] in Lower Xumi.[31]
Zapotec	Tilquiapan[32]	ne	[nɘ]	'and'	Most common realization of /e/.[32]

References

Bibliography

International Phonetic Alphabet   IPA topics IPA International Phonetic Association History of the IPA Extensions to the IPA Kiel convention (1989) Journal of the IPA (JIPA) Naming conventions Phonetics Diacritics Segments Tone letter Place of articulation Manner of articulation Special topics Case variants of IPA letters Handwritten IPA Obsolete and nonstandard symbols IPA chart for English dialects Encodings SAMPA X-SAMPA Kirshenbaum TIPA Phonetic symbols in Unicode WorldBet IPA Braille   Consonants IPA pulmonic consonantschart image • audio Place → Labial Coronal Dorsal Laryngeal ↓ Manner Bilabial Labio­dental Linguo­labial Dental Alveolar Palato- alveolar Retroflex Alveolo- palatal Palatal Velar Uvular Pharyngeal / Epiglottal Glottal Nasal m̥ m ɱ n̼̊ n̼ n̥ n ɳ̊ ɳ ɲ̊ ɲ ŋ̊ ŋ ɴ̥ ɴ Stop p b p̪ b̪ t̼ d̼ t d ʈ ɖ c ɟ k ɡ q ɢ ʡ ʔ Sibilant affricate ts dz tʃ dʒ ʈʂ ɖʐ tɕ dʑ Non-sibilant affricate pɸ bβ p̪f b̪v tθ dð tθ̠ dð̠ t̠ɹ̠̊˔ d̠ɹ̠˔ cç ɟʝ kx ɡɣ qχ ɢʁ ʡħ ʡʕ ʔh Sibilant fricative s z ʃ ʒ ʂ ʐ ɕ ʑ Non-sibilant fricative ɸ β f v θ̼ ð̼ θ ð θ̱ ð̠ ɹ̠̊˔ ɹ̠˔ ç ʝ x ɣ χ ʁ ħ ʕ h ɦ ʔ̞ Approximant ɸ˕ ʋ θ̞ ɹ̥ ɹ ɻ̊ ɻ j̊ j ɰ̊ ɰ Flap or tap ⱱ̟ ⱱ ɾ̼ ɾ̥ ɾ ɽ̊ ɽ ɢ̆ ʡ̮ Trill ʙ r̼ r̥ r ɽr̥ ɽr ʀ̥ ʀ ʜ ʢ Lateral affricate tɬ dɮ ʈɭ̊˔ cʎ̥˔ kʟ̝̊ ɡʟ̝ Lateral fricative ɬ ɮ ɭ̊˔ ʎ̥˔ ʎ̝ ʟ̝̊ ʟ̝ Lateral approximant l̼ l̥ l ɭ̊ ɭ ʎ̥ ʎ ʟ ʟ̠ Lateral flap ɺ̼ ɺ ɭ̆ ʎ̮ ʟ̆ Non-pulmonic consonants Simple clicks ʘ ʘ̬ ʘ̃ ǀ ǀ̬ ǀ̃ ǃ ǃ̬ ǃ̃ ǂ ǂ̬ ǂ̃ ǁ ǁ̬ ǁ̃ ǃ˞ ǃ̬˞ ǃ̃˞ Other clicks ʘ̃ˀ ʘˀ ˀʘ̃ ʘ͡q ʘ͡qχ ʘ͡qʼ ʘ͡qχʼ ¡ ʞ Implosives ɓ ɗ ᶑ ʄ ɠ ʛ ɓ̥ ɗ̥ ᶑ̥ ʄ̊ ɠ̊ ʛ̥  Ejectives pʼ tʼ ʈʼ cʼ kʼ qʼ ʡʼ fʼ θʼ sʼ ɬʼ ʃʼ ʂʼ ɕʼ xʼ χʼ tsʼ tɬʼ tʃʼ ʈʂʼ tɕʼ cʎ̝̥ʼ kxʼ kʟ̝̊ʼ qχʼ Co-articulated consonants Continuants ʍ w ɥ̊ ɥ ɫ Occlusives k͡p ɡ͡b ŋ͡m ɧ t͡p d͡b n͡m q͡ʡ — These tables contain phonetic symbols, which may not display correctly in some browsers. [Help] — Where symbols appear in pairs, left–right represent the voiceless–voiced consonants. — Shaded areas denote pulmonic articulations judged to be impossible or not distinctive. Chart image Pulmonics Non-pulmonics Affricates Co-articulated   Vowels Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ •ɯ̽ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ •əɵ̞ •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ •æ •ɐɞ̞ •aɶ •äɒ̈ •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open IPA help • chart •  chart with audio • view