| Front | Near- front | Central | Near- back | Back | |
| Close | |||||
| Near-close | |||||
| Close-mid | |||||
| Mid | |||||
| Open-mid | |||||
| Near-open | |||||
| Open | |||||
a rounded vowel. Vowel length is indicated by appending ː.
| IPA – number | 316 |
| IPA – text | ɯ |
| IPA – image |  |
| Entity | ɯ |
| X-SAMPA | M |
| Kirshenbaum | u- |
 Sound sample (help·info) |
|
The close back 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 ɯ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is M. The IPA symbol is a turned letter m, although given its relation to the sound represented by the letter u, it can be considered a u with an extra "bowl". The sound is sometimes referred to as "unrounded u".
Contents |
Features
- Its vowel height is close, 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 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.
- Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are spread.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Alekano | hanuva | [hɑnɯβɑ] | 'nothing' | ||
| Azeri | qırx | [ɡɯrx] | 'forty' | ||
| Crimean Tatar | canım | [dʒanɯm] | 'please' | ||
| Irish | Ulster | saol | [sɯːl̪ˠ] | 'life, world' | See Irish phonology |
| Korean[1] | 금 (金) / geum | [kɯm] | 'gold' | See Korean phonology | |
| Kyrgyz | кыз | [qɯʒ] | 'girl' | ||
| Portuguese[2] | European | pegar | [pɯ̟ˈɡaɾ] | 'Grab' | Occurs in unstressed syllables. More commonly transcribed as [ɨ] See Portuguese phonology |
| Scottish Gaelic | caol | [kʰɯːl̪ˠ] | 'thin' | ||
| Thai[3] | ? | [kʰɯ̂n] | 'to go up' | ||
| Turkish | ılık | [ɯˈɫɯk] | 'mild' | See Turkish phonology | |
| Vietnamese | tư | [tɯ̄] | 'fourth' | See Vietnamese phonology | |
The symbol ɯ is sometimes used for Japanese /u/, but that sound is rounded, albeit with labial compression rather than protrusion. It is more accurately described as an exolabial close back vowel.
See also
References
- ^ Lee (1999:122)
- ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
- ^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:24)
Bibliography
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 (2): 90–94, doi:
- Lee, Hyun Bok (1999), "Korean", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association:A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 120-123, ISBN 0-521-63751-1
- Tingsabadh, M.R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur S. (1993), "Thai", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (1): 24-26
This entry is from Wikipedia, the leading user-contributed encyclopedia. It may not have been reviewed by professional editors (see full disclaimer)
