Near-close back unrounded vowel
| Near-close near-back unrounded vowel | |
|---|---|
| ɯ̽ | |
| ɯ̞ | |
| ʊ̜ | |
| Audio sample | |
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 does not provide a separate symbol for this sound. By analogy to [ʊ], it 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 the vowel described in this article may be just a lowered cardinal [ɯ] ([ɯ̞]), a vowel intermediate between cardinal [ɯ] and cardinal [ɤ].[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 and European Portuguese, but it appears only in unstressed syllables in the latter.
Features
| IPA: Vowels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend: 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 back 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
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | African-American[4] | hook | [hɯ̽k] | 'hook' | Possible realization of /ʊ/.[4] |
| California[5] | Local realization of /ʊ/; often pronounced with spread lips.[5] See English phonology | ||||
| Tidewater[6] | May be rounded [ʊ] instead.[6] | ||||
| Cardiff[7] | [ɯ̽k] | Local realization of /ʊ/;[7] also described as close-mid central [ɘ ~ ɵ].[8] | |||
| New Zealand[9][10] | treacle | '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 | [pɫ̥ɯ̽s] | 'plus' | Used particularly by male speakers; can be lower [ʌ̝ ~ ʌ] instead.[11] It corresponds to [ʌ] in other accents. See English phonology | |
| Irish | Ulster[12] | ag gail | [ə ˈɡɯ̽lˠ] | 'boiling' | Allophone of /ɪ/.[12] See Irish phonology |
| Korean[13] | 어른/eoreun | [ɘːɾɯ̽n] | 'seniors' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩. See Korean phonology | |
| Mirandese | cebada | [s̪ɯ̽ˈβ̞äð̞ə] | 'barley' | Unstressed vowel; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɨ⟩. | |
| Portuguese | European[14] | pegar | [pɯ̽ˈɣäɾ] | 'to hold' | Unstressed vowel;[14] most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɨ⟩, ⟨ɯ⟩ or ⟨ə⟩. See Portuguese phonology |
| Turkish | Standard | acı | [äˈd͡ʒɯ̽] | 'pain' | Allophone of /ɯ/ in final open syllable of a phrase. See Turkish phonology |
| Vietnamese | Hanoi[15] | từ | [t̻ɯ̽˧˨] | 'word' | Common allophone of /ɯ/.[15] See Vietnamese phonology |
| Yine[16] | [tɯ̽wɯ̽] | 'salt' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩.[16] | ||
Notes
- ^ 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 (1999:180)
- ^ a b Wells (1982), p. 557.
- ^ a b Ladefoged (1999), pp. 42–43.
- ^ a b Wells (1982), p. 536.
- ^ a b 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 Ní Chasaide (1999), p. 114.
- ^ Lee (1999), p. 121.
- ^ a b Cruz-Ferreira (1995), p. 91.
- ^ a b Kirby (2011), p. 384.
- ^ a b Urquía Sebastián & Marlett (2008), p. 366.
References
- Bauer, Laurie; Warren, Paul (2004), "New Zealand English: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 1: Phonology, Mouton de Gruyter, pp. 580–602, ISBN 3-11-017532-0
- Collins, Beverley; Mees, Inger M. (1990), "The Phonetics of Cardiff English", in Coupland, Nikolas; Thomas, Alan Richard (eds.), 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
- Gordon, Matthew J. (2004), "New York, Philadelphia, and other northern cities: phonology", in Schneider, Edgar W.; Burridge, Kate; Kortmann, Bernd; Mesthrie, Rajend; Upton, Clive (eds.), A handbook of varieties of English, vol. 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. Vol. 2: The British Isles (pp. i–xx, 279–466), Vol. 3: Beyond the British Isles (pp. i–xx, 467–674). Cambridge University Press. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511611759, 10.1017/CBO9780511611766. ISBN 0-52128540-2, 0-52128541-0.