The close central unrounded vowel, or high central unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound used in some languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɨ⟩, namely the lower-case letter i with a horizontal bar. Both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as barred i.
Close central unrounded vowel | |||
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ɨ | |||
IPA number | 317 | ||
Audio sample | |||
source · help | |||
Encoding | |||
Entity (decimal) | ɨ | ||
Unicode (hex) | U+0268 | ||
X-SAMPA | 1 | ||
Braille | ![]() ![]() | ||
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Near-close central unrounded vowel | |
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ɨ̞ | |
ɪ̈ | |
ɪ̠ | |
ɘ̝ | |
Audio sample | |
source · help |
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Legend: unrounded • rounded |
Occasionally, this vowel is transcribed ⟨ï⟩ (centralized ⟨i⟩) or ⟨ɯ̈⟩ (centralized ⟨ɯ⟩).[2]
The close central unrounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the rare post-palatal approximant [j̈].[3]
Some languages feature the , which is slightly lower. It is most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ ⓘɨ̞⟩ and ⟨ɪ̈⟩, but other transcriptions such as ⟨ɪ̠⟩ and ⟨ɘ̝⟩ are also possible. In many British dictionaries, this vowel has been transcribed ⟨ɪ⟩, which captures its height; in the American tradition it is more often ⟨ɨ⟩, which captures its centrality, or ⟨ᵻ⟩,[4] which captures both. ⟨ᵻ⟩ is also used in a number of other publications, such as Accents of English by John C. Wells. In the third edition of the Oxford English Dictionary, ⟨ᵻ⟩ represents variation between /ɪ/ and /ə/.[5]
/ɨ/ is uncommon as a phoneme in Indo-European languages, occurring most commonly in some Slavic languages, such as Belarusian and Russian (see ы). However, it is very common as a separate phoneme in the indigenous languages of the Americas and is often in phonemic contrast with other close vowels such as /i/ and /u/ both in modern living languages as well as reconstructed proto-languages (such as Proto-Uto-Aztecan). Campbell, Kaufman, and Smith-Stark identify the presence of this vowel phoneme as an areal feature of a Mesoamerican Sprachbund (although that is not a defining feature of the entire area).[6]
Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Acehnese | tupeue | [tupɨə] | 'to know' | Asyik[7] and Al-Ahmadi Al-Harbi[8] describe this sound as such while Durie[9] describes it as closer to [ɯ] | |
Aikanã[10] | tɨi | [ˈtɨi] | 'aunt' | It also happens as allophone of /a/ before [i].[10] | |
Amharic[11] | ሥር/sûr | [sɨ̞r] | 'root' | Near-close.[11] | |
Angami | Khonoma[12] | prü | [pɻɨ˨] | 'hail stone' | The height varies between close [ɨ] and mid [ə].[12] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ə⟩. |
Arhuaco | ikʉ | [ɪk'ɨ] | 'Arhuaco language' | ||
Bantawa | Ilam, Nepal | küma | [kɨma] | 'afraid' | |
Berber | Central Atlas Tamazight[13] | ⵅⴷⵉⵎ/khdim | [χdɨ̞m] | 'to work' | Epenthetically inserted into consonant clusters before labial and coronal consonants. |
Chinese | Hokkien | 豬/tir | [tɨ˥] | 'pig' | |
Mandarin | 十/shí | [ʂɨ˧˥] | 'ten' | ||
English | Inland Southern American[14] | good | [ɡɨ̞d] | 'good' | Corresponds to [ʊ] in other dialects. See English phonology |
Southeastern English[15] | [ɡɪ̈d] | May be rounded [ʊ̈] instead;[15] it corresponds to [ʊ] in other dialects. See English phonology | |||
London[16][17] | lip | [lɪ̈ʔp] | 'lip' | Possible realization of /ɪ/.[16][17] | |
South African[18] | [lɨ̞p] | For some speakers it can be equal to [ə]. General and Broad varieties of SAE have an allophonic variation, with [ɪ] ([i] in Broad) occurring near velar and palatal consonants, and [ɨ̞~ə] elsewhere. See South African English phonology | |||
Southern American[19] | [lɪ̈p] | Allophone of /ɪ/ before labial consonants, sometimes also in other environments.[19] | |||
Southeastern English[20] | rude | [ɹɨːd] | 'rude' | May be rounded [ʉː], or a diphthong [ʊʉ̯~əʉ̯] instead. | |
Guaraní[21] | yvy | [ɨʋɨ] | 'earth' | ||
Hausa[22] | cin abinci | [t̠ʃin abɨnt̠ʃi] | 'to eat' | Allophone of /i/.[22] | |
Irish | goirt | [ɡɨ̞ɾˠtʲ] | 'salty' | Allophone of /i/ between broad consonants. See Irish phonology | |
Munster[23] | caora | [kɨːɾˠə] | 'sheep' | Allophone of /i/ between broad consonants.[23] See Irish phonology | |
Ulster[24] | saol | [sɨl] | 'life' | Allophone of /ɪ/. Near-close.[24] | |
Kalagan[25] | [pɨˈnɨt̪] | 'beard' | |||
Kashmiri[26] | ژٕنُن/cûnun | [t͡sɨnʊn] | 'peach' | ||
Kera[27] | [ɡɨ̀ɡɨ̀r] | 'knee' | |||
Khmer | គិត/kīt | [kɨt] | 'to think' | See Khmer phonology | |
Kurdish[28][29] | Palewani (Southern) | کرماشان/kirmaşan | [cʰɨɾmäːʃäːn] | 'kermanshah' | Equal to Kurmanji and Sorani [ɪ]. See Kurdish phonology |
Latgalian[30] | dyžan | [ˈd̪ɨʒän̪] | 'very much' | See Latgalian phonology | |
Mah Meri[31] | [d͡ʑäbɨ̞ʔ͡k̚] | 'to be drunk' | |||
Malay | Kelantan-Pattani | ngecat | [ŋɨ.caʔ] | 'to paint' | See Kelantan-Pattani Malay |
Mapudungun[32] | müṉa | [mɘ̝ˈn̪ɐ̝] | 'male cousin on father's side' | Unstressed allophone of /ɘ/.[32] | |
Mongolian[33] | хүчир/hučir | [xutʃʰɨɾɘ̆] | 'difficult' | ||
Matis[34] | [kɨˈnɨ] | 'wall' | |||
Mono[35] | dɨ | [dɨ] | 'count' | ||
Mpade[36] | sɨm | [sɨm] | 'to eat' | ||
Paicî[37] | [example needed] | May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩. | |||
Romanian[38] | înot | [ɨˈn̪o̞t̪] | 'I swim' | See Romanian phonology | |
Russian[39] | ты/ty | ⓘ | 'you' (singular/informal) | Occurs only after unpalatalized consonants. Near-close when unstressed.[39] See Russian phonology | |
Sahaptin[40] | kʼsit | [kʼsɨt] | 'cold' | Epenthetic. No lengthened equivalent | |
Sanumá[41] | [taˈaɨ] | 'to see' | The nasal version [ɨ̃] also occurs.[42] | ||
Scottish Gaelic | Lewis[43] | tuilleadh | [ˈt̪ʰɨʎəɣ] | 'more' | Allophone of /ɯ/ when short and in proximity to slender consonants. |
Shipibo[44] | tenaitianronki | [ˈt̪ɨnɐi̞ti̞ɐ̃ɽõ̞ɣi̞] | [translation needed] | Possible realization of /ɯ/ after coronal consonants.[44] | |
Sirionó[45] | [eˈsɨ] | 'dry wood' | |||
Sundanese | anjeun | [and͡ʒɨn] | 'you' | Occasionally, sometimes as [ɯ], [ɤ] or [ɘ] by younger speakers. | |
Sümi[46] | sü | [ʃɨ̀] | 'to hurt' | Described variously as close [ɨ][46] and near-close [ɨ̞].[47] | |
Swedish | Bohuslän[48] | bli | [blɨᶻː] | 'to become' | A fricated vowel that corresponds to [iː] in Central Standard Swedish.[48] See Swedish phonology |
Närke[48] | |||||
Tajik | Bukharan[49] | cižciž ғижғиж | [ʁɨʑʁɨʑ] | 'the sound of wood sawing' | Allophone of /i/ in the environment of uvular consonants.[49] |
Tamil[50] | vály (வால்) | [väːlɨ] | 'tail' | Epenthetic vowel inserted in colloquial speech after word-final liquids; can be rounded [ʉ] instead.[50] See Tamil phonology | |
Tera[51] | zu̱ | [zɨ] | 'said' | ||
vu̱r | [vɨ̞r] | 'to give' | Allophone of /ɨ/ in closed syllables.[52] | ||
Tsou[53] | hahocngx, hahocngʉ | [ha.ˈho.t͡sŋɨ] | 'man' | /ɨ/, with free variant [ʉ]. Used to be written as ⟨ʉ⟩, but changed to ⟨x⟩ for more convenient typing.[53] | |
Tupi | ybytyra | [ɨβɨ'tɨɾa] | 'mountain' | See Tupian Phonology | |
Turkish | Standard[54] | sığ | [sɨː] | 'shallow' | Also described as close back [ɯ][55] and near-close near-back [ɯ̽][56] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩. See Turkish phonology |
Balkans[57] | [example needed] | Word-final merger of standard Turkish sounds /i/ and /ɯ/, shift of /y/ and /u/ into single phoneme due to interactions caused by Balkan sprachbund. Dombrowski[57] transcribes this phoneme as /i/. | |||
Udmurt[58] | yrgete/ыргетэ[59] | [ɨrɡete] | 'it growls' | ||
Vietnamese[60] | bưng | [ʔɓɨŋ˧˧] | 'to carry' | ||
Wayuu | paanüküin | [pa:nɨkɨinː] | 'your mouth' | ||
Welsh | Northern dialects[61] | llun | [ɬɨːn] | 'picture' | Close when long, near-close when short.[61] Merges with /ɪ/ in southern dialects. See Welsh phonology |
pump | [pɨ̞mp] | 'five' | |||
Yaeyama | pïtu | [pɨtu] | 'person' | ||
Zapotec | Tilquiapan[62] | nɨ | [nɨ] | 'be sour' |
The sound of Polish ⟨y⟩ is often represented as /ɨ/, but actually it is a close-mid advanced central unrounded vowel, more narrowly transcribed [ɘ̟].[63] Similarly, European Portuguese unstressed ⟨e⟩, often represented as /ɨ/, is actually a near-close near-back unrounded vowel,[64] more narrowly transcribed using ad hoc symbols such as [ɯ̽] (mid-centralized), [ɯ̟] (fronted) and [ʊ̜] (less rounded, i.e. unrounded).
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