Close back unrounded vowel

Encyclopedia : C : CL : CLO : Close back unrounded vowel

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IPA – number	316
IPA – text
IPA – image
Entity	ɯ
X-SAMPA	M
Kirshenbaum	u-

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".

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.

Occurs in

• Korean: eumsik [ˈɯːmɕik], 'food'
• Turkish: ılık [ɯˈɫɯk], 'mild'
• Vietnamese: tư [tɯ̄], 'fourth'

This symbol is often used to transcribe the Japanese /u/. However, that vowel is actually a close back compressed vowel, which has no IPA symbol of its own.

 

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