The close back unrounded vowel, or high back unrounded vowel,[1] is a type of
vowel sound used in some spoken
languages. The symbol in the
International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɯ⟩. Typographically, it is a turned letter ⟨m⟩; given its relation to the sound represented by the letter ⟨u⟩, it can be considered a ⟨u⟩ with an extra "bowl".
The close back unrounded vowel can in many cases be considered the vocalic equivalent of the
voiced velar approximant [ɰ].
Features
Its
vowel height is
close, also known as high, which means the tongue is positioned close 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 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.
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.[10][11] Corresponds to /əl/ in other accents. Develops from
dark L; See
New Zealand English phonology
Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɤ⟩; can be close-mid central [
ɘ] or close-mid back [
ɤ] instead, depending on the speaker.[14] See
Estonian phonology
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,
ISBN3-11-017532-0
Bowerman, Sean (2004), "White South African 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. 931–942,
ISBN3-11-017532-0
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,
ISBN3-11-017532-0
International Phonetic Association (1999), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press,
ISBN0-521-65236-7
Labrune, Laurence (2012), The Phonology of Japanese, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press,
ISBN978-0-19-954583-4
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: A Guide to the Use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge University Press, pp. 120–123,
ISBN0-521-63751-1
Tingsabadh, M.R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur S. (1993). "Thai". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 23 (1): 24–26.
doi:
10.1017/S0025100300004746.
S2CID242001518.
Zimmer, Karl; Orgun, Orhan (1999),
"Turkish"(PDF), Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 154–158,
ISBN0-521-65236-7, archived from
the original(PDF) on 25 July 2018, retrieved 20 November 2015