Near-close back unrounded vowel

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. The International Phonetic Alphabet can represent this sound as [ɯ̞] (lowered ⟨ɯ⟩) or as [ɤ̝] (raised ⟨ɤ⟩).

Near-close back unrounded vowel
ɯ̞
ɤ̝

Near-close near-back unrounded vowel
ɯ̽
ɯ̞̈
ʊ̜
ω (not IPA)
Audio sample
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IPA: Vowels
Front Central Back Close i y ɨ ʉ ɯ u Near-close ɪ ʏ ʊ Close-mid e ø ɘ ɵ ɤ o Mid e̞ ø̞ ə ɤ̞ o̞ Open-mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔ Near-open æ ɐ Open a ɶ ä ɑ ɒ
IPA help  audio full chart template Legend: unrounded • rounded

By analogy to ⟨ʊ⟩, a near-close near-back unrounded vowel or near-high near-back unrounded vowel may also be described, and can be represented in the IPA as [ɯ̽] (mid-centralized ⟨ɯ⟩) or [ɯ̞̈] (lowered and centralized ⟨ɯ⟩). It may also be transcribed as [ʊ̜] (less rounded ⟨ʊ⟩), but because ⟨ʊ⟩ is defined by the Handbook of the International Phonetic Association as rounded (whereas ⟨ə⟩ and ⟨ɐ⟩ do not specify rounding),^[2] the symbol [ʊ̜] can also signify a weakly rounded [ʊ], rather than the fully unrounded vowel that is described in this article. In his Accents of English, John C. Wells transcribes this vowel with the para-IPA symbol ⟨ω⟩,^[3] though Sinological phonetic notation uses this symbol for a different vowel.

Some phoneticians argue that all lip position inverses of the primary cardinal vowels are centralized (with the exception of ⟨ɒ⟩) based on formant acoustics,^[4] so that there may be no substantial difference between a near-close back unrounded vowel [ɯ̞] and its near-back counterpart [ɯ̽].

Features

• 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[5]	hook	[hɯ̞k]	'hook'	Possible realization of /ʊ/.[5]
	California[6]				Often pronounced with spread lips. Corresponds to /ʊ/ in other accents.[6] See English phonology
	Tidewater[7]				May be rounded [ʊ] instead.[7]
	Cardiff[8]		[ɯ̞k]		Also described as close-mid central [ɘ ~ ɵ].[9]
	New Zealand[10][11]	treacle	[ˈtɹ̝̊iːkɯ̞]ⓘ	'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.[10][11] It corresponds to /əl/ in other accents. See New Zealand English phonology
	Some Philadelphia speakers[12]	plus	[pɫ̥ɯ̞s]	'plus'	Used particularly by male speakers; can be lower [ʌ̝ ~ ʌ] instead.[12] It corresponds to [ʌ] in other accents. See English phonology
	South African[13]	pill	[pʰɯ̞ɫ]	'pill'	Possible allophone of /ɪ/ before the velarised allophone of /l/.[13] Also described as close-mid [ɤ].[14] See South African English phonology
Irish	Ulster[15]	ag gail	[ə ˈɡɯ̞lˠ]	'boiling'	Allophone of /ɪ/.[15] See Irish phonology
Korean[16]		어른/eoreun	[ə̝ːɾɯ̞n]	'seniors'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩. See Korean phonology
Portuguese	European[17]	pegar	[pɯ̞ˈɣäɾ]ⓘ	'to grab'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɨ⟩ or ⟨ə⟩. Appears only in unstressed syllables.[17] See Portuguese phonology
Turkish	Standard[18]	sığ	[sɯ̞ː]	'shallow'	Also described as close back [ɯ] and close central [ɨ].[19] See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese	Hanoi[20]	từ	[t̻ɯ̞˧˨]	'word'	Common allophone of /ɯ/.[20] See Vietnamese phonology
Yine[21]		[tɯ̞wɯ̞]		'salt'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɯ⟩.[21]