Near-close near-front unrounded vowel

The near-close near-front unrounded vowel, or near-high near-front 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 ⟨ɪ⟩ (a Latin small capital I). The International Phonetic Association advises serifs on the symbol's ends.^[2] Some sans-serif fonts do meet this typographic specification.^[3] Prior to 1989, there was an alternate IPA symbol for this sound, ⟨ɩ⟩ (a Latin iota); use of this symbol is no longer sanctioned by the IPA,^[4] though it may still be found in some modern writings.^[5]

Near-close near-front unrounded vowel
ɪ
IPA number	319
Audio sample
source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ɪ
Unicode (hex)	U+026A
X-SAMPA	I
Braille
Image

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

Spectrogram of [ɪ]

Sagittal section of a vocal tract pronouncing the IPA sound ⟨Ɪ⟩. Note that a wavy glottis in this diagram indicates a voiced sound.

The Handbook of the International Phonetic Association defines [ɪ] as a mid-centralized (lowered and centralized) close front unrounded vowel (transcribed [i̽] or [ï̞]), and the current official IPA name of the vowel transcribed with the symbol ⟨ɪ⟩ is a near-close near-front unrounded vowel.^[6]

However, some languages have a vowel that is somewhat lower than the canonical value of [ɪ], though it still fits the definition of a mid-centralized [i]. It occurs in some dialects of English (such as Californian, General American and modern Received Pronunciation)^[7][8][9] as well as some other languages (such as Icelandic),^[10][11] and it can be narrowly transcribed with [ɪ̞] (a lowered ⟨ɪ⟩) or [e̠] (a backed ⟨e⟩). For precision, this can be described as a close-mid near-front unrounded vowel.

Additionally, in some languages (such as Danish, Luxembourgish and Sotho),^{[12][13][14][15]} there is a fully front near-close unrounded vowel (a sound between cardinal ⟨i⟩ and ⟨e⟩), which can be transcribed in IPA with [ɪ̟], [i̞] or [e̝]. For precision, this can be described as a near-close front unrounded vowel, or near-high front unrounded vowel. There may be phonological reasons not to transcribe the fully front variant with the symbol ⟨ɪ⟩, which may incorrectly imply a relation to the close ⟨i⟩.^{[citation needed]}

Sometimes, especially in broad transcription, this vowel is transcribed with a simpler symbol ⟨i⟩, which technically represents the close front unrounded vowel.

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 front, which means the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. The prototypical [ɪ] is somewhat further back (near-front) than the neighboring cardinal vowels.
• It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abenaki		nis	[nɪs]	'two'	The quality varies between near-close [ɪ] and close [i].[16][17][18] See Abenaki phonology
Afrikaans	Standard[19]	meter	[ˈmɪ̞ˑtɐr]	'meter'	Close-mid. Allophone of /ɪə/ in less stressed words and in stressed syllables of polysyllabic words. In the latter case, it is in free variation with the diphthongal realization [ɪə̯ ~ ɪ̯ə ~ ɪə].[19] See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic	Kuwaiti[20]	بِنْت (bint)	[bɪnt]	'girl'	Corresponds to /i/ in Classical Arabic. Contrasts with /i/ or [iː][20][21] See Arabic phonology
	Lebanese[21]	بِرْكِة (birké)	[bɪrke]	'pool'
Burmese[22]		မြစ် (mracʻ)	[mjɪʔ]	'root'	Allophone of /i/ in syllables closed by a glottal stop and when nasalized.[22]
Catalan	Balearic[23]	mirar	[mɪˈɾɑ(ɾ)]	'to look'	Unstressed allophone of /i/. See Catalan phonology
	Valencian[23]
	Standard Valencian	naixement	[najɕɪˈmẽn̪t̪]	'birth'	Unstressed allophone of /e/ in the suffix -ixement. In non-standard variants also in contact with palatals and sometimes initial /es-/. See Catalan phonology
Chinese	Shanghainese[24]	一 (ih)	[ɪ̞ʔ˥]	'one'	Close-mid; appears only in closed syllables. Phonetically, it is nearly identical to /ɛ/ ([e̠]), which appears only in open syllables.[24]
Czech	Bohemian[25]	byli	[ˈbɪlɪ]	'they were'	The quality has been variously described as near-close near-front [ɪ][25] and close-mid front [ɪ̟˕].[26] It corresponds to close front [i] in Moravian Czech.[26] See Czech phonology
Danish	Standard[12][14]	hel	[ˈhe̝ːˀl]	'whole'	Fully front; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.[12][14] It is typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨eː⟩ - the way it is pronounced in the conservative variety.[27] The Danish vowel transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɪ⟩ is pronounced similarly to the short /e/.[28] See Danish phonology
Dutch	Standard[29][30][31]	blik	[blɪk]ⓘ	'glance'	The Standard Northern realization is near-close [ɪ],[29][30] but the Standard Belgian realization has also been described as close-mid [ɪ̞].[31] Some regional dialects have a vowel that is slightly closer to the cardinal [i].[32] See Dutch phonology
English	Californian[7]	bit	[bɪ̞t]ⓘ	'bit'	Close-mid.[7][8] See English phonology
	General American[8]
	Estuary[33]		[bɪʔt]		Can be fully front [ɪ̟], near-front [ɪ] or close-mid [ɪ̞], with other realizations also being possible.[33]
	Received Pronunciation[9][34]				Close-mid [ɪ̞] for younger speakers, near-close [ɪ] for older speakers.[9][34]
	General Australian[35]		[bɪ̟t]		Fully front;[35] also described as close [i].[36] See Australian English phonology
	Inland Northern American[37]		[bɪt]		The quality varies between near-close near-front [ɪ], near-close central [ɪ̈], close-mid near-front [ɪ̞] and close-mid central [ɘ].[37]
	Philadelphian[38]				The height varies between near-close [ɪ] and close-mid [ɪ̞].[38]
	Welsh[39][40][41]				Near-close [ɪ] in Abercrave and Port Talbot, close-mid [ɪ̞] in Cardiff.[39][40][41]
	New Zealand[42][43]	bed	[be̝d]	'bed'	The quality varies between near-close front [e̝], near-close near-front [ɪ], close-mid front [e] and close-mid near-front [e̠].[42] It is typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨e⟩. In the cultivated variety, it is mid [e̞].[43] See New Zealand English phonology
	Some Australian speakers[44]				Close-mid [e] in General Australian, may be even lower for some other speakers.[44] See Australian English phonology
	Some South African speakers[45]				Used by some General and Broad speakers. In the Broad variety, it is usually lower [ɛ], whereas in the General variety, it can be close-mid [e] instead.[45] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨e⟩. See South African English phonology
French	Quebec[46]	petite	[pət͡sɪt]	'small'	Allophone of /i/ in closed syllables.[46] See Quebec French phonology
German	Standard[47]	bitte	[ˈb̥ɪ̞tə]ⓘ	'please'	Close-mid; for some speakers, it may be as high as [i].[47] See Standard German phonology
Hindustani[48]	Hindi	इरादा (iraadaa)	[ɪˈɾäːd̪ä]	'intention'	Hindustani phonology
	Urdu	ارادہ (iraadaa)
Hungarian[49]		visz	[vɪs]	'to carry'	Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨i⟩. See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic[10][11]		vinur	[ˈʋɪ̞ːnʏ̞ɾ]	'friend'	Close-mid.[10][11] See Icelandic phonology
Kabiye		kabɩyɛ	[kàbɪ̀jɛ̀]	'Kabiye'	-ATR front vowel. See Kabiye language
Kazakh		бір (bır)	[bɪ̞ɾ]	'one'	Close-mid. See Kazakh phonology
Limburgish[50][51]		hin	[ɦɪ̞n]	'chicken'	Near-close [ɪ][51] or close-mid [ɪ̞],[50] depending on the dialect. The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Luxembourgish[13]		Been	[be̝ːn]	'leg'	Fully front.[13] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨eː⟩. See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay		kecil	[kət͡ʃɪl]	'small'	Allophone of /i/ in closed-final syllables. May be [e] or [e̞] depending on the speaker. See Malay phonology
Norwegian[52]		litt	[lɪ̟tː]	'a little'	The example word is from Urban East Norwegian, in which the vowel has been variously described as near-close front [ɪ̟][52] and close front [i].[53] See Norwegian phonology
Portuguese	Brazilian[54]	cine	[ˈsinɪ]	'cine'	Reduction and neutralization of unstressed /e/ (can be epenthetic), /ɛ/ and /i/. Can be voiceless. See Portuguese phonology
Russian[55][56]		дерево (derevo)	[ˈdʲerʲɪvə]ⓘ	'tree'	Backness varies between fully front and near-front. It occurs only in unstressed syllables.[55][56] See Russian phonology
Saterland Frisian[57]		Dee	[de̝ː]	'dough'	Phonetic realization of /eː/ and /ɪ/. Near-close front [e̝ː] in the former case, close-mid near-front [ɪ̞] in the latter. Phonetically, the latter is nearly identical to /ɛː/ ([e̠ː]).[57]
Scottish Gaelic[58]		fios	[fɪs̪]	'information'	Allophone of /i/ before broad consonants and in unstressed syllables.
Sicilian[59]		unni	[ˈunnɪ]	'Where'	Unstressed allophone of [i]. See Sicilian vowel system
Sinhala[60]		පිරිමි (pirimi)	[ˈpi̞ɾi̞mi̞]	'male'	Fully front;[60] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨i⟩.
Slovak[61][62]		rýchly	[ˈri̞ːxli̞]	'fast'	Typically fully front.[61] See Slovak phonology
Sotho[15]		ho leka	[hʊ̠lɪ̟kʼɑ̈]	'to attempt'	Fully front; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid front unrounded vowels.[15] See Sotho phonology
Spanish	Eastern Andalusian[63]	mis	[mɪ̟ː]	'my' (pl.)	Fully front. It corresponds to [i] in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology
	Murcian[64]
Swedish	Central Standard[65][66]	sill	[s̪ɪ̟l̪ː]ⓘ	'herring'	The quality has been variously described as close-mid front [ɪ̟˕],[65] near-close front [ɪ̟][66] and close front [i].[67] See Swedish phonology
Temne[68]		pim	[pí̞m]	'pick'	Fully front;[68] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨i⟩.
Turkish[69]		müşteri	[my̠ʃt̪ɛ̞ˈɾɪ]	'customer'	Allophone of /i/ described variously as "word-final"[69] and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase".[70] See Turkish phonology
Ukrainian[71][72]		ирій (yrij)	[ɪrij]	'Iriy'	See Ukrainian phonology
Welsh		mynydd	[mənɪð]	'mountain'	See Welsh phonology
Yoruba[73]		kini	[kĩi]	'what'	Fully front; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ĩ⟩. It is nasalized, and may be close [ĩ] instead.[73]