Close vowel

A close vowel, also called a high vowel,^[1] is a type of vowel. It is used in many spoken languages. When you say a close vowel, your tongue is very close to the top of your mouth. It isn't touching the top, however, because if it were to touch the top of your mouth, it would be called a consonant.

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 Vowels beside dots are: unrounded • rounded

"Close" /ˈkloʊs/ is recommended by the International Phonetic Association. In America, however, they are called high vowels.^[2]

List of close vowels

In the International Phonetic Alphabet are six closed vowels:

• close front unrounded vowel [i]
• close front compressed vowel [y]
• close central unrounded vowel [ɨ]
• close central protruded vowel [ʉ]
• close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]
• close back protruded vowel [u]

There also are three close vowels that don't have symbols in the IPA:

• close front protruded vowel [ʉ̟] (yʷ)
• close central compressed vowel [ÿ] (ɏ)
• close back compressed vowel [ɯᵝ] (u͍)