Near-close vowel

A near-close vowel (or near-high vowel) is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The meaning of a near-close vowel is that the tongue is positioned the same as an close vowel, but slightly less narrow.

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

List

The near-close vowels with these symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

• near-close near-front unrounded vowel [ɪ]
• near-close near-front rounded vowel [ʏ]
• near-close near-back rounded vowel [ʊ]

Other near-close vowels can have marks on letters of relative articulation applied to neighboring vowels, such as ⟨ɒ̽⟩ and ⟨ɑ̽⟩ for near-close, near-back, rounded and unrounded vowels.