The close-mid back unrounded vowel, or high-mid back unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. Its symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ⟨ɤ⟩, called "ram's horn." This symbol is distinct from the symbol for the voiced velar fricative, ⟨ɣ⟩, which has a descender, but some texts use this symbol for the voiced velar fricative.
| Close-mid back unrounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɤ | |||
| IPA number | 315 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| source · help | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɤ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0264 | ||
| X-SAMPA | 7 | ||
| Braille |   | ||
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Legend: unrounded • rounded |
Before the 1989 IPA Convention, the symbol for the close-mid back unrounded vowel was ⟨
⟩, sometimes called "baby gamma", which has a flat top; this symbol was in turn derived from and replaced the inverted small capital A, ⟨ᴀ⟩, that represented the sound before the 1928 revision to the IPA. The symbol was ultimately revised to be ⟨
⟩, "ram's horn", with a rounded top, in order to better differentiate it from the Latin gamma ⟨ɣ⟩.
Unicode provides U+0264 ɤ LATIN SMALL LETTER RAMS HORN, but in some fonts this character may appear as a "baby gamma" instead. The superscript IPA version is U+10791 𐞑 MODIFIER LETTER SMALL RAMS HORN. As of Unicode 16.0, there exists a capital ram's horn at U+A7CB LATIN CAPITAL LETTER RAMS HORN ⟨
⟩.
Features
- Its vowel height is close-mid, also known as high-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel (a high vowel) and a mid 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 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Aklanon | saeamat | [saɤamat] | 'thanks' | ||
| Bashkir | туғыҙ/tuğïð | 'nine' | |||
| Biak | ores | [ɤres] | 'stand' | ||
| Bulgarian | бъз | [bɤz] | 'elderflower' | ||
| Chinese | Mandarin | 餓/è | [ɤ˥˩] | 'hungry' | |
| English | Cape Flats | foot | [fɤt] | 'foot' | Possible realization of /ʊ/; may be [u] or [ʉ] instead. See South African English phonology |
| South African | Possible realization of /ʊ/; may be a weakly rounded [ʊ] instead. See South African English phonology | ||||
| Geordie | Usual realization of /ʊ/. See Geordie phonology | ||||
| Birmingham and The Black Country | Corresponds to /ʊ/ in most other dialects. | ||||
| Estonian | kõrv | [kɤrv] | 'ear' | Can be close-mid central [ɘ] or close back [ɯ] instead, depending on the speaker. See Estonian phonology | |
| Gayo | kule | [kuˈlɤː] | 'tiger' | Close-mid or mid; one of the possible allophones of /ə/. | |
| Iaai | löö | [lɤː] | 'banana leaf' | ||
| Irish | Ulster | Uladh | [ɤl̪ˠu] | 'Ulster' | See Irish phonology |
| Kaingang | mo | [ˈᵐbɤ] | 'tail' | Varies between back [ɤ] and central [ɘ] | |
| Korean | Gyeongsang dialect | 거기/geogi | [ˈkɤ̘ɡɪ] | 'there' | See Korean phonology |
| Marathi | मत | [mɤːt̪] | 'opinion' | See Marathi phonology | |
| Northern Tiwa | Taos dialect | mânpəumán | [ˌmã̀ˑˈpɤ̄u̯mã̄] | 'it was squeezed' | May be central [ɘ] instead. See Taos phonology |
| Samogitian | õlgs | [ˈɤːl̪ˠgs] | 'long' | May be central [ɘ] instead. | |
| Scottish Gaelic | doirbh | [d̪̊ɤɾʲɤv] | 'difficult' | See Scottish Gaelic phonology | |
| Rusyn | Lemko variety | часы | [t͡ɕaˈsɤ] | 'times' | Used only in place of etymological praslavic sound *y |
| Prešov variety | |||||
| Subcarpathian variety | |||||
| Thai | เธอ/thoe | [tʰɤː] | 'you' | ||
| Yaqay | khoro | [xɤrɤ] | 'frog' | Uncommon pronunciation of /o/. | |
See also
- Index of phonetics articles
Notes
- While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
- Such as Booij (1999) and Nowikow (2012).
- International Phonetic Association (1912). The principles of the International Phonetic Association. Paris, Association Phonétique Internationale. pp. 10.
- Nicholas, Nick (2003). "Greek-derived IPA symbols". Greek Unicode Issues. University of California, Irvine. Archived from the original on 2013-12-19. Retrieved 2013-12-18.
- Miller, Kirk; Ashby, Michael (2020-11-08). "L2/20-252R: Unicode request for IPA modifier-letters (a), pulmonic" (PDF).
- van den Heuvel 2006, p. 26.
- Finn (2004), p. 970.
- Mesthrie (2004), p. 956.
- Trudgill, P; Chambers, J (1998). Dialectology. p. 110. doi:10.1017/CBO9780511805103. ISBN 978-0-521-59378-6.
- Asu & Teras (2009), p. 369.
- Eades & Hajek (2006), p. 111.
- Maddieson & Anderson (1994), p. 164.
- Ní Chasaide (1999:114–115)
- Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676–677, 682.
- Jolkesky (2009), pp. 676, 682.
- "Фонетика :: Русинська Вебкнига". 2016-06-02. Archived from the original on 2016-06-02. Retrieved 2021-12-19.
- Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993), p. 25.
References
- Asu, Eva Liina; Teras, Pire (2009). "Estonian". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 39 (3): 367–372. doi:10.1017/s002510030999017x.
- Booij, Geert (1999). The phonology of Dutch. Oxford University Press. ISBN 0-19-823869-X.
- Eades, Domenyk; Hajek, John (2006). "Gayo". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 36 (1): 107–115. doi:10.1017/S0025100306002416.
- Finn, Peter (2004). "Cape Flats 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. 934–984. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
- van den Heuvel, Wilco (2006). Biak: Description of an Austronesian language of Papua (Ph.D. thesis). Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam. hdl:1871/10282.
- Jolkesky, Marcelo Pinho de Valhery (2009). "Fonologia e prosódia do Kaingáng falado em Cacique Doble". Anais do SETA. 3. Campinas: Editora do IEL-UNICAMP: 675–685.
- Mesthrie, Rajend (2004). "Indian 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. 953–963. ISBN 3-11-017532-0.
- Maddieson, Ian; Anderson, Victoria (1994). "Phonemic Structures of Iaai" (PDF). UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics. 87: Fieldwork Studies of Targeted Languages II. Los Angeles: UCLA: 163–182.
- Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999). "Irish". Handbook of the International Phonetic Association. Cambridge University Press. pp. 111–16. ISBN 0-521-63751-1.
- Nowikow, Wieczysław (2012) [First published 1992]. Fonetyka hiszpańska (3rd ed.). Warsaw: Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN. ISBN 978-83-01-16856-8.
- Tingsabadh, M. R. Kalaya; Abramson, Arthur S. (1993). "Thai". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 23 (1): 24–28. doi:10.1017/S0025100300004746. S2CID 242001518.
External links
- List of languages with [ɤ] on PHOIBLE
The close mid back unrounded vowel or high mid back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages Its symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ɤ called ram s horn This symbol is distinct from the symbol for the voiced velar fricative ɣ which has a descender but some texts use this symbol for the voiced velar fricative Close mid back unrounded vowelɤIPA number315Audio sample source source source helpEncodingEntity decimal amp 612 Unicode hex U 0264X SAMPA7BrailleImageIPA VowelsFront Central BackClose i y ɨ ʉ ɯ uNear close ɪ ʏ ʊClose mid e o ɘ ɵ ɤ oMid e o e ɤ o Open mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔNear open ae ɐOpen a ɶ a ɑ ɒIPA help audio full chart template Legend unrounded roundedSpectrogram of ɤ Before the 1989 IPA Convention the symbol for the close mid back unrounded vowel was sometimes called baby gamma which has a flat top this symbol was in turn derived from and replaced the inverted small capital A ᴀ that represented the sound before the 1928 revision to the IPA The symbol was ultimately revised to be ram s horn with a rounded top in order to better differentiate it from the Latin gamma ɣ Unicode provides U 0264 ɤ LATIN SMALL LETTER RAMS HORN but in some fonts this character may appear as a baby gamma instead The superscript IPA version is U 10791 MODIFIER LETTER SMALL RAMS HORN As of Unicode 16 0 there exists a capital ram s horn at U A7CB LATIN CAPITAL LETTER RAMS HORN FeaturesIts vowel height is close mid also known as high mid which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel a high vowel and a mid 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 OccurrenceLanguage Word IPA Meaning NotesAklanon saeamat saɤamat thanks Bashkir tugyҙ tugid nine Biak ores ɤres stand Bulgarian bz bɤz elderflower Chinese Mandarin 餓 e ɤ hungry English Cape Flats foot fɤt foot Possible realization of ʊ may be u or ʉ instead See South African English phonologySouth African Possible realization of ʊ may be a weakly rounded ʊ instead See South African English phonologyGeordie Usual realization of ʊ See Geordie phonologyBirmingham and The Black Country Corresponds to ʊ in most other dialects Estonian korv kɤrv ear Can be close mid central ɘ or close back ɯ instead depending on the speaker See Estonian phonologyGayo kule kuˈlɤː tiger Close mid or mid one of the possible allophones of e Iaai loo lɤː banana leaf Irish Ulster Uladh ɤl ˠu Ulster See Irish phonologyKaingang mo ˈᵐbɤ tail Varies between back ɤ and central ɘ Korean Gyeongsang dialect 거기 geogi ˈkɤ ɡɪ there See Korean phonologyMarathi मत mɤːt opinion See Marathi phonologyNorthern Tiwa Taos dialect manpeuman ˌma ˑˈpɤ u ma it was squeezed May be central ɘ instead See Taos phonologySamogitian olgs ˈɤːl ˠgs long May be central ɘ instead Scottish Gaelic doirbh d ɤɾʲɤv difficult See Scottish Gaelic phonologyRusyn Lemko variety chasy t ɕaˈsɤ times Used only in place of etymological praslavic sound yPresov varietySubcarpathian varietyThai ethx thoe tʰɤː you Yaqay khoro xɤrɤ frog Uncommon pronunciation of o See alsoIndex of phonetics articlesNotesWhile the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms close and open for vowel height many linguists use high and low Such as Booij 1999 and Nowikow 2012 International Phonetic Association 1912 The principles of the International Phonetic Association Paris Association Phonetique Internationale pp 10 Nicholas Nick 2003 Greek derived IPA symbols Greek Unicode Issues University of California Irvine Archived from the original on 2013 12 19 Retrieved 2013 12 18 Miller Kirk Ashby Michael 2020 11 08 L2 20 252R Unicode request for IPA modifier letters a pulmonic PDF van den Heuvel 2006 p 26 Finn 2004 p 970 Mesthrie 2004 p 956 Trudgill P Chambers J 1998 Dialectology p 110 doi 10 1017 CBO9780511805103 ISBN 978 0 521 59378 6 Asu amp Teras 2009 p 369 Eades amp Hajek 2006 p 111 Maddieson amp Anderson 1994 p 164 Ni Chasaide 1999 114 115 Jolkesky 2009 pp 676 677 682 Jolkesky 2009 pp 676 682 Fonetika Rusinska Vebkniga 2016 06 02 Archived from the original on 2016 06 02 Retrieved 2021 12 19 Tingsabadh amp Abramson 1993 p 25 ReferencesAsu Eva Liina Teras Pire 2009 Estonian Journal of the International Phonetic Association 39 3 367 372 doi 10 1017 s002510030999017x Booij Geert 1999 The phonology of Dutch Oxford University Press ISBN 0 19 823869 X Eades Domenyk Hajek John 2006 Gayo Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 1 107 115 doi 10 1017 S0025100306002416 Finn Peter 2004 Cape Flats 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 934 984 ISBN 3 11 017532 0 van den Heuvel Wilco 2006 Biak Description of an Austronesian language of Papua Ph D thesis Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam hdl 1871 10282 Jolkesky Marcelo Pinho de Valhery 2009 Fonologia e prosodia do Kaingang falado em Cacique Doble Anais do SETA 3 Campinas Editora do IEL UNICAMP 675 685 Mesthrie Rajend 2004 Indian 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 953 963 ISBN 3 11 017532 0 Maddieson Ian Anderson Victoria 1994 Phonemic Structures of Iaai PDF UCLA Working Papers in Phonetics 87 Fieldwork Studies of Targeted Languages II Los Angeles UCLA 163 182 Ni Chasaide Ailbhe 1999 Irish Handbook of the International Phonetic Association Cambridge University Press pp 111 16 ISBN 0 521 63751 1 Nowikow Wieczyslaw 2012 First published 1992 Fonetyka hiszpanska 3rd ed Warsaw Wydawnictwo Naukowe PWN ISBN 978 83 01 16856 8 Tingsabadh M R Kalaya Abramson Arthur S 1993 Thai Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 1 24 28 doi 10 1017 S0025100300004746 S2CID 242001518 External linksList of languages with ɤ on PHOIBLE
