Open-mid front unrounded vowel

Open-mid front unrounded vowel

The open-mid front unrounded vowel, or low-mid front unrounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is the Latin epsilon, a Latinized variant of the Greek lowercase epsilon, ⟨ɛ⟩.

Features

Open-mid front unrounded vowel

• Its vowel height is open-mid, also known as low-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between an open vowel (a low vowel) and a mid 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. • It is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurrence

Open-mid front unrounded vowel

<table><thead><tr><th>Language</th><th>Word</th><th>IPA</th><th>Meaning</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Akan (Twi)</td><td>ɛyɛ</td><td>[ɛjɛ]</td><td>'it is good/fine'</td><td>See Akan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Arabic</td><td>Quranic</td><td>اَتٰىهُمْ/atāhum</td><td>[atɛːhum]</td><td>'he came to them'</td><td>/aː/ in Modern Standard Arabic. See Arabic phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Armenian</td><td>Eastern</td><td>էջ/ēj</td><td>[ɛd͡ʒ]</td><td>'page'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bavarian</td><td>Amstetten dialect</td><td></td><td>Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨æ⟩.</td></tr><tr><td>Bengali</td><td>ব্যাঙ/bêṅ</td><td>[bɛŋ]</td><td>'frog'</td><td>Also pronounced as /æ/. See Bengali phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Breton</td><td>gwenn</td><td>[ˈɡwɛnː]</td><td>'white'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Bulgarian</td><td>пет/pet</td><td>[pɛt̪]</td><td>'five'</td><td>See Bulgarian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Catalan</td><td>set</td><td>[ˈsɛt]</td><td>'seven'</td><td>See Catalan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Chinese</td><td>Mandarin</td><td>天 / tiān</td><td></td><td>'sky'</td><td>Height varies between mid and open depending on the speaker. See Standard Chinese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Chuvash</td><td>ҫепĕҫ</td><td>[ˈɕɛp̬ɘɕ]</td><td>'gentle, tender'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Czech</td><td>led</td><td>[lɛt]</td><td>'ice'</td><td>In Bohemian Czech, this vowel varies between open-mid front [ɛ], open-mid near-front [ɛ̠] and mid near-front [ɛ̝̈]. See Czech phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Danish</td><td>Standard</td><td>frisk</td><td>[ˈfʁɛsk]</td><td>'fresh'</td><td>Most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨æ⟩. See Danish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Dutch</td><td>Standard</td><td>bed</td><td></td><td>'bed'</td><td>See Dutch phonology</td></tr><tr><td>The Hague</td><td>jij</td><td></td><td>'you'</td><td>Corresponds to [ɛi] in standard Dutch.</td></tr><tr><td>English</td><td>General American</td><td>bed</td><td></td><td>'bed'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Northern England</td><td>May be somewhat lowered.</td></tr><tr><td>Received Pronunciation</td><td>Older RP speakers pronounce a closer vowel [e̞]. See English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Younger General Australian speakers</td><td>Realization of /e/ due to an ongoing short-front vowel chain shift. See Australian English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Scottish</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Cockney</td><td>fat</td><td>[fɛt]</td><td>'fat'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Singaporean</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>New Zealand</td><td>See New Zealand English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Broad Australian</td><td>Realization of /æ/. General Australian speakers realize this vowel as [æ] or [a]. See Australian English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Some Broad South African speakers</td><td>Other speakers realize this vowel as [æ] or [a]. See South African English phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Belfast</td><td>days</td><td>[dɛːz]</td><td>'days'</td><td>Pronounced [iə] in closed syllables; corresponds to [eɪ] in RP.</td></tr><tr><td>Zulu</td><td>mate</td><td>[mɛt]</td><td>'mate'</td><td>Speakers exhibit the met–mate merger.</td></tr><tr><td>Faroese</td><td>frekt</td><td>[fɹɛʰkt]</td><td>'greedy'</td><td>See Faroese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>French</td><td>bête</td><td></td><td>'beast'</td><td>See French phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Galician</td><td>ferro</td><td>[ˈfɛro̝]</td><td>'iron'</td><td>See Galician phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Georgian</td><td>გედი/gedi</td><td>[ɡɛdi]</td><td>'swan'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>German</td><td>Standard</td><td>Bett</td><td></td><td>'bed'</td><td>Also described as mid [ɛ̝]. See Standard German phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Franconian accent</td><td>oder</td><td>[ˈoːdɛ]</td><td>'or'</td><td>Used instead of [ɐ]. See Standard German phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Coastal Northern accents</td></tr><tr><td>Swabian accent</td><td>fett</td><td>[fɛt]</td><td>'fat'</td><td>Contrasts with the close-mid [e]. See Standard German phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Western Swiss accents</td><td>See</td><td>[z̥ɛː]</td><td>'lake'</td><td>Close-mid [eː] in other accents; contrasts with the near-open [æː]. See Standard German phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Hindustani</td><td>Hindi–Urdu</td><td>ख़ैरियत–خیریت / khairiyat</td><td>[xɛːɾɪjət̪]</td><td>'well-being'</td><td>See Hindustani phonology.</td></tr><tr><td>Hungarian</td><td>lesz</td><td>[ˈlɛsː]</td><td>'will be'</td><td>Allophone of [æ].</td></tr><tr><td>Italian</td><td>bene</td><td></td><td>'good'</td><td>See Italian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Kaingang</td><td>mbre</td><td>[ˈᵐbɾɛ]</td><td>'with'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Korean</td><td>매미 / maemi</td><td>[mɛːmi]</td><td>'cicada'</td><td>Merged with /e/ for many speakers. See Korean phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Kurdish</td><td>Kurmanji (Northern)</td><td>hevde</td><td>[hɛvdɛ]</td><td>'seventeen'</td><td>See Kurdish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Sorani (Central)</td><td>هه‌ڤده/hevde</td><td>[hɛvdæ]</td></tr><tr><td>Pehlewî (Southern)</td><td>[hɛvdæ]</td></tr><tr><td>Limburgish</td><td>crème</td><td>[kʀ̝ɛːm]</td><td>'cream'</td><td>The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.</td></tr><tr><td>Lithuanian</td><td>mesti</td><td>[mɛs̪t̪ɪ]</td><td>'throw'</td><td>See Lithuanian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Lower Sorbian</td><td>serp</td><td>[s̪ɛrp]</td><td>'sickle'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Luxembourgish</td><td>Stär</td><td>[ʃtɛːɐ̯]</td><td>'star'</td><td>Allophone of /eː/ before /ʀ/. See Luxembourgish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Macedonian</td><td>Standard</td><td>мед/med</td><td>[ˈmɛd̪]</td><td>'honey'</td><td>See Macedonian language § Vowels</td></tr><tr><td>Malay</td><td>Standard</td><td>paling</td><td>[pälɛŋ]</td><td>'most'</td><td>Possible realisation of /i/ and /e/ in closed final syllables. See Malay phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Negeri Sembilan</td><td>cepat</td><td>[cɔpɛʔ]</td><td>'quick'</td><td>See Negeri Sembilan Malay</td></tr><tr><td>karpet</td><td>[käpɛʔ]</td><td>'carpet'</td></tr><tr><td>Kelatan-Pattani</td><td>ayam</td><td>[äjɛː]</td><td>'chicken'</td><td>See Kelatan-Pattani</td></tr><tr><td>Terengganu</td><td>biasa</td><td>[bɛsə]</td><td>'normal'</td><td>See Terengganu Malay</td></tr><tr><td>Perak</td><td>mata</td><td>[matɛ]</td><td>'eye'</td><td>See Perak Malay</td></tr><tr><td>kero</td><td>[kɛro̞]</td><td>'crab'</td></tr><tr><td>Norman</td><td>Jersey</td><td>affaûrder</td><td>[afɔrˈdɛ]</td><td>'to afford'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Norwegian</td><td>Sognamål</td><td>pest</td><td>[pʰɛst]</td><td>'plague'</td><td>See Norwegian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Occitan</td><td>grèga</td><td>[ˈɣɾɛɣɔ]</td><td>'Greek'</td><td>See Occitan phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Polish</td><td>ten</td><td></td><td>'this one' (nom. m.)</td><td>See Polish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Portuguese</td><td>Most dialects</td><td>pé</td><td>[ˈpɛ]</td><td>'foot'</td><td>Stressed vowel might be lower [æ]. The presence and use of other unstressed ⟨e⟩ allophones, such as [e̞ e ɪ i ɨ], varies according to dialect.</td></tr><tr><td>Some speakers</td><td>tempo</td><td>[ˈt̪ɛ̃mpu]</td><td>'time'</td><td>Timbre differences for nasalized vowels are mainly kept in European Portuguese. See Portuguese phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Romanian</td><td>Transylvanian dialects</td><td>vede</td><td>[ˈvɛɟe]</td><td>'(he) sees'</td><td>Corresponds to mid [e̞] in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Russian</td><td>это/eto</td><td></td><td>'this'</td><td>See Russian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Shiwiar</td><td></td><td></td><td></td><td>Allophone of /a/.</td></tr><tr><td>Slovene</td><td>met</td><td>[mɛ́t]</td><td>'throw' (n.)</td><td>See Slovene phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Spanish</td><td>Eastern Andalusian</td><td>las madres</td><td>[læ̞ː ˈmæ̞ːð̞ɾɛː]</td><td>'the mothers'</td><td>Corresponds to [e̞] in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Murcian</td></tr><tr><td>Swahili</td><td>shule</td><td>[ʃulɛ]</td><td>'school'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Swedish</td><td>Central Standard</td><td>ät</td><td>[ɛ̠ːt̪]</td><td>'eat' (imp.)</td><td>Somewhat retracted. See Swedish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Tagalog</td><td>peke</td><td>[ˈpɛxɛʔ]</td><td>'fake'</td><td>See Tagalog phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Telugu</td><td>చేప</td><td>[tʃɛːa]</td><td>'Fish'</td></tr><tr><td>మేక</td><td>[mɛːka]</td><td>'Goat'</td></tr><tr><td>Thai</td><td>แตร / trae</td><td>[trɛː˧]</td><td>'horn (instrument)'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Turkish</td><td>ülke</td><td>[y̠l̠ˈkɛ]</td><td>'country'</td><td>Allophone of /e/ described variously as "word-final" and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase". See Turkish phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Ukrainian</td><td>день/den'</td><td>[dɛnʲ]</td><td>'day'</td><td>See Ukrainian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Upper Sorbian</td><td>čelo</td><td>[ˈt͡ʃɛlɔ]</td><td>'calf'</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>Welsh</td><td>nesaf</td><td>[nɛsav]</td><td>'next'</td><td>See Welsh phonology</td></tr><tr><td>West Frisian</td><td>beppe</td><td>[ˈbɛpə]</td><td>'grandma'</td><td>See West Frisian phonology</td></tr><tr><td>Yoruba</td><td>ẹsẹ̀</td><td>[ɛ̄sɛ]</td><td>'leg'</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>