Editing Chechen language (section)

===Vowels===
Unlike most other languages of the Caucasus, Chechen has an extensive inventory of [[vowel]] sounds, putting its range higher than most languages of Europe (most vowels being the product of environmentally conditioned allophonic variation, which varies by both dialect and method of analysis). Many of the vowels are due to [[I-mutation|umlaut]], which is highly productive in the standard dialect. None of the spelling systems used so far have distinguished the vowels with complete accuracy.

{| class="wikitable"
! rowspan="2" |
! colspan="2" |[[Front vowel|Front]]
! rowspan="2" |[[back vowel|Back]]~<br />[[central vowel|Central]]
|-
![[unrounded vowel|<small>unrounded</small>]]
![[rounded vowel|<small>rounded</small>]]
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[High vowel|High]]
|{{IPA link|ɪ}} {{IPA link|iː}}
|{{IPA link|y}} {{IPA link|yː}}
|{{IPA link|ʊ}} {{IPA link|uː}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[Mid vowel|Mid]]
|{{IPA link|e̞}} {{IPA link|e̞ː}}
|{{IPA link|ø}} {{IPA link|øː}}
|{{IPA link|o̞}} {{IPA link|o̞ː}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[Low vowel|Low]]
|({{IPA link|æ}}) ({{IPA link|æː}})
|
| {{IPA link|ə}} {{IPA link|ɑː}}
|- style="text-align:center;"
![[Diphthong]]
|{{IPA|je}} {{IPA|ie}}
|{{IPA|ɥø}} {{IPA|yø}}
|{{IPA|wo}} {{IPA|uo}}
|}

All vowels may be [[Nasalization|nasalized]]. Nasalization is imposed by the [[Genitive case|genitive]], [[infinitive]], and for some speakers the [[nominative case]] of [[adjective]]s. Nasalization is not strong, but it is audible even in final vowels, which are devoiced.

Some of the [[diphthong]]s have significant [[Allophone|allophony]]: {{IPA|/ɥø/}} = {{IPA|[ɥø], [ɥe], [we]}}; {{IPA|/yø/}} = {{IPA|[yø], [ye]}}; {{IPA|/uo/}} = {{IPA|[woː], [uə]}}.

In [[closed syllable]]s, [[long vowel]]s become short in most dialects (not [[Kist people|Kisti]]), but are often still distinct from short vowels (shortened {{IPA|[i]}}, {{IPA|[u]}}, {{IPA|[ɔ]}} and {{IPA|[ɑ̈]}} vs. short {{IPA|[ɪ]}}, {{IPA|[ʊ]}}, {{IPA|[o]}}, and {{IPA|[ə]}}, for example), although which ones remain distinct depends on the dialect.

{{IPA|/æ/, /æː/}} and {{IPA|/e/, /eː/}} are in [[complementary distribution]] ({{IPA|/æ/}} occurs after [[pharyngealization|pharyngealized]] consonants, whereas {{IPA|/e/}} does not and {{IPA|/æː/}}—identical with {{IPA|/æ/}} for most speakers—occurs in closed syllables, while {{IPA|/eː/}} does not) but speakers strongly feel that they are distinct sounds.

[[Pharyngealization]] appears to be a feature of the consonants, though some analyses treat it as a feature of the vowels. However, [[Johanna Nichols|Nichols]] argues that this does not capture the situation in Chechen well, whereas it is more clearly a feature of the vowel in [[Ingush language|Ingush]]: Chechen {{IPA|[tsʜaʔ]}} "one", Ingush {{IPA|[tsaʔˤ]}}, which she analyzes as {{IPA|/tsˤaʔ/}} and {{IPA|/tsaˤʔ/}}. Vowels have a delayed [[breathy voice|murmured]] onset after pharyngealized voiced consonants and a noisy [[aspiration (phonetics)|aspirated]] onset after pharyngealized voiceless consonants. The high vowels {{IPA|/i/, /y/, /u/}} are diphthongized, {{IPA|[əi], [əy], [əu]}}, whereas the [[diphthong]]s {{IPA|/je/, /wo/}} undergo [[Metathesis (linguistics)|metathesis]], {{IPA|[ej], [ow]}}.