Editing Close vowel

{{Short description|Class of vowel sounds}}
{{IPA vowels|class=floatright}}
{{IPA notice}}
A '''close vowel''', also known as a '''high vowel''' (in U.S. terminology<ref name="Concise Oxford Companion to the English Language">{{cite web|title=VOWEL QUALITY
|url=http://www.encyclopedia.com/humanities/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/vowel-quality|publisher=Oxford University Press|access-date=20 April 2017}}</ref>), is any in a class of [[vowel]] sounds used in many spoken [[language]]s. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned approximately as close as possible to the roof of the mouth as it can be without creating a constriction. A constriction would produce a sound that would be classified as a [[consonant]].

The term "close" {{IPAc-en|'|k|l|oʊ|s}} is recommended by the [[International Phonetic Association]]. Close vowels are often referred to as "high" vowels, as in the Americanist phonetic tradition, because the tongue is positioned high in the mouth during articulation.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Ottenheimer|first=Harriet|title=The Anthropology of Language: An Introduction to Linguistic Anthropology Workbook/Reader|publisher=Cengage Learning|year=2011|isbn=9781111828851|location=Belmont, CA|pages=44}}</ref>

In the context of the [[phonology]] of any particular language, a ''high vowel'' can be any vowel that is more close than a [[mid vowel]]. That is, [[close-mid vowel]]s, [[near-close vowel]]s, and close vowels can all be considered high vowels.

==Partial list==
The six close vowels that have dedicated symbols in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] are:

* [[close front unrounded vowel]] {{IPA|[i]}}
* [[close front compressed vowel]] {{IPA|[y]}}
* [[close central unrounded vowel]] {{IPA|[ɨ]}}
* [[close central protruded vowel]] {{IPA|[ʉ]}}
* [[close back unrounded vowel]] {{IPA|[ɯ]}}
* [[close back protruded vowel]] {{IPA|[u]}}

(IPA letters for [[rounded vowels]] are ambiguous as to whether the rounding is protrusion or compression. However, transcription of the world's languages tends to pattern as above.)

There also are close vowels that do not have dedicated symbols in the IPA:
* [[close front protruded vowel]] {{IPA|[ʉ̟] (yʷ)}}
* [[close central compressed vowel]] {{IPA|[ÿ] (ɏ)}}
* [[close back compressed vowel]] {{IPA|[ɯᵝ] (u͍)}}

Other close vowels can be indicated with diacritics of [[relative articulation]] applied to letters for neighboring vowels, such as {{angbr IPA|i̠}} or {{angbr IPA|ɪ̝}} for a close near-front unrounded vowel.

==See also==
* [[Open vowel]]

== References ==
{{Reflist}}

{{IPA navigation}}

[[Category:Vowels by height]]