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, .
Features
Occurrence Language Word IPA Meaning NotesAkan (Twi)ɛyɛ'it is good/fine'See Akan phonology Arabic Quranic /atāhum 'he came to them' /aː/ in Modern Standard Arabic. See Arabic phonology Armenian Eastern /ēj 'page' Bavarian Amstetten dialect, cited in Typically transcribed in IPA with . Bengali /bêṅ 'frog' Also pronounced as . See Bengali phonology BretonMikael Madeg, Traité de prononciation du breton du Nord-Ouest à l’usage des bretonnants, Emgleo Breiz, Brest, 2010 gwenn [ˈɡwɛnː] 'white' ɛ Bulgarian /pet 'five' See Bulgarian phonology Catalan Central 'dry' Standard Central Catalan pronunciation of historical (found in most Western dialects). Corresponds to a mid central vowel in the Balearic subdialects, except Ibizan and partially Menorcan. See Catalan phonology Most dialects 'seven' Lower () and/or retracted () in Valencian and some Balearic subdialects. See Catalan phonology Some North-Western speakers 'water' Pronunciation of the final unstressed , typically associated with the province of Lleida. See Catalan phonology Chinese Cantonese / 'clogs' See Cantonese phonology Mandarin / 'sky'Height varies between mid and mid-open depending on the speaker. See Standard Chinese phonologyChuvashҫепĕҫ/şepĕş[ˈɕɛp̬ɘɕ]'gentle, tender' Czech 'ice' See Czech phonology Danish Standard 'fresh' Most often transcribed in IPA with . See Danish phonology Dutch Standard 'bed' See Dutch phonology The Hague 'you' Corresponds to in standard Dutch. English General American bed 'bed' Northern England May be somewhat lowered. Received Pronunciation Older RP speakers pronounce a closer vowel . See English phonologyYounger General Australian speakersRealization of /e/ due to an ongoing short-front vowel chain shift. See Australian English phonology Scottish Cockney fat 'fat' Singaporean New Zealand See New Zealand English phonologyBroad AustralianRealization of /æ/. General Australian speakers realize this vowel as or . See Australian English phonology Some BroadSouth African speakers Other speakers realize this vowel as or . See South African English phonology Belfast days 'days' Pronounced in closed syllables; corresponds to in RP. Zulu mate 'mate' Speakers exhibit the met–mate merger. Faroese 'greedy' See Faroese phonology French 'seven' See French phonology Galician 'iron' See Galician phonology Georgian /gedi 'swan' German Standard 'bed' Also described as mid . See Standard German phonology Franconian accent 'or' Used instead of . See Standard German phonology Coastal Northern accents Swabian accent 'fat' Contrasts with the close-mid . See Standard German phonology Western Swiss accents 'lake' Close-mid in other accents; contrasts with the near-open . See Standard German phonologyHebrew Tiberian / 'land'/e̞/ in Modern Israeli Hebrew. See Tiberian Hebrew phonology and Modern Hebrew phonology Hindustani Hindi–Urdu ख़ैरियत–خیریت / 'well-being' See Hindustani phonology.Hungarianlesz[ˈlɛsː]'will be'Allophone of [æ]. Italian 'good' See Italian phonology Indonesian bebek 'duck' See Indonesian phonology Kaingang mbre 'with' Korean / 'cicada' Merged with /e/ for many speakers. See Korean phonologyKurdishKurmanji (Northern)'seventeen'See Kurdish phonologySorani (Central)/hevdePehlewî (Southern) Limburgish 'cream' The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect. Lithuanian 'throw' See Lithuanian phonology Lower Sorbian 'sickle' Luxembourgish 'star' Allophone of before . See Luxembourgish phonologyMacedonian Standard /med 'honey' See Macedonian language § VowelsMalayStandardpaling'most'Possible realisation of and in closed final syllables. See Malay phonologyNegeri Sembilancepat'quick'See Negeri Sembilan Malaykarpet'carpet'Kelatan-Pattaniayam'chicken'See Kelatan-PattaniTerengganubiasa'normal'See Terengganu MalayPerakmata'eye'See Perak Malaykero'crab' Norman Jersey affaûrder 'to afford' Norwegian Sognamål 'plague' See Norwegian phonology Occitan 'Greek' See Occitan phonology Polish 'this one' (nom. m.) See Polish phonology Portuguese Most dialectsVariação inter- e intra-dialetal no português brasileiro: um problema para a teoria fonológica – Seung-Hwa LEE & Marco A. de Oliveira 'foot' Stressed vowel might be lower . The presence and use of other unstressed ⟨e⟩ allophones, such as , varies according to dialect. Some speakersLista das marcas dialetais e ouros fenómenos de variação (fonética e fonológica) identificados nas amostras do Arquivo Dialetal do CLUP 'time' Timbre differences for nasalized vowels are mainly kept in European Portuguese. See Portuguese phonology Romanian Transylvanian dialects '(he) sees' Corresponds to mid in standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology Russian /eto 'this' See Russian phonology Shiwiar Allophone of . Slovene 'throw' (n.) See Slovene phonology Spanish Eastern Andalusian 'the mothers' Corresponds to in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology MurcianSwahilishule[ʃulɛ]'school' Swedish Central Standard 'eat' (imp.) Somewhat retracted. See Swedish phonologyTagalog 'fake' See Tagalog phonologyTelugu చేప/cēa [tʃɛːa]'Fish'మేక/mēka [mɛːka]'Goat' Thai / trae 'horn (instrument)' Turkish 'country' Allophone of described variously as "word-final" and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase". See Turkish phonology Ukrainian /den' 'day' See Ukrainian phonology Upper Sorbian 'calf' Welshnesaf[nɛsav]'next'See Welsh phonology West Frisian 'grandma' See West Frisian phonologyYiddish / 'Elul'See Yiddish phonology Yoruba ẹsẹ̀ 'leg'
See also Index of phonetics articles
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