Close vowel - Definition and Overview

A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Close vowels are often referred to as high vowels because the tongue is positioned high in the mouth during the articulation of a close vowel.

The close vowels identified the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

• close front unrounded vowel [i]
• close front rounded vowel [y]
• close central unrounded vowel [ɨ]
• close central rounded vowel [ʉ]
• close back unrounded vowel [ɯ]
• close back rounded vowel [u]