The near-open 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 , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is {. The IPA symbol is the lowercase AE ligature, and both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as "ash".

Features

• Its vowel height is near-open, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to an open vowel, but slightly more constricted.
• Its vowel backness is front, which means the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
• Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurs in

• English: (RP, GA and AuE) fat
• Finnish: mäki , 'hill'
• Norwegian: lærer , 'teacher'
• Persian: , 'door'
• Vietnamese: tay , 'arm/hand'
• German: Käse , 'cheese' (some dialects)

Vowels

Ungerundeter fast offener Vorderzungenvokal | Vocal semiabierta anterior no redondeada | Voyelle basse supérieure antérieure non arrondie | 非円唇前舌狭めの広母音 | 전설 비원순 근저모음 | Vocală cvasideschisă anterioară nerotunjită