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The 'close front unrounded vowel' is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is i.
The vowel is very common, occurring phonemically in almost all languages with three or more vowels.

Contents

Features

Occurrence

Features

★ Its vowel height is close, which means 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.

★ 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 spread.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Abkhaz		ажьырныҳәа		'January'	See Abkhaz phonology
Afrikaans		''dank'ie'''		'thank you'
Albanian		''mal'i'''		'the mountain'
Arabic		دين		'debt'	See Arabic phonology
Armenian		'ի'ն		'my'
Azerbaijani		''d'i'l'i'''		'tree'
Basque		''b'i'zar''		'beard'
Bengali		?	align="center"	align="center"| 'I'
Burmese		?		'I am eating now'
Cantonese		?/''s'oe'ng2''		'to want'	See Standard Cantonese
Catalan		''s'i's''		'six'	See Catalan phonology
Chickasaw		''lh'i'nko''		'to be fat'
Croatian		''v'i'no''		'wine'
Czech		''b'í'l'ý'''		'white'	See Czech phonology
Dahalo				'fat'
Danish		?		'car driver'	See Danish phonology
Dutch		''b'ie't''		'beet'	See Dutch phonology
English		''b'ee't''		'beet'	See English phonology
Estonian		''t'ii'k''		'pond'
Faroese		'''i'l''		'sole'
Finnish		''v'ii's'i'''		'five'	See Finnish phonology
French		''f'i'n'i'''		'finished'	See French phonology
German		''Z'ie'l''		'goal'	See German phonology
Greek		'υ'γ'ιει'ν'ή'		'hygiene'	Also represented by <οι> and <υι>. See Modern Greek phonology
Guaraní		''ha’ukur'i'''		'Guaraní'
Haida		''g'ii'''		'?'
Hawaiian		''aoh'e'''		'no'	See Hawaiian phonology
Hungarian		'''í'v''		'arch'	See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic		''l'í'ka''		'also'
Indonesian		'''i'n'i'''		'this'
Irish		''s'í'''		'she'	See Irish phonology
Italian		''qu'i'''		'here'	See Italian phonology
Japanese		銀/''g'i'n''		'silver'	See Japanese phonology
Korean		시장/''s'i'jang''		'hunter'
Kurdish		''z'î'ndu''		'alive'
Macedonian		јаз'и'к		'tongue'
Maltese		''b'ie'b''		'door'
Mandarin		北京/''Běij'ī'ng''		'Beijing'	See Standard Mandarin
Navajo				'his cactus'
Norwegian		'''i's''		'ice'	See Norwegian phonology
Occitan	Northern and Southern	''m'i'ralhar''		'to reflect'
	Gascon	''pol'i'da''		'pretty'
Persian		کی		'who'	See Persian phonology
Pirahã		''baíx'i'''		'parent'
Polish		'''i'''		'and'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese		''l'i'''		'I read'	See Portuguese phonology
Quechua		''all'i'n''		'good'
Romanian		'''i'nsulă''		'island'	See Romanian phonology
Russian		л'и'ст		'list'	Only occurs word-initially or after palatalized consonants. See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic		''ch'ì'''		'shall see'
Serbian		м'и'л'и'на/''m'i'l'i'na''		'enjoyment'
Seri		''cm'ii'que''		'person'
Sindhi		سنڌي	align="center"	align="center"| 'Sindhi'
Sioux	Lakota[1][2]			'it's brown'
Slovak		''chlap'i'''		'men'
Spanish		''t'i'po''		'type'	May also be represented by . See Spanish phonology
Swahili		''m'i't'i'''	]]	'trees'
Swedish		'''i's''		'ice'	See Swedish phonology
Tagalog		''s'i'lya''		'chair'
Tajik		бин'ӣ'		'nose'
Turkish		'''i'p''		'rope'
Ubykh				'heart'	Allophone of after palatalized consonants. See Ubykh phonology
Vietnamese		''t'y'''		'bureau'	See Vietnamese phonology
Võro		''kirotas''		'he writes'
Welsh		''h'i'r''		'December'
Zulu		''umuz'i'''		'village'