NEAR-FRONT VOWEL

A 'near-front vowel' is a type of vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a near-front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as in a front vowel, but slightly further back in the mouth. The near-front vowels identified by the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

★ near-close near-front unrounded vowel

★ near-close near-front rounded vowel