Close-mid central unrounded vowel Close-mid central unrounded vowel The close-mid central unrounded vowel, or high-mid central 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 . This is a mirrored letter e, and should not be confused with the schwa , which is a turned e. It was added to the IPA in 1993; before that, this vowel was transcribed (Latin small letter e with umlaut, not Cyrillic small letter yo). Certain older sources transcribe this vowel . The letter may be used with a lowering diacritic ,
Near-close back rounded vowel compression) or ( modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic may also be used with a rounded vowel letter as an "ad hoc" symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded. Only the Shanghainese dialect is known to contrast this with the more typical "protruded" (endolabial) near-close back vowel, although the height of both of these vowels varies from close to close-mid. The fully back variant of the near-close compressed vowel can be transcribed , or . Near-close back rounded vowel The near-close back rounded vowel, or near-high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some vocal languages.