Close-mid front unrounded vowel

The close-mid front unrounded vowel is a special sound used in many languages. It is often written with the symbol ⟨e⟩ in the International Phonetic Alphabet, a system that shows how words are pronounced. This sound is made by shaping the mouth in a certain way: the tongue is raised toward the middle of the mouth, and the lips are not rounded.

This vowel sound appears in several common words. For example, in English, the word "bed" has this sound. Other languages, like French and German, also use this sound in many words. Understanding these sounds helps people learn new languages and speak more clearly.

Learning about vowel sounds like the close-mid front unrounded vowel can be fun and useful. It helps us understand how different languages work and why words sound the way they do. If you are learning a new language, knowing these sounds can make it easier to pronounce words correctly.

Features

Spectrogram of [e]

This sound is made with the tongue halfway between a high vowel and a mid vowel. It is called a close-mid or high-mid vowel. The tongue is placed toward the front of the mouth, and the lips stay relaxed and not rounded.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning
Afrikaans	Standard	bed	[bet]	'bed'
Arabic	Standard	مَجۡر۪ىٰهَا/majrēhā	[mad͡ʒ.reː.haː]
Azerbaijani		gecə/گئجه	[ɟeˈd͡ʒæ]	'night'
Bengali		ভেজা	[bʱdʒɐ]	'wet'
Bavarian	Amstetten dialect
Breton		eget	[eˈɡet]	'than'
Catalan		séc	[ˈsek]	'fold'
Chinese	Shanghainese	该/kè	[ke̠ʔ˩]	'should'
Chuvash		эрешмен/ereşmen	[erɛʃ'mɛnʲ]	'spider'
Danish	Standard	hæl	[ˈheːˀl]	'heel'
Dutch	Belgian	vreemd	[vreːmt]	'strange'
English	Australian	bed	[bed]	'bed'
	New Zealand	bed	[bed]	'bed'
	General American	may	[meː]	'may'
	General Indian
	General Pakistani
	Geordie
	Scottish
	Singaporean
	Ulster
	Some Cardiff speakers	square	[skweː]	'square'
	Scouse	square	[skweː]	'square'
	Scottish	bit	[bë̞ʔ]	'bit'
	Cockney	bird	[bɛ̝̈ːd]	'bird'
Estonian		keha	[ˈkeɦɑ̝ˑ]	'body'
French		beauté	[bot̪e]	'beauty'
German	Standard	Seele	[ˈzeːlə]^ⓘ	'soul'
	Many speakers	Jäger	[ˈjeːɡɐ]	'hunter'
	Southern accents	Bett	[b̥et]	'bed'
	Swabian accent	Bett	[b̥et]	'bed'
Greek	Sfakian
Hebrew		כן/ken	[ke̞n]	'yes'
Hindustani	Hindi	तेज़/tez	[t̪eːz]	'fast', 'sharp'
Hindustani	Urdu	تیز/tez	[t̪eːz]	'fast', 'sharp'
Hungarian		hét	[heːt̪]	'seven'
Italian	Standard	stelle	[ˈs̪t̪elle]	'stars'
Khmer		ទុរេន / turen	[tureːn]	'durian'
Korean		메아리 / meari	[meɐɾi]	'echo'
Limburgish	Most dialects	leef	[leːf]	'dear'
Lithuanian		tėtė	[t̪eːt̪eː]	'father'
Malay	Standard	kecil	[kə.t͡ʃel]	'small'
Malay	Standard	habis	[ha.bes]	'run out'
Malayalam		ചെവി/čevi	[ȶ͡ɕeʋi]	'ear'
Marathi		एक/ek	[e:k]	'one'
Norwegian		le	[leː]	'laugh'
Mpade		faɗe	[faɗe]	'night'
Persian		سه/se	[se]	'three'
Polish		dzień	[d͡ʑeɲ̟]^ⓘ	'day'
Portuguese		mesa	[ˈmezɐ]	'table'
Romanian		umple	[ˈumple]	'to fill'
Russian		шея/šeja	[ˈʂejə]^ⓘ	'neck'
Saterland Frisian		tään	[te̠ːn]	'thin'
Slovene		sedem	[ˈsèːdəm]	'seven'
Sotho		ho jwetsa	[hʊ̠ʒʷet͡sʼɑ̈]	'to tell'
Swedish	Central Standard	se	[s̪eː]	'see'
Tahitian		vahine	[vahine]	'woman'
Tamil		செவி/čevi	[ȶ͡ɕeʋi]	'ear'
Ukrainian		ефі́рний efirný	[eˈfirnɪj]	'ethereal'
Welsh		chwech	[χweːχ]	'six'
Yoruba

In many languages, the close-mid front unrounded vowel is a common sound. This sound is often written with the letter "e". It can be found in words like "bed" in English, or "le" in French. This vowel sound is used in speaking and singing, and it helps us understand each other when we talk.

Features

Occurrence

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