Close-mid back unrounded vowel

The close-mid back unrounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. Its symbol in X-SAMPA is 7, and its equivalent in the International Phonetic Alphabet is ɤ. The latter symbol is not to be confused with the small Greek letter gamma (γ); gamma has a descender, which in the IPA corresponds to the voiced velar fricative. The symbol ɤ used for this vowel is called "ram's horns".

Features of this vowel:

• Its vowel height is close-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between close vowel and a mid vowel.
• Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth 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:

• Estonian mõni [ˈmɤni] 'some'
• Chinese, 窠 (pinyin kē) [kʰɤ˥] 'nest'