Near-close central unrounded vowel

The near-close central unrounded vowel, or near-high central unrounded vowel, is a vowel sound used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Alphabet can represent this sound in a number of ways (see the box on the right), but the most common symbols are $\langle\rangle$ (centralized ) and $\langle\rangle$ (lowered ). In many British dictionaries, this vowel has been transcribed $\langle\rangle$, which captures its height; in the American tradition it is more often $\langle\rangle$, which captures its centrality, or $\langle\rangle$, which captures both. The third edition of the OED adopted an unofficial extension of the IPA, $\langle\rangle$, that is a conflation of $\langle\rangle$ and $\langle\rangle$, and represents either or free variation between  and.

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority in the USA, prefer the terms "high" and "low".