IPA [ɛj̃]
AS [eĩ̯]
positional variant (does not occur in isolation)
Based on Maciołek & Tambor (2012)
Orthographic <ę> is realized as a open-mid front unrounded palatal nasal diphthong [ɛj̃] in front of palatal fricatives:
[ɛ] Open-mid front unrounded oral vowel. During the articulation:
- the center of the tongue moves upward and forward,
- the lower teeth stay away from the upper teeth but a closer than with [a],
- the lips are slightly spread to the sides,
- the soft palate lies not very tightly against the back of the pharynx.
[j̃]
Voiced: the vocal folds are in contact, the air coming from the lungs causes them to vibrate.
Palatal: the middle of the tongue gets close to the hard palate in the highest part of its vault.
Nasal approximant: the articulators get closer than with vowels but less than with fricatives. The soft palate moves away from the back of the pharyngeal cavity and enables the free flow of air through the nasal cavity and out.
