Vowels are pronounced as in most other Sephardi and Mizrahi traditions. For example, there is little or no distinction between pataḥ and qamats gadol ([a]) or between segol, tsere and vocal sheva ([e]).[40] Ḥiriq is sometimes reduced to [ɪ] or [ə] in an unstressed closed syllable or near an emphatic or guttural consonant.[41]