Near-close near-back rounded vowel

From Open Encyclopedia

Vowels

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Front

N.-front

Central

N.-back

Back

Close

Image:Blank vowel trapezoid.png

i • y

ɨ • ʉ

ɯ • u

ɪ • ʏ

• ʊ

e • ø

ɘ • ɵ

ɤ • o

ɛ • œ

ɜ • ɞ

ʌ • ɔ

a • ɶ

ɑ • ɒ

Near-close

Close-mid

Mid

Open-mid

Near-open

Open

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right
represents a rounded vowel.

Sound sample (help·info)
IPA – number	321
IPA – text	ʊ
IPA – image	Image:Xsampa-U2.png
entity	ʊ
X-SAMPA	`U`
Kirshenbaum	`U`

1 Near-close near-back rounded vowel
2 Near-close near-back unrounded vowel
- 2.1 Features
- 2.2 Occurs in

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Near-close near-back rounded vowel

The near-close near-back rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ʊ. This derives from a small capital U; although officially called a small Latin letter upsilon, it bears little resemblance to the Greek upsilon and is informally called "horseshoe u" instead.

Some languages may have a near-close near-back unrounded vowel (see below). However, no language is known to contrast rounding this place of articulation, so the IPA symbol has not devised separate symbols.

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Features

Its vowel height is near-close, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted.
Its vowel backness is near-back, which means the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth.
Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded. However, no language is known to contrast rounding this place of articulation, so the IPA symbol has not devised separate symbols.

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Occurs in

English: hook [hʊk]. (May be only slightly rounded, [ʊ̜], in many varieties of English)
Faroese: hvalur [kvɛalʊɹ], 'whale'.
German: Schutz [ʃʊts], 'protection'
Swedish: ort Image:Loudspeaker.png [ʊʈ], '(geographic) place'

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History

Prior to 1989, there was an alternate IPA symbol for this sound, ɷ, called "closed omega". This symbol is no longer supported by the IPA.

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Near-close near-back unrounded vowel

A near-close near-back unrounded vowel may be transcribed as a close back unrounded vowel with the mid-centralizing diacritic, [ɯ̽].

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Features

Its vowel height is near-open, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted.
Its vowel backness is near-back, which means the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth.
Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

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