Front
Near- front
Central
Near- back
Back
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open
Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right
represents a rounded vowel.
IPA – number
308
IPA – text
u
Entity
u
X-SAMPA
u
Kirshenbaum
u
Sound sample (help·info)
The close 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 u, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.
In most languages this vowel is exolabial (with pursed lips). However, in a few cases it is endolabial (compressed).
Exolabial (pursed)
In most languages, closed back rounded vowels are pronounced with pursed lips.
Features
- Its vowel height is close, which means the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its roundedness is exolabial, which means that the lips are pursed and protrude, with the inner surfaces exposed.
Occurrence
Language
Word
IPA
Meaning
Notes
Arabic
Standard
جنوب
[ʒɑnuːb]
'south'
See Arabic phonology
Catalan[1]
suc
[suk]
'juice'
See Catalan phonology
Chinese
Cantonese
菇/gu1
[guː]
'mushroom'
See Standard Cantonese
Mandarin
哭/kū
[ku˥]
'to cry'
See Standard Mandarin
Croatian
u
[u]
'in'
Dutch
voet
[vuːt]
'foot'
See Dutch phonology
English
GA
boot
[bu̟ːˀt]
'boot'
Typically more front than cardinal [u]. See English phonology
RP[2]
Faroese
ur
[uːr]
'(wrist-)watch'
Finnish
kukka
[ˈkukːɑ]
'flower'
See Finnish phonology
French[3]
où
[u] (help·info)
'where'
See French phonology
Georgian[4]
გუდა
[gudɑ]
'leather bag'
German
Fuß
[fuːs]
'foot'
See German phonology
Greek
ουρανός
[ˌuraˈno̞s̠]
'sky'
See Modern Greek phonology
Hebrew
תמונה
[tmuna]
'image'
Hebrew vowels are not shown in the script, see Niqqud and Hebrew phonology
Hungarian
unalmas
[unɒlmɒʃ]
'boring'
See Hungarian phonology
Irish
gasúr
[ˈgasˠuːɾˠ]
'boy'
See Irish phonology
Italian[5]
tutta
[ˈtutta]
'all' (fem.)
See Italian phonology
Norwegian
mot
[muːt]
'courage'
See Norwegian phonology
Polish[6]
buk
[buk] (help·info)
'beech tree'
Also represented by <ó>. See Polish phonology
Portuguese
European[7]
urso
[ˈuɾsu]
'bear'
See Portuguese phonology
Brazilian[8]
[ˈuɾsʊ]
Romanian
unu
[ˈunu]
'one'
See Romanian phonology
Russian[9]
узкий
[ˈuskʲɪj]
'narrow'
See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic
gu
[gu]
'to'
Serbian
жут /žut
[ʒut]
'yellow'
Slovak
u
[u]
'at'
Spanish[10]
curable
[kuˈɾable]
'curable'
See Spanish phonology
Turkish
uçak
[utʃak]
'airplane'
See Turkish phonology
Vietnamese
tu
[tū]
'to mediate'
See Vietnamese phonology
Endolabial (compressed)
Some languages, such as Japanese, are found with a close back vowel that has a distinct type of rounding, called endolabial or compressed. No language is known to contrast this with the more typical exolabial or pursed close back vowel.
Features
- Its vowel height is close, which means the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its vowel backness is back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its roundedness is endolabial, which means that the corners of the mouth are drawn slightly together and the lips are compressed horizontally, but do not protrude.
Occurrence
As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the spread-lip diacritic [ ͍ ] will be used here with the rounded vowels as an ad hoc symbol. Another possibility would be the old diacritic for labialization, [ ̫ ].
Language
Word
IPA
Meaning
Notes
Japanese
空気/kuuki
[ku͍ːki]
'air'
See Japanese phonology
Swedish
oro
[ù͍β̞ru͍β̞] (help·info)
'unease'
Contrasts with a close central and close front compressed vowel. See Swedish phonology
See also
References
