Near-close near-back vowel
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| Near‑close | |||||
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represents a rounded vowel.
| IPA – number | 321 |
| IPA – text | ʊ |
| IPA – image |  |
| Entity | ʊ |
| X-SAMPA | U |
| Kirshenbaum | U |
| Sound sample | |
|---|---|
Contents |
[edit] 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 turned capital Ω; 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 of this vowel, so the IPA symbol has not devised separate symbols.
[edit] 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.
[edit] Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | hook | [hʊ̜k] | 'hook' | May be only slightly rounded. See English phonology |
| Faroese | hvalur | [kvɛalʊɹ] | 'whale' | |
| French (Quebec) | foule | [fʊl] | 'crowd' | See French phonology |
| German | Schutz | [ʃʊts] | 'protection' | See German phonology |
| Russian | сухой | [sʊˈxo̞j] | 'dry' | See Russian phonology |
| Swedish | ort | [ʊʈ] | '(geographic) place' | See Swedish phonology |
[edit] 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.
[edit] Near-close near-back unrounded vowel
The near-close near-back unrounded vowel may be transcribed with the symbol for a close back unrounded vowel with the mid-centralizing diacritic, [ɯ̽].
[edit] 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 unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.
[edit] Occurs in
- European Portuguese: pegar [pɯ̽ˈgaɾ], 'to hold'. The unstressed e of European Portuguese is sometimes transcribed as [ə], even though it is not a mid central unrounded vowel. Nevertheless, it is a schwa in the broad sense of being 'an unstressed and toneless neutral vowel'.
