Close back rounded vowel

The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is Template:Angbr IPA, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.

In most languages, this rounded vowel is pronounced with protruded lips ('endolabial'). However, in a few cases the lips are compressed ('exolabial').

alternates with labio-velar approximant in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages, with the non-syllabic diacritic and are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.

Close back protruded vowel

The close back protruded vowel is the most common variant of the close back rounded vowel. It is typically transcribed in IPA simply as Template:Angbr IPA (the convention used in this article). As there is no dedicated IPA diacritic for protrusion, the symbol for the close back rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, Template:Angbr IPA, can be used as an ad hoc symbol Template:Angbr IPA. Another possible transcription is Template:Angbr IPA or Template:Angbr IPA (a close back vowel modified by endolabialization), but that could be misread as a diphthong.

Features

File:IPA u Sagittal Section.svg

Sagittal section of a vocal tract pronouncing Template:Angbr IPA. Note that a wavy glottis in this diagram indicates a voiced sound.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Afrikaans	StandardTemplate:Sfnp			'book'	Only weakly rounded.Template:Sfnp See Afrikaans phonology
Arabic	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	/ǧanuub		'south'	See Arabic phonology
Armenian	EasternTemplate:Sfnp	/dur		'door'
Bavarian	Amstetten dialect	und		'and'	Contrasts close , near-close Template:IPAblink, close-mid Template:IPAblink and open-mid Template:IPAblink back rounded vowels in addition to the open central unrounded Template:IPAblink.
BulgarianTemplate:Sfnp		/lud		'crazy'	See Bulgarian phonology
CatalanTemplate:Sfnp				'juice'	See Catalan phonology
Chinese	MandarinTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	/		'earth'	See Standard Chinese phonology
	CantoneseTemplate:Sfnp	/	{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Yue-fu1.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'man'	See Cantonese phonology
	ShanghaineseTemplate:Sfnp	/ku		'melon'	Height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back compressed vowel.Template:Sfnp
Chuvash		урам		'street'
Danish	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'you'	See Danish phonology
Dutch	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Nl-voet.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'foot'	Somewhat fronted in Belgian Standard Dutch.Template:Sfnp
English	AustralianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	book		'book'	Corresponds to Template:IPAblink in other accents. See Australian English phonology
	Cape FlatsTemplate:Sfnp				May be advanced to Template:IPAblink, or lowered and unrounded to Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp See South African English phonology
	Cultivated South AfricanTemplate:Sfnp	boot		'boot'	Typically more front [ʉu] than cardinal . See White South African English phonology and American English phonology.
	General AmericanTemplate:Sfnp
	GeordieTemplate:Sfnp				May be central Template:IPAblink instead.
	Irish				Realized as central Template:IPAblink in Ulster.
	Some Multicultural London speakersTemplate:Sfnp				More commonly front Template:IPAblink.
	Conservative Received PronunciationTemplate:Sfnp				Realized as central Template:IPAblink in modern RP.
	WelshTemplate:SfnpTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp
	PakistaniTemplate:Sfnp
	Greater New York City
	New ZealandTemplate:Sfnp	treacle		'treacle'	Possible realization of the unstressed vowel , which is variable in rounding and ranges from central to (more often) back and close to close-mid.Template:Sfnp Corresponds to in other accents. See New Zealand English phonology
EstonianTemplate:Sfnp				'feather' (gen. sg.)	See Estonian phonology
FinnishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'flower'	See Finnish phonology
FaroeseTemplate:Sfnp				'yellow'	See Faroese phonology
FrenchTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Où.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'where'	See French phonology
GeorgianTemplate:Sfnp		/guda		'leather bag'
German	StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp		{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "De-Fuß.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'foot'	See Standard German phonology
	Many speakersTemplate:Sfnp			'hour'	The usual realization of in Switzerland, Austria and partially also in Western and Southwestern Germany (Palatinate, Swabia).Template:Sfnp See Standard German phonology
Greek	Modern StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	/ pou		'where'	See Modern Greek phonology
HungarianTemplate:Sfnp				'way'	See Hungarian phonology
IcelandicTemplate:Sfnp				'you'	See Icelandic phonology
Indonesian	Standard Indonesian	unta	[unta]	'camel'	See Indonesian phonology
ItalianTemplate:Sfnp				'all', 'everything'	See Italian phonology
KaingangTemplate:Sfnp			[ˈndukːi]	'in the belly'
Kazakh		туған/tuğan		'native'	Transcribed phonemically as Template:Angbr IPA
Khmer		/ Template:Transliteration		'village'	See Khmer phonology
Korean		/		'snow'	See Korean phonology
KurdishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp	Kurmanji (Northern)			'wood'	See Kurdish phonology
	Sorani (Central)	/çû
	Palewani (Southern)
Latin	ClassicalTemplate:Sfnp			'pig'
LimburgishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'beautiful'	BackTemplate:Sfnp or near-back,Template:Sfnp depending on the dialect. The example word is from the Maastrichtian dialect.
Lower SorbianTemplate:Sfnp				'tooth'
LuxembourgishTemplate:Sfnp				'air'	See Luxembourgish phonology
Malay		ubat		'medicine'	See Malay phonology
Malayalam				'Salt'	See Malayalam phonology
MongolianTemplate:Sfnp		/üür		'nest'
MpadeTemplate:Sfnp				'mouse'
Nogai				'water'
Persian		دور/dur	[duɾ]	'far'	See Persian phonology
PolishTemplate:Sfnp			{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Pl-buk.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'beech tree'	Also represented orthographically by Template:Angbr. See Polish phonology
PortugueseTemplate:Sfnp				'you'	See Portuguese phonology
RomanianTemplate:Sfnp				'one'	See Romanian phonology
RussianTemplate:Sfnp		/uzkiy/uzkij	{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Ru-узкий.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'narrow'	See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic		ùbhlan		'apples'	Normal realisation of in most dialects. In Lewis and Wester Ross as an allophone in proximity to broad sonorants; elsewhere fronted to Template:IPAblink or Template:IPAblink.Template:Sfnp
Serbo-CroatianTemplate:Sfnp		/		'rainbow'	See Serbo-Croatian phonology
ShiwiarTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Example needed
SpanishTemplate:Sfnp				'curable'	See Spanish phonology
SothoTemplate:Sfnp				'fame'	Contrasts close, near-close and close-mid back rounded vowels.Template:Sfnp See Sotho phonology
Swahili			[ubongo]	'brain'
Tagalog			[ˈʔutɐŋ]	'debt'
Thai	StandardTemplate:Sfnp	ชลบุรี/chonburi	{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "th-chonburi.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'Chonburi'
TurkishTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'far'	See Turkish phonology
UdmurtTemplate:Sfnp		/urėtė		'to divide'
UkrainianTemplate:Sfnp		/rukh		'motion'	See Ukrainian phonology
Upper SorbianTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp				'beetle'
Urdu		/dur		'far'	See Urdu phonology
Welsh		mwg	[muːɡ]	'smoke'	See Welsh phonology
West Frisian		jûn	[juːn]	'evening, tonight'	See West Frisian phonology
YorubaTemplate:Sfnp		itọju	[itɔju]
Zapotec	TilquiapanTemplate:Sfnp	gdu		'all'

Close back compressed vowel

Template:Infobox IPA/core1 Some languages, such as Japanese and Swedish, have a close back vowel that has a distinct type of rounding, called compressed or exolabial.Template:Sfnp Only Shanghainese is known to contrast it with the more typical protruded (endolabial) close back vowel, but the height of both vowels varies from close to close-mid.Template:Sfnp

There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, compression of the lips can be shown with the letter Template:IPAalink as Template:Angbr IPA (simultaneous and labial compression) or Template:Angbr IPA ( modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic Template:Angbr IPA may also be used with a rounded vowel letter Template:Angbr IPA as an ad hoc symbol, but 'spread' technically means unrounded.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Chinese	ShanghaineseTemplate:Sfnp	/tub		'capital'	Height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back protruded vowel.Template:Sfnp
JapaneseTemplate:Sfnp		/ Template:Transliteration	{{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "ja-kuuki.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler	'air'	Near-back; may be realized as central Template:IPAblink by younger speakers.Template:Sfnp See Japanese phonology
LizuTemplate:Sfnp		Template:Clarify		'feather'	Near-back.Template:Sfnp
NorwegianTemplate:Sfnp				'courage'	The example word is from Urban East Norwegian, in which the vowel can be diphthongized to .Template:Sfnp See Norwegian phonology
Swedish	Central StandardTemplate:SfnpTemplate:Sfnp			'unease'	Often realized as a sequence or Template:Sfnp (hear the word: {{errorTemplate:Main other|Audio file "Sv-oro.ogg" not found}}Template:Category handlerTemplate:Category handler). See Swedish phonology

See also

• Index of phonetics articles
• Close central compressed vowel
• Close front protruded vowel

External links

• Template:Phoible