Close back rounded vowel
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| Front | Near- front | Central | Near- back | Back | |
| Close | |||||
| Near-close | |||||
| Close-mid | |||||
| Mid | |||||
| Open-mid | |||||
| Near-open | |||||
| Open | |||||
a rounded vowel. Vowel length is indicated by appending ː.
| IPA – number | 308 |
| IPA – text | u |
| IPA – image |  |
| 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 endolabial (with protruded lips). However, in a few cases it is exolabial (compressed).
Contents |
[edit] Endolabial (protruded)
In most languages, closed back rounded vowels are pronounced with pursed lips.
[edit] 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 lips are rounded and protrude, with the inner surfaces are exposed.
[edit] Occurrence
Note: Since back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.
[edit] Exolabial (compressed)
Some languages, such as Japanese and Swedish,[12] are found with a close back vowel that has a distinct type of rounding, called exolabial or compressed. No language is known to contrast this with the more typical endolabial (protruded) close back vowel.
As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the spread-lip diacritic [ ͍ ] will be used here with the rounded vowel [u] as an ad hoc symbol. Other possible transcriptions are [ɯ͡β̞] (simultaneous [ɯ] and labial compression) and [ɯβ] ([ɯ] modified with labial compression).
[edit] 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 corners of the mouth are drawn slightly together and the lips are compressed horizontally, but do not protrude.
[edit] Occurrence
| 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 | |
| Danish | du | [d̥u͍] | 'you' | See Danish phonology | |
| Norwegian | mot | [mu͍ːt] | 'courage' | See Norwegian phonology | |
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:54)
- ^ Roach (2004:242)
- ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993:73)
- ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006:261-262)
- ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:119)
- ^ Jassem (2003:105)
- ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
- ^ Barbosa (Albano:229)
- ^ Jones & Ward (1969:67)
- ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:256)
- ^ Merrill (2008:109)
- ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Ian Maddieson (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
[edit] Bibliography
- Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 227-232
- Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1-2): 53-56
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 (2): 90-94
- Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73-76
- Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103-107
- Jones, Daniel; Dennis, Ward (1969). The Phonetics of Russian. Cambridge University Press.
- Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255-259
- Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquipan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107-114
- Roach, Peter (2004), "British English: Received Pronunciation", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 239-245
- Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117-121
- Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255-264
- Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37-41
