| Above: | Near-close near-back rounded vowel |
| Ipa Symbol: | ʊ |
| Ipa Number: | 321 |
| Decimal: | 650 |
| Xsampa: | U |
| Imagefile: | IPA Unicode 0x028A.svg |
| Braille: | of |
pronounced as /vowels/
The near-close near-back rounded vowel, or near-high near-back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The IPA symbol that represents this sound is (IPA|ʊ). It is informally called "horseshoe u". Prior to 1989, there was an alternative IPA symbol for this sound, (IPA|ɷ), called "closed omega"; use of this symbol is no longer sanctioned by the IPA. In Americanist phonetic notation, the symbol (IPA|ᴜ) (a small capital U) is used. Sometimes, especially in broad transcription, this vowel is transcribed with a simpler symbol (IPA|u), which technically represents the close back rounded vowel.
Handbook of the International Phonetic Association defines pronounced as /[ʊ]/ as a mid-centralized (lowered and centralized) close back rounded vowel (transcribed pronounced as /[u̽]/ or pronounced as /[ü̞]/), and the current official IPA name of the vowel transcribed with the symbol (IPA|ʊ) is near-close near-back rounded vowel. However, some languages have the close-mid near-back rounded vowel, a vowel that is somewhat lower than the canonical value of pronounced as /[ʊ]/, though it still fits the definition of a mid-centralized pronounced as /link/. It occurs in some dialects of English (such as General American and Geordie) as well as some other languages (such as Maastrichtian Limburgish). It can be transcribed with the symbol (IPA|ʊ̞) (a lowered (IPA|ʊ)) in narrow transcription. For the close-mid (near-)back rounded vowel that is not usually transcribed with the symbol (IPA|ʊ) (or (IPA|u)), see close-mid back rounded vowel.
In some other languages (such as Bengali and Luxembourgish) as well as some dialects of English (such as Scottish) there is a fully back near-close rounded vowel (a sound between cardinal pronounced as /link/ and pronounced as /link/), which can be transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ʊ̠), (IPA|u̞) or (IPA|o̝).
The near-close back protruded vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as (IPA|ʊ), and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, symbol for the near-close back rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, (IPA| ̫), can be used as an ad hoc symbol (IPA|ʊ̫) for the near-close back protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is (IPA|ʊʷ) or (IPA|ɯ̽ʷ) (a near-close back vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
The close-mid near-back protruded vowel can be transcribed (IPA|ʊ̞ʷ) or (IPA|ʊ̫˕), whereas the fully back near-close protruded vowel can be transcribed (IPA|u̞ʷ), (IPA|ɯ̞ʷ) or (IPA|u̫˕).
The prototypical pronounced as /[ʊ]/ is somewhat further front (near-back) than the neighboring cardinal vowels. The prototypical pronounced as /[ʊ]/ has a weak protruded rounding, more like pronounced as /link/ than the neighboring cardinal vowels.
Because back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression. In the table below, vowels transcribed with (IPA|o̝) have a considerably stronger rounding than the prototypical value of (IPA|ʊ).
| Language | Word | Meaning | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | Afrikaans: [[Afrikaans alphabet|B'''o'''tha]] | pronounced as /[ˈbʊ̞ˑta]/ | 'Botha' | Close-mid. Allophone of pronounced as //ʊə// in less stressed words, in stressed syllables of polysyllabic words and word-finally when unstressed. In the second case, it is in free variation with the diphthongal realization pronounced as /[ʊə̯ ~ ʊ̯ə ~ ʊə]/. See Afrikaans phonology | ||
| Hejazi | [[Arabic alphabet|قُلْت]]|rtl=yes/ | pronounced as /[gʊlt]/ | 'I said' | Allophone of pronounced as //u// in medial and initial positions. See Hejazi phonology | ||
| Assamese: [[Assamese alphabet|কোৰ]]/ | pronounced as /[kʊɹ]/ | 'hoe' | Close-mid; also described as open pronounced as /link/. | |||
| Bengali: [[Bengali alphabet|তুমি]]/ | pronounced as /[ˈt̪u̞ˌmiː]/ | 'you' | Fully back; typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|u). See Bengali phonology | |||
| Burmese: [[Burmese alphabet|မွတ်]]/ | pronounced as /[mʊʔ]/ | 'smooth' | Allophone of pronounced as //u// in syllables closed by a glottal stop and when nasalized. | |||
| [[Chinese characters|红]] / | 'red' | Fully back; height varies between mid and close depending on the speaker. See Standard Chinese phonology | ||||
| [[Chinese characters|瓜]]/ | pronounced as /[kʊ¹]/ | 'melon' | The height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back compressed vowel. | |||
| Standard | Danish: [[Dano-Norwegian alphabet|ma'''ve''']] | pronounced as /[ˈmɛːʊ]/ | 'stomach' | Phonetic realization of the sequence pronounced as //və//. See Danish phonology | ||
| Standard Northern | Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|'''o'''ren]] | pronounced as /[ˈʊːrə(n)]/ | 'ears' | Allophone of pronounced as //oː// before pronounced as //r//. Can be a centering diphthong pronounced as /[ʊə]/ instead, especially before coda pronounced as //r//. See Dutch phonology | ||
| Randstad | ||||||
| Some speakers | Dutch; Flemish: [[Dutch orthography|h'''o'''k]] | pronounced as /[ɦʊk]/ | 'den' | Contrasts with pronounced as /link/ in certain words, but many speakers have only one vowel pronounced as /link/. See Dutch phonology | ||
| hook | pronounced as /[hʊk]/ | 'hook' | ||||
| In Cardiff, it is advanced and lowered to pronounced as /link/, often also with unrounding to pronounced as /link/. | ||||||
| pronounced as /[ʊʔk]/ | Sometimes fronted to pronounced as /link/. | |||||
| pronounced as /[hʊʔk]/ | The height varies from near-close to close-mid. The innovative General New Zealand variant is fronted and unrounded to pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|ɪ̈}} ~ {{IPAplink|ɘ}}]/. See New Zealand English phonology | |||||
| Often lowered and advanced to pronounced as /link/, or unrounded to pronounced as /link/. See English phonology | ||||||
| May be front pronounced as /link/ instead. | ||||||
| Some Estuary speakers | Often advanced to pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|ʊ̈}} ~ {{IPAplink|ʏ}}]/, or advanced and lowered to pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|ɵ}} ~ {{IPAplink|ʏ|ʏ̞}}]/. | |||||
| pronounced as /[hʊ̞k]/ | Close-mid. | |||||
| Geordie | ||||||
| Southern Michigan | ||||||
| cut | pronounced as /[kʊt]/ | 'cut' | Phonetic realization of /ʌ/ in most dialects without the foot-strut split. | |||
| Local Dublin[1] | ||||||
| thought | pronounced as /[θo̝ːt]/ | 'thought' | Fully back. In New Zealand English, the height varies from near-close pronounced as /[o̝ː]/ (a typical value in General NZE) to mid pronounced as /link/ (a typical value in Maori English). It corresponds to pronounced as /link/ in other dialects. See Australian English phonology and New Zealand English phonology | |||
| General New Zealand | ||||||
| go | pronounced as /[ɡo̝ː]/ | 'go' | Fully back. Corresponds to pronounced as /[oʊ]/ in other dialects. | |||
| Faroese: [[Faroese phonology|g'''u'''lt]] | pronounced as /[kʊɬt]/ | 'yellow' | ||||
| French: [[French orthography|f'''ou'''le]] | pronounced as /[fʊl]/ | 'crowd' | Allophone of pronounced as //u// in closed syllables. See Quebec French phonology | |||
| Standard | German: [[German orthography|St'''u'''nde]] | 'hour' | The quality has been variously described as near-close back pronounced as /[ʊ̠]/ and close-mid near-back pronounced as /[ʊ̞]/. For some speakers, it may be as high as pronounced as /link/. See Standard German phonology | |||
| Hindi | Hindi: [[Dēvanāgarī|गुलाब]]/ | pronounced as /[gʊˈläːb]/ | 'rose' | See Hindustani phonology | ||
| Urdu | Urdu: [[Urdu alphabet|گلاب]]/ | |||||
| Hungarian: [[Hungarian orthography|'''u'''jj]] | pronounced as /[ʊjː]/ | 'finger' | Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|u). See Hungarian phonology | |||
| Irish: [[Irish orthography|d'''u'''bh]] | pronounced as /[d̪ˠʊvˠ]/ | 'black' | Allophone of pronounced as //ʊ// between broad consonants. See Irish phonology | |||
| Central-Southern accents | Italian: [[Italian alphabet|'''o'''mbra]] | pronounced as /[ˈo̝mbrä]/ | 'shade' | Fully back; local realization of pronounced as //o//. See Italian phonology | ||
| Kurdish | Kurmanji (Northern) | Kurdish: [[Kurdish orthography|g'''u'''l]] | pronounced as /[gʊl]/ | 'flower' | See Kurdish phonology | |
| Sorani (Central) | Kurdish: [[Kurdish alphabets|گـ'''و'''ڵ]]/Kurdish: g'''u'''l | |||||
| Palewani (Southern) | ||||||
| Classical | Latin: [[Latin alphabet|p'''u'''ella]] | pronounced as /[pʊɛlla]/ | 'girl' | |||
| Leonese | butiellu | [buˈtjeʎʊ] | 'Botillo' | Allophone position of /u/ and /o/ in neutral position. | ||
| Some dialects | Limburgan; Limburger; Limburgish: p'''ó'''p | pronounced as /[pʊ̞p]/ | 'doll' | Close-mid in the Maastrichtian dialect. The example word is from that dialect. | ||
| Lombard | nox | [nʊs̠] | 'walnut' | Most common realization of /u/. | ||
| Luxembourgish; Letzeburgesch: Spr'''oo'''ch | pronounced as /[ʃpʀo̝ːχ]/ | 'language' | Fully back. Typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|oː). See Luxembourgish phonology | |||
| Malay | Malay: mamp'''u'''s | pronounced as /[mam.pʊs]/ | 'die' | Allophone of /u/ in closed-final syllables. May be [{{IPA link|o}}] or [{{IPA link|o̞}}] depending on the speaker. See Malay phonology | ||
| Lower Darai Nur dialect | صُر/ | pronounced as /[sʊ̞r]/ | 'sun' | Close-mid. | ||
| Portuguese: [[Portuguese orthography|pul'''o''']] | pronounced as /[ˈpulʊ]/ | 'leap' | Reduction and neutralization of unstressed pronounced as //u, o, ɔ//; can be voiceless. See Portuguese phonology | |||
| Russian: [[Russian orthography|с'''у'''хой]] | 'dry' | Unstressed allophone of pronounced as //u//. See Russian phonology | ||||
| R'''oo'''p | pronounced as /[ʀo̝ːp]/ | 'rope' | Phonetic realization of pronounced as //oː// and pronounced as //ʊ//. Near-close back pronounced as /[o̝ː]/ in the former case, close-mid near-back pronounced as /[ʊ̞]/ in the latter. Phonetically, the latter is nearly identical to pronounced as //ɔː// (pronounced as /link/). | |||
| Scots: g'''o''' | pronounced as /[ɡo̝ː]/ | 'go' | Fully back. | |||
| Rathlin dialect | ||||||
| Some dialects | Gaelic; Scottish Gaelic: [[Scottish Gaelic phonology and orthography|tal'''amh''']] | pronounced as /[ˈt̪ʰal̪ˠʊ]/ | 'land' | Reduction of word-final pronounced as //əv//; a similar phenomenon is seen in Ulster Irish. | ||
| Sinhala; Sinhalese: හුඟක්/ | pronounced as /[ɦʊ̜ᵑɡak]/ | 'much' | Only weakly rounded; typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|u). | |||
| Slovak: r'''u'''ka | pronounced as /[ˈru̞kä]/ | 'arm' | Typically fully back. See Slovak phonology | |||
| Sotho, Southern: [[Sotho orthography|p'''o'''tso]] | pronounced as /[pʼʊ̠t͡sʼɔ]/ | 'query' | Fully back; contrasts close, near-close and close-mid back rounded vowels. See Sotho phonology | |||
| Spanish; Castilian: [[Spanish alphabet|t'''us''']] | pronounced as /[t̪ʊ̠ː]/ | 'your' (pl.) | Fully back. Corresponds to pronounced as /link/ in other dialects, but in these dialects they are distinct. See Spanish phonology | |||
| Murcian | ||||||
| Turkish: [[Turkish alphabet|buzl'''u''']] | pronounced as /[buz̪ˈl̠ʊ]/ | 'icy' | Allophone of pronounced as //u// described variously as "word-final" and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase". See Turkish phonology | |||
| Ukrainian: [[Ukrainian orthography|М'''у'''сій]] | pronounced as /[mʊˈsij]/ | 'Musiy' (name) | See Ukrainian phonology | |||
| Welsh | Welsh: g'''ẃ'''raidd | pronounced as /[ɡʊ.raið]/ | 'manly' | See Welsh phonology | ||
| Yoruba: lati s'''un''' | pronounced as /[lati sũ̟]/ | 'to sleep' | Near-back or back; typically transcribed in IPA with (IPA|ũ). It is nasalized, and may be close pronounced as /[{{IPAplink|u|ũ̟}} ~ {{IPAplink|u|ũ}}]/ instead. | |||
| Above: | Near-close back compressed vowel |
| Ipa Symbol: | ʊ͍ |
| Ipa Symbol2: | ɯ̽ᵝ |
Some languages, such as Norwegian, are found with a near-close back vowel that has a distinct type of rounding, called compressed or exolabial.
There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, the compression of the lips can be shown with the letter pronounced as /link/ as (IPA|ɯ̽͡β̞) (simultaneous pronounced as /[ɯ̽]/ and labial compression) or (IPA|ɯ̽ᵝ) (pronounced as /[ɯ̽]/ modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic (IPA| ͍) may also be used with a rounded vowel letter (IPA|ʊ͍) as an ad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded.
Only the Shanghainese dialect is known to contrast this with the more typical protruded (endolabial) near-close back vowel, although the height of both of these vowels varies from close to close-mid.
The fully back variant of the near-close compressed vowel can be transcribed (IPA|ɯ̞͡β̞), (IPA|ɯ̞ᵝ) or (IPA|u͍˕).
The prototypical pronounced as /[ʊ]/ has a weak rounding (though it is protruded, rather than compressed), more like pronounced as /link/ than the neighboring cardinal vowels.
| Language | Word | Meaning | Notes | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| [[Chinese characters|都]] | pronounced as /[tɯ̽ᵝ¹]/ | 'capital' | The height varies between close and close-mid; contrasts with a close to close-mid back protruded vowel. | |||
| Norwegian[2] | Norwegian: [[Norwegian alphabet|'''o'''nd]] | pronounced as /[ɯ̞ᵝnː]/ | 'evil' | Backness varies among dialects; it is a back vowel pronounced as /[ɯ̞ᵝ]/ in Urban East Norwegian, whereas in Stavangersk it is near-back pronounced as /[ɯ̽ᵝ]/. The UEN vowel has also been described as close back pronounced as /link/. See Norwegian phonology | ||
| Central Standard | Swedish: [[Swedish alphabet|'''o'''rt]] | 'locality' | The quality has been variously described as near-close near-back pronounced as /[ɯ̽ᵝ]/, near-close back pronounced as /[ɯ̞ᵝ]/ and close back pronounced as /link/. See Swedish phonology | |||
pronounced as /navigation/