| Close central rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ʉ | |||
| IPA number | 318 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ʉ | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+0289 | ||
| X-SAMPA | } | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
Theclose central rounded vowel, orhigh central rounded vowel,[1] is a type ofvowel sound used in some spokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʉ⟩. The sound is also commonly referred to by the name ofits symbol, "barred u".
The close central rounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the rarelabialized post-palatal approximant[ẅ].[2]
In most languages this rounded vowel is pronounced withprotruded lips (endolabial). However, in a few cases the lips are compressed (exolabial).
Theclose central protruded vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨ʉ⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicateddiacritic for protrusion in the IPA, symbol for the close central rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨ ̫⟩, can be used as anad hoc symbol ⟨ʉ̫⟩ for the close central protruded vowel. Another possible transcription is ⟨ʉʷ⟩ or ⟨ɨʷ⟩ (a close central vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
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Because central rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Angami | Khonoma[3] | su | [sʉ˦] | 'deep' | Allophone of/u/ after/s/.[3] |
| Armenian | SomeEastern dialects[4] | յուղ/yowġ | [jʉʁ] | 'oil' | Allophone of/u/ after/j/. |
| Berber | Ayt Seghrouchen[5] | ⵍⵍⴰⵢⴳⴳⵓⵔ/llayggur | [lːæjˈɡːʉɾ] | 'he goes' | Allophone of/u/ after velar consonants. |
| Dutch | Standard Northern[6] | nu | [nʉ] | 'now' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨y⟩; also described as close front[y][7] and near-close front[y˕].[8] SeeDutch phonology |
| English | Australian[9] | goose | [ɡʉːs] | 'goose' | SeeAustralian English phonology |
| New Zealand[10] | SeeNew Zealand English phonology | ||||
| ModernReceived Pronunciation[11] | Realized as back[uː] in the conservative variety.[11] | ||||
| Scouse[12] | May (less commonly) be fully front[yː] instead.[12] | ||||
| South African[13] | Realized as back[uː] in the conservative variety and in many Black and Indian varieties.[13] SeeSouth African English phonology | ||||
| General American[14] | [ɡʉs] | Can be back[u] instead.[14] | |||
| German | Upper Saxon[15] | Buden | [ˈb̥ʉːd̥n̩] | 'booths' | The example word is from theChemnitz dialect. |
| Hausa[16] | [example needed] | Allophone of/u/.[16] | |||
| Ibibio | Dialect of the Uruan area andUyo[17] | fuuk | [fʉ́ʉk] | 'cover many things/times' | Allophone of/u/ between consonants.[17] |
| Some dialects[17] | [example needed] | Phonemic; contrasts with/u/.[17] | |||
| Irish | Munster[18] | ciúin | [cʉːnʲ] | 'quiet' | Allophone of/u/ between slender consonants.[18] SeeIrish phonology |
| Ulster[19] | úllaí | [ˈʉ̜l̪ˠi] | 'apples' | Often only weakly rounded;[19] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨u⟩. | |
| Irula[20] | [mʉːj] | "to surround" | Has other centralized vowels. | ||
| Kurdish | Southern[21] | müçig | [mʉːˈt͡ʃɯɡ] | 'dust' | SeeKurdish phonology |
| Limburgish | Some dialects[22][23] | bruudsje | [ˈbʀ̝ʉtʃə] | 'breadroll' | Close[ʉ][22] or near-close[ʉ̞],[23] depending on the dialect. Close front[y] in other dialects.[24] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨y⟩. The example word is from theMaastrichtian dialect, in which the vowel is close. |
| Lüsu[25] | [lʉ˥zʉ˥˧] | 'Lüsu' | |||
| Russian[26] | кюрий/kyuriy/kjurij | [ˈkʲʉrʲɪj] | 'curium' | Allophone of/u/ betweenpalatalized consonants. Near-close when unstressed.[26] SeeRussian phonology | |
| Scots[27] | buit | [bʉt] | 'boot' | May be more front[ʏ] instead.[27] | |
| Scottish Gaelic | olderLewis speakers[28] | co-dhiù | [kʰɔˈjʉː] | 'anyway' | Normal allophone of[uː]. Fronted as[yː] among younger speakers. |
| Wester Ross andLochalsh[29] | Normal allophone of[uː]. | ||||
| Swedish | Bohuslän[30] | yla | [²ʉᶻːlä] | 'howl' | A fricated vowel that corresponds to[y̫ː] in Central Standard Swedish.[30] SeeSwedish phonology |
| Närke[30] | |||||
| Tamil[31] | வால் | [väːlʉ] | 'tail' | Epenthetic vowel inserted in colloquial speech after word-final liquids; can be unrounded[ɨ] instead.[31] SeeTamil phonology | |
| Close central compressed vowel | |
|---|---|
| ʉ͍ | |
| ɨᵝ | |
| ÿ |
As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the centering diacritic may be used with the front rounded vowel[y], which is normally compressed, to create thead hoc symbol ⟨ÿ⟩. Other possible transcriptions are ⟨ʉ͍⟩ ([ʉ] with spread lips) and ⟨ɨᵝ⟩ ([ɨ] modified with labial compression[32]).
This vowel is typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉ⟩. It occurs in some dialects ofSwedish, but see alsoclose front compressed vowel. The close back vowels of Norwegian and Swedish are also compressed. Seeclose back compressed vowel. It also occurs inJapanese as anallophone.Medumba has a compressed central vowel[ɨᵝ] where the corners of the mouth are not drawn together.[33]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian | Urban East[34][35] | hus | [hÿːs] | 'house' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉː⟩. Also described as front[yː].[36] SeeNorwegian phonology |
| Swedish | Some dialects | ful | [fÿːl] | 'ugly' | More front[yː~ʏː] in Central Standard Swedish; typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ʉː⟩. SeeSwedish phonology |
| Near-close central rounded vowel | |
|---|---|
| ʉ̞ | |
| ɵ̝ | |
| ʊ̈ | |
| Audio sample | |
Some languages feature thenear-close central rounded vowel, which is slightly lower than a typical[ʉ]. It is most often transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉ̞⟩, ⟨ʊ̈⟩ and ⟨ʊ̟⟩, but ⟨ɵ̝⟩ is also a possible transcription. The symbol ⟨ᵿ⟩, a conflation of ⟨ʊ⟩ and ⟨ʉ⟩, is used as an unofficial extension of the IPA to represent this sound by a number of publications, such asAccents of English byJohn C. Wells. In the third edition of theOxford English Dictionary, ⟨ᵿ⟩ representsfree variation between/ʊ/ and/ə/.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Randstad[37] | hut | [ɦɵ̝t] | 'hut' | Found in Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague. Lower[ɵ] in Standard Dutch.[37] SeeDutch phonology |
| English | Estuary[38] | foot | [fʉ̞ʔt] | 'foot' | The exact height, backness and roundedness is variable.[38] |
| Cockney[39] | good | [ɡʊ̈d] | 'good' | Only in some words, particularlygood, otherwise realized as near-back[ʊ].[39] | |
| Rural whiteSouthern American[40] | Can be front[ʏ] instead.[40] | ||||
| Southeastern English[41] | May be unrounded[ɪ̈] instead;[41] it corresponds to[ʊ] in other dialects. SeeEnglish phonology | ||||
| Ulster[42] | Short allophone of/u/.[42] | ||||
| Shetland[43] | strut | [stɹʊ̈t] | 'strut' | Can be[ɔ̟] or[ʌ] instead.[43] | |
| Near-close central compressed vowel | |
|---|---|
| ʉ͍˕ | |
| ɨ̞ᵝ | |
| ʏ̈ |
As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the centering diacritic may be used with the front rounded vowel[ʏ], which is normally compressed, to create thead hoc symbol ⟨ʏ̈⟩. Other possible transcriptions are ⟨ʉ͍˕⟩ ([ʉ̞] with spread lips) and ⟨ɨ̞ᵝ⟩ ([ɨ̞] modified with labial compression).
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | Some younger speakers[44] | 空気 /kūki | [kʏ̈ːki] | 'air' | Allophone of/u/; near-back[u̟] for other speakers.[44] |
| Standard Tokyo pronunciation | 寿司 /sushi | [sʏ̈ɕi] | 'sushi' | Allophone of/u/ after/s,z,t/ and palatalized consonants.[45] SeeJapanese phonology | |
