| Close front rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| y | |||
| IPA number | 309 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | y | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+0079 | ||
| X-SAMPA | y | ||
| Braille |  | ||
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Legend:unrounded • rounded |
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Theclose front rounded vowel, orhigh front rounded vowel,[1] is a type ofvowel sound, used in some spokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨y⟩. Across many languages, it is most commonly representedorthographically as⟨ü⟩ (in German, Turkish, Estonian and Hungarian) or⟨y⟩ (in Danish, Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish and Albanian) but also as⟨u⟩ (inFrench andDutch and theKernewek Kemmyn standard ofCornish);⟨iu⟩/⟨yu⟩ (in theromanization of various Asian languages);⟨уь⟩ (inCyrillic-based writing systems such as that forChechen); or⟨ү⟩ (inCyrillic-based writing systems such as that forTatar).
Short/y/ and long/yː/ occurred in pre-Modern Greek. In theAttic andIonic dialects ofAncient Greek, front[yyː] developed by fronting from back/uuː/ around the 6th to 7th century BC. A little later, the diphthong/yi/ when not before another vowel monophthongized and merged with long/yː/. InKoine Greek, the diphthong/oi/ changed to[yː], likely through the intermediate stages[øi] and[øː]. Through vowel shortening in Koine Greek, long/yː/ merged with short/y/. Later,/y/ unrounded to[i], yielding the pronunciation of Modern Greek. For more information, see the articles onAncient Greek andKoine Greek phonology.
The close front rounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of thelabialized palatal approximant[ɥ].[y]alternates with[ɥ] in certain languages, such as French, and in thediphthongs of some languages, ⟨y̑⟩ with the non-syllabic diacritic and ⟨ɥ⟩ are used in differenttranscription systems to represent the same sound.
In most languages, thisrounded vowel is pronounced with compressed lips ('exolabial'). However, in a few cases the lips are protruded ('endolabial').
Theclose front compressed vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨y⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. There is no dedicateddiacritic for compression in the IPA. However, the compression of the lips can be shown with the letter ⟨β̞⟩ as ⟨i͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous[i] and labial compression) or ⟨iᵝ⟩ ([i] modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic ⟨ ͍⟩ may also be used with a rounded vowel letter ⟨y͍⟩ as anad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded.
Because front rounded vowels are assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have protrusion.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | Standard[2] | u | [y] | 'you' (formal) | Merges with/i/ in younger speakers. SeeAfrikaans phonology |
| Albanian | Standard | ylber | [ylbɛɾ] | 'rainbow' | Merges with/i/ in many dialects. SeeAlbanian phonology |
| Azerbaijani[3] | güllə | [ɟylˈlæ] | 'bullet' | ||
| Bavarian | Amstetten dialect[4] | [example needed] | Contrasts close[y], near-close[ø̝], close-mid[ø] and open-mid[œ] front rounded vowels in addition to the open central unrounded[ä].[4] | ||
| Breton[5] | brud | [bʁyːt̪] | 'noise' | ||
| Catalan | Northern[6] | but | [ˈbyt] | 'aim' | Found inOccitan andFrench loanwords. SeeCatalan phonology |
| Chechen | уьйтӏе /üythe | [yːtʼje] | 'yard' | ||
| Chinese | Mandarin[7][8] | 女 /nǚ | [ny˨˩˦]ⓘ | 'woman' | SeeStandard Chinese phonology andCantonese phonology |
| Cantonese[9] | 書 /syū | [syː˥]ⓘ | 'book' | ||
| Shanghainese[10] | 驢 | [ly˧] | 'donkey' | ||
| Chuvash | тӳме | [tyme] | 'button' | ||
| Danish | Standard[11][12] | synlig | [ˈsyːnli] | 'visible' | SeeDanish phonology |
| Dutch | Standard[13][14] | nu | [ny] | 'now' | Also described as near-close[y˕].[15] The Standard Northern realization has also been described as close central[ʉ].[16] SeeDutch phonology |
| English | GeneralSouth African[17] | few | [fjyː] | 'few' | Some younger speakers, especially females. Others pronounce a more central vowel[ʉː].[17] SeeSouth African English phonology |
| Multicultural London[18] | May be back[uː] instead.[18] | ||||
| Scouse[19] | May be central[ʉː] instead. | ||||
| Ulster[20] | Long allophone of/u/; occurs only after/j/.[20] SeeEnglish phonology | ||||
| Estonian[21] | üks | [ˈyks] | 'one' | SeeEstonian phonology | |
| Faroese[22] | mytisk | [ˈmyːtɪsk] | 'mythological' | Appears only in loanwords.[23] SeeFaroese phonology | |
| Finnish[24][25] | yksi | [ˈyksi] | 'one' | SeeFinnish phonology | |
| French[26][27] | tu | [t̪y]ⓘ | 'you' | The Parisian realization has been also described as near-close[ʏ].[28] SeeFrench phonology | |
| German | Standard[29][30] | über | [ˈyːbɐ]ⓘ | 'over' | SeeStandard German phonology |
| Many speakers[31] | schützen | [ˈʃyt͡sn̩] | 'protect' | The usual realization of/ʏ/ in Switzerland, Austria and partially also in Western and Southwestern Germany (Palatinate, Swabia).[31] SeeStandard German phonology | |
| Greek | Tyrnavos[32] | σάλιο /salio | [ˈsäly] | 'saliva' | Corresponds to/jo/ in Standard Modern Greek.[32] |
| Velvendos[32] | |||||
| Hungarian[33] | tű | [t̪yː] | 'pin' | SeeHungarian phonology | |
| Iaai[34] | ûû | [yː] | 'quarrel' | ||
| Korean | 뒤 /dwi | [ty(ː)] | 'back' | Now usually a diphthong[ɥi], especially in Seoul and surrounding dialects. SeeKorean phonology | |
| Kurdish[35][36] | Kurmanji (Northern) | kü | [kʰyːɥ] | 'mountain' | Equal toPalewani (Southern)[ʉː]. SeeKurdish phonology |
| Limburgish[37][38] | zuut | [zyːt] | 'sees' | Central[ʉː] inMaastricht.[39] The example word is from the Weert dialect. | |
| Lombard[40] | Most dialects[40] | ridüü riduu | [riˈdyː] | 'laughed' | [40] |
| Low German[41] | für /fuur | [fyːɐ̯] | 'fire' | ||
| Luxembourgish[42] | Hüll | [hyl] | 'envelope' | Occurs only in loanwords.[42] SeeLuxembourgish phonology | |
| Mongolian[43] | Inner Mongolia | түймэр /tüimer | [tʰyːmɘɾɘ̆] | 'prairie fire' | Diphthong[uj] inKhalkha. |
| Norwegian[44] | syd | [syːd] | 'south' | The example word is fromUrban East Norwegian, in which the vowel varies in rounding between compressed[yː] and protruded[y̫ː]. It can be diphthongized to[yə̯].[45][46] SeeNorwegian phonology. | |
| Occitan | Besalú | [besalyː] | 'Town of Besalú' | SeeOccitan phonology | |
| Plautdietsch | Canadian Old Colony[47] | buut | [byːt] | 'builds' | Corresponds to back[u] in other varieties.[47] |
| Portuguese | Azorean[48] | figura | [fiˈɣyɾə] | 'figure' | Stressed vowel, fronting of original/u/ in some dialects.[48] SeePortuguese phonology |
| Algarve[49] | tudo | [ˈt̪yðu] | 'all' | ||
| Brazilian[50] | déjà vu | [d̪e̞ʒɐˈvy] | 'déjà vu' | Found in French andGerman loanwords. Speakers may instead use[u] or[i]. SeePortuguese phonology | |
| Saterland Frisian[51][52] | wüül | [vyːl] | 'wanted' (v.) | ||
| Scottish Gaelic | youngerLewis speakers[53] | cù | [kʰyː] | 'dog' | Normal allophone of[uː]. More central as[ʉː] among older speakers.[54] SeeScottish Gaelic phonology |
| Swedish | Central Standard[55] | ut | [yːt̪] | 'out' | Often realized as a sequence[yβ̞] or[yβ].[56][57] The height has been variously described as close[yː][55] and near-close[ʏː].[58][59] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉː⟩; it is central[ʉː] in other dialects. SeeSwedish phonology |
| Turkish[60][61] | güneş | [ɟyˈn̪e̞ʃ]ⓘ | 'sun' | SeeTurkish phonology | |
| West Frisian[62] | út | [yt] | 'out' | SeeWest Frisian phonology | |
| Close front protruded vowel | |
|---|---|
| y᫇ | |
| Audio sample | |
Catford notes[full citation needed] that most languages with rounded front and back vowels use distinct types of labialization, protruded back vowels and compressed front vowels. However, a few languages, such asScandinavian ones, have protruded front vowels. One of these, Swedish, even contrasts the two types of rounding in front vowels (seenear-close near-front rounded vowel, with Swedish examples of both types of rounding).
As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨ ̫⟩, will be used here as anad hoc symbol for protruded front vowels. Another possible transcription is ⟨yʷ⟩ or ⟨iʷ⟩ (a close front vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
Acoustically, this sound is "between" the more typical compressed close front vowel[y] and the unrounded close front vowel[i].
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kurdish[36][35] | Palewani (Southern) | کۊ | [kʰy̫ːɥ] | 'mountain' | Allophone of[ʉː] in regional dialects. SeeKurdish phonology |
| Norwegian[44] | syd | [sy̫ːd] | 'south' | The example word is fromUrban East Norwegian, in which the vowel varies in rounding between protruded[y̫ː] and compressed[yː]. It can be diphthongized to[y̫ə̯].[45][46] SeeNorwegian phonology. | |
| Swedish | Central Standard[63][64] | yla | [²y̫ːlä] | 'howl' | Often realized as a sequence[y̫ɥ̫] or[y̫ɥ̫˔][56][64] (hear the word:[²y̫ɥ̫lä]ⓘ); it may also be fricated[y̫ᶻː] or, in some regions, fricated and centralized ([ʉᶻː]).[65] SeeSwedish phonology |
