| Near-close near-front rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ʏ | |||
| IPA number | 320 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity(decimal) | ʏ | ||
| Unicode(hex) | U+028F | ||
| X-SAMPA | Y | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
| IPA:Vowels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Legend:unrounded • rounded |
Thenear-close near-front rounded vowel, ornear-high near-front rounded vowel,[1] is a type ofvowel sound, used in somespokenlanguages. The symbol in theInternational Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ʏ⟩ (asmall capital Latin letterY).
TheHandbook of the International Phonetic Association defines[ʏ] as amid-centralized (lowered andcentralized)close front rounded vowel (transcribed[y̽] or[ÿ˕]), and the current official IPA name of the vowel transcribed with the symbol ⟨ʏ⟩ is anear-close near-front rounded vowel.[2]
However, some languages have a vowel that is somewhat lower than the canonical value of[ʏ], though it still fits the definition of a mid-centralized[y]. It occurs inGerman Standard German as well as some dialects of English (such asEstuary).[3][4][5] It can be narrowly transcribed with[ʏ̞] (a lowered ⟨ʏ⟩),[ø̠] (abacked ⟨ø⟩), or[ɵ̟] (a fronted ⟨ɵ⟩). For precision, this can be described as aclose-mid near-front rounded vowel.
Additionally, in many languages that contrast close, near-close, and close-mid front rounded vowels, there is no appreciable difference in backness between them.[6][7][8][9] In some transcriptions, the vowel is transcribed with ⟨y⟩[10] or ⟨ø⟩.[11] When that is the case, this article uses the narrow transcriptions[y˕] (a lowered ⟨y⟩) and[ø̝] (a raised ⟨ø⟩), respectively. For precision, this can be described as anear-close front rounded vowel, ornear-high front rounded vowel, which may also be represented with[ʏ̟] (a fronted ⟨ʏ⟩). Some phoneticians argue that all lip position inverses of the primarycardinal vowels are centralized (with the exception of ⟨ɒ⟩) based onformant acoustics,[12] so that there may be no substantial difference between a near-close near-front rounded vowel[ʏ] and its fully front counterpart[y˕].
⟨ʏ⟩ implies too weak a rounding in some cases (specifically in the case of the vowels that are described astense in Germanic languages, which are typically transcribed with[øː]), which would have to be specified as[ʏ̹]. In most languages, the rounded vowel is pronounced withcompressed lips (in anexolabial manner). However, in a few cases, the lips are protruded (in anendolabial manner), such as inSwedish, which contrasts the two types of rounding.
The near-close front rounded vowel is transcribed with ⟨y⟩, ⟨ʏ⟩ and ⟨ø⟩ in world's languages. However, when the Latin ⟨y⟩ or ⟨ø⟩ are used for this vowel, ⟨ʏ⟩ may still be used for phonological reasons for a vowel that islower than near-close, potentially leading to confusion. This is the case in several Germanic language varieties, as well as in some transcriptions ofShanghainese.
In the following table, the difference between compressed and protruded vowels is ignored, except in the case of Swedish. Short vowels transcribed with ⟨ʉ⟩, ⟨ʏ⟩, ⟨ɵ⟩ and ⟨œ⟩ in broad transcription are assumed to have a weak rounding in most cases.
| Symbol | Phonetic values in various language varieties | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dutch | Dzongkha | Frisian languages | German | Limburgish | Shanghainese | Swedish | ||||||
| Fering | Saterland | Northern Standard | Hamont-Achel | Maastricht | Weert | Central Standard | ||||||
| ⟨y⟩ | [y] ~[ʏ] ~[ʉ] | N/a | N/a | [y] | [y] | [ʉ̞] | [ʉ] | [y] | N/a | same as ⟨ʏ⟩ | ||
| ⟨yː⟩ | [yː] ~[ʏː] ~[ʉː] | [yː] ~[ʏː] | [yː] | [yː] | [yː] | [yː] | [ʉː] | [yː] | N/a | [y̫ː] | ||
| ⟨ʉ⟩ | same as ⟨ʏ⟩ | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | [ʉ̞ᵝ] | ||
| ⟨ʉː⟩ | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | [ʏᵝː] ~[yᵝː] | ||
| ⟨ʏ⟩ | [ɵ] | N/a | [ʉ̞] | [ø] | [ø̜] | [ɵ] | [ɵ] | [ɵ] | [ø] | [ø̫] ~[ʏ̫] ~[y̫] | ||
| ⟨ø⟩ | same as ⟨øː⟩ | N/a | N/a | N/a | [ø̹] | same as ⟨øː⟩ | same as ⟨øː⟩ | same as ⟨øː⟩ | [ʏ] | same as ⟨œ⟩ | ||
| ⟨øː⟩ | [øʏ] ~[øː] ~[ɵː] | [øː] ~[œː] | [ʉ̞ː] | [ʏː] | [ø̹ː] | [ɵː] | [ɵː] ~[ɵʊ̈] | [øə] | N/a | [ø̫ː] | ||
| ⟨ɵ⟩ | same as ⟨ʏ⟩ | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | N/a | [ɵ̞ᵝ] | ||
| ⟨œ⟩ | same as ⟨ʏ⟩ | N/a | [ɵ] | [œ] | [œ] | [œ] | [œ̝] | [œ̝] | N/a | [œ̫˔] | ||
| ⟨œː⟩ | [œː] | N/a | N/a | [øː] | [œː] | [œː] | [ɞː] | [œ̝ː] | N/a | N/a | ||
Thenear-close front compressed vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨ʏ⟩, 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 ⟨ɪ͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous[ɪ] and labial compression) or ⟨ɪᵝ⟩ ([ɪ] modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic ⟨ ͍⟩ may also be used with a rounded vowel letter ⟨ʏ͍⟩ as anad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded.
Theclose-mid front compressed vowel can be transcribed ⟨ɪ̞͡β̞⟩, ⟨ɪ̞ᵝ⟩ or ⟨ʏ͍˕⟩.
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Because front rounded vowels are assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have protrusion. Vowels transcribed with ⟨y˕⟩ and ⟨ø̝⟩ may have a stronger rounding than the prototypical value of ⟨ʏ⟩.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Albanian | Gheg | yll | [ʏɫ] | 'star' | |
| Armenian | Western | հիւր | [hʏɾ] | 'guest' | |
| Bashkir | өс/üs | [ʏs] | 'three' | ||
| Bavarian | Northern[13] | vill | [v̥ʏl] | 'much' | Allophone of/i/ before/l/.[13] |
| Buwal[14] | [ɗɛ́ɗʏ̄wɛ̄k] | 'bitter' | Palatalized allophone of/ə/ when adjacent to a labialized consonant.[14] | ||
| Chinese | Shanghainese[15] | 肝 /koe | [kø̝˩] | 'liver' | Realization of/ø/ in open syllables and/ʏ/ in closed syllables. Near-close[ø̝] in the former case, close-mid[ʏ̞] in the latter.[15] |
| Danish | Standard[16] | købe | [ˈkʰø̝ːpə] | 'buy' | Also described as close-mid[øː].[17] SeeDanish phonology |
| Dutch | Standard[18] | nu | [nʏ˕] | 'now' | Also transcribed as close front[y][19][20] and, in the Standard Northern accent, as close central[ʉ].[21] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨y⟩. SeeDutch phonology |
| English | Estuary[22][23] | foot | [fʏʔt] | 'foot' | Possible realization of/ʊ/ and/uː/. In the former case, the height varies between near-close[ʏ] and close-mid[ʏ̞].[22][24] |
| Multicultural London[25] | Possible realization of/ʊ/.[25] | ||||
| Rural whiteSouthern American[26] | [fʏt̚] | Can be central[ʊ̈] instead.[26] | |||
| West Country[27] | [fʏt] | Possible realization of/ʊ/ and/uː/.[27] | |||
| New Zealand[28][29] | nurse | [nʏːs] | 'nurse' | Possible realization of/ɵː/ (and also/ʉː/).[28][29][30] SeeNew Zealand English phonology | |
| Ulster[31] | mule | [mjʏl] | 'mule' | Short allophone of/u/; occurs only after/j/.[31] SeeEnglish phonology | |
| Multicultural London | food | [fʏːd]ⓘ | 'food' | ||
| Faroese[32] | krúss | [kɹʏsː] | 'mug' | SeeFaroese phonology | |
| French | Parisian[33] | tu | [t̪ʏ˕] | 'you' | Also described as close[y];[34][35] typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨y⟩. SeeFrench phonology |
| Quebec[36] | lune | [lʏn] | 'moon' | Allophone of/y/ inclosed syllables.[36] SeeQuebec French phonology | |
| German | Standard[3][4] | schützen | [ˈʃʏ̞t͡sn̩] | 'protect' | Close-mid; it may be as high as[y] for some speakers.[3][4] SeeStandard German phonology |
| Some speakers[37] | schwimmen | [ʃvʏmː] | 'to swim' | Allophone of/ɪ/ before labial consonants. Used by some speakers in Northern and Central Germany.[37] SeeStandard German phonology | |
| Hungarian[6] | üt | [y˕t̪]ⓘ | 'hit' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨y⟩. SeeHungarian phonology | |
| Icelandic[38] | vinur | [ˈʋɪ̞ːnʏ̞ɾ] | 'friend' | Close-mid;[38] also described as central[ɵ].[39] SeeIcelandic phonology | |
| Kazakh | жүр/jür | [ʑʏr] | 'go' | ||
| Kurdish | dwênê | [dʏneː] | 'yesterday' | Allophone of /weː/ before consonant. | |
| Low German[40] | lütt /lut | [lʏt] | 'little' | ||
| Norwegian[41] | nytt | [nʏtː] | 'new' | The example word is fromUrban East Norwegian, in which the vowel varies between compressed[ʏ] and protruded[ʏ̫].[42] Its height has been variously described as near-close[ʏ][41] and close[y].[43] SeeNorwegian phonology. | |
| Saterland Frisian[9] | röögje | [ˈʀø̝ːɡjə] | 'to rain' | Phonetic realization of/øː/ and/ʏ/. Near-close[ø̝ː] in the former case, close-mid[ʏ̞] in the latter. Phonetically, the latter is nearly identical to/œː/ ([øː]).[9] | |
| Scots[44] | buit | [bʏt] | 'boot' | May be central[ʉ] instead.[44] | |
| Swedish | Central Standard[7][45] | ut | [ʏːt̪] | 'out' | Often realized as a sequence[ʏβ̞] or[ʏβ][46][47] (hear the word:[ʏβt̪]ⓘ). The height has been variously described as near-close[ʏː][7][45] and close[yː].[48] Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ʉː⟩; it is central[ʉː] in other dialects. SeeSwedish phonology |
| Turkish[49] | atasözü | [ät̪äˈs̪ø̞z̪ʏ] | 'proverb' | Allophone of/y/ described variously as "word-final"[49] and "occurring in final open syllable of a phrase".[50] SeeTurkish phonology | |
| Turkmen[51] | Türkmençe | [tʏɾkmøntʃø] | 'Turkmen' | ||
| Wymysorys[52] | büwa | [ˈbʏvä] | 'boys' | ||
| Near-close front protruded vowel | |
|---|---|
| ʏ̫ |
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 languages, have protruded front vowels. One of them,Swedish, even contrasts the two types of rounding in front vowels as well as height and duration.[53]
As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, the old diacritic for labialization, ⟨◌̫⟩, will be used here as anad hoc symbol for protruded front vowels. Another possible transcription is[ʏʷ] or[ɪʷ] (a near-close front vowel modified by endolabialization), but that could be misread as a diphthong.
Aclose-mid (near-)front protruded vowel may be narrowly transcribed with[ʏ̫˕],[ʏ̞ʷ], or[ɪ̞ʷ]. For the fully front variant of this vowel transcribed with ⟨ø⟩, see theclose-mid front protruded vowel.
Acoustically, this sound is "between" the more typical compressed near-close front vowel[ʏ] and the unrounded near-close front vowel[ɪ].
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian[41] | nytt | [nʏ̫tː] | 'new' | The example word is fromUrban East Norwegian, in which the vowel varies between protruded[ʏ̫] and compressed[ʏ].[42] Its height has been variously described as near-close[ʏ][41] and close[y].[43] SeeNorwegian phonology. | |
| Swedish | Central Standard[7][45] | ylle | [²ʏ̫lːɛ̝]ⓘ | 'wool' | The height has been variously described as close-mid[ʏ̫˕],[7] near-close[ʏ̫][45] and close[y̫].[54] SeeSwedish phonology |
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