Close central rounded vowel
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| 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 | 318 |
| IPA – text | ʉ |
| IPA – image |  |
| Entity | ʉ |
| X-SAMPA | } |
| Kirshenbaum | u" |
 Sound sample (help·info) |
|
The close central 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 ʉ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is }. The IPA symbol is the letter u with a horizontal bar. Both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as "barred-u".
In most languages this vowel is exolabial (with pursed lips). However, in a few cases it is endolabial (compressed).
There is also a near-close central rounded vowel in some languages.
Contents |
[edit] Endolabial (protruded)
[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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
- Its vowel roundedness is endolabial, which means that the lips are rounded and protrude, with the inner surfaces exposed.
[edit] Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Berber | Central Morocco Tamazight[1] | ? | [lːæjˈgːʉɾ] | 'he goes' | Allophone of /u/ after velar consonants. |
| English | Australian | boot | [bʉ̟ːt] | 'boot' | See Australian English phonology |
| New Zealand | |||||
| Cockney[2] | [bʉːt] | corresponds to /uː/ in other dialects. See English phonology | |||
| Estuary[3] | |||||
| Scouse[4] | |||||
| Irish | ciúin | [cʉ̠ːnʲ] | 'quiet' | Allophone of /uː/ and /u/. See Irish phonology | |
| Russian | кюрий[5] | [ˈkʲʉrʲɪj] | 'curium' | Occurs only between palatalized consonants. See Russian phonology | |
[edit] Exolabial (compressed)
As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the spread-lip diacritic [ ͍ ] will be used here with the rounded vowel [ʉ] as an ad hoc symbol. Other possible transcriptions are [ɨ͡β̞] (simultaneous [ɨ] and labial compression) and [ɨβ] ([ɨ] 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 central, which means the tongue is positioned midway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
- Its vowel roundedness is compressed, which means the corners of the mouth are drawn slightly together and the lips may be compressed horizontally, but do not protrude.
[edit] Occurs in
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian | hus | [hʉ͍ːs] | 'house' | See Norwegian phonology |
This vowel is typically transcribed as <ʉ>. It also occurs in some dialects of Swedish, but see also close front compressed vowel. The close back vowels of Norwegian and Swedish are also compressed. See close back compressed vowel.
[edit] References
- ^ Abdel-Massih (1971:20), specifically the Ayt Seghrouchen dialect.
- ^ Matthews (1938:78)
- ^ Przedlacka (2001:42)
- ^ Watson (2007:357)
- ^ Jones & Ward (1969:67-68)
[edit] Bibliography
- Abdel-Massih, Ernest T. (1971). A Reference Grammar of Tamazight. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan.
- Jones, Daniel & Ward Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
- Matthews, William (1938), written at Detroit, Cockney, Past and Present: a Short History of the Dialect of London, Gale Research Company
- Przedlacka, Joanna (2001), "Estuary English and RP: Some Recent Findings", Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 36: 35-50
- Watson, Kevin (2007), "Liverpool English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 (3): 351-360
