Close central rounded vowel

Close central rounded vowel
ʉ
ü
IPA number	318
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	ʉ
Unicode (hex)	U+0289
X-SAMPA	}
Kirshenbaum	u"
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Sound
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The close central rounded vowel, or high 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 ⟨}⟩. Both the symbol and the sound are commonly referred to as "barred u".

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low".

In most languages this rounded vowel is pronounced with protruded lips (endolabial). However, in a few cases the lips are compressed (exolabial).

There is also a near-close central rounded vowel in some languages.

Close central protruded vowel

The close central protruded vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨ʉ⟩, and that is the convention used in this article. As there is no dedicated diacritic for protrusion in the IPA, symbol for the close central rounded vowel with an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨  ̫⟩, can be used as an ad 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.

Features

IPA vowel chart
Front Near-​front Central Near-​back Back Close •iy •ɨʉ •ɯu •ɪʏ •ɪ̈ʊ̈ •ɯ̽ʊ •eø •ɘɵ •ɤo •e̞ø̞ •əɵ̞ •ɤ̞o̞ •ɛœ •ɜɞ •ʌɔ •æ •ɐɞ̞ •aɶ •äɒ̈ •ɑɒ Near-close Close-mid Mid Open-mid Near-open Open
Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded
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• Its vowel height is close, also known as high, 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 roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Armenian	Some Eastern dialects[1]	յուղ	[jʉʁ]	'oil'	Allophone of /u/ after /j/
Berber	Ayt Seghrouchen[2]	?	[lːæjˈɡːʉɾ]	'he goes'	Allophone of /u/ after velar consonants.
English	Australian[3]	choose	[t͡ʃʉːz]	'choose'	In Australian English it's fronted [ʉ̟ː]. In Cockney and Estuary English it's often a diphthong [ʊʉ̯~əʉ̯]. In Scotland and the Scouse accent it can be more front, while in Geordie it can be more back. The exact length also varies between dialects. See Australian English phonology and English phonology
	Central Eastern American[4]
	Cockney[5]
	Estuary[6]
	Modern RP speakers[7]
	New Zealand[8]
	Norfolk[9]
	Scottish[10]
	Scouse[11]
	Some speakers of Geordie[12]
	South African[13]
	Southern American[14]
	Ulster[15]				Long allophone of /u/.[15] See English phonology
German	Basel dialect	Muus	[mʉːs]	'mouse'	Corresponds to [uː] in other Swiss German dialects.
	Dialect of Markgräflerland
	Chemnitz dialect[16]	Buden	[ˈpʉːtn̩]	'booths'	See Chemnitz dialect phonology
Hausa[17]					Allophone of /u/.[17]
Ibibio	Dialect of the Uruan area and Uyo[18]	[fʉ́ʉk]		'cover many things/times'	Allophone of /u/ between consonants.[18]
	Some dialects[18]				Phonemic; contrasts with /u/.[18]
Irish	Munster[19]	ciúin	[cʉ̠ːnʲ]	'quiet'	Somewhat retracted;[19] allophone of /u/ between slender consonants.[19] See Irish phonology
	Ulster[20]	úllaí	[ʉ̜ɫ̪i]	'apples'	Often only weakly rounded;[20] may be transcribed in IPA with ⟨u⟩.
Lüsu[21]		[lʉ^55zʉ^53]		'Lüsu'
Russian[22]		кюрий	[ˈkʲʉrʲɪj]	'curium'	Allophone of /u/ between palatalized consonants. See Russian phonology
Tamil[23]		ஆனால்	[äːnäːlʉ]	'but'	Epenthetic vowel inserted in colloquial speech after word-final liquids; can be unrounded [ɨ] instead.[23] See Tamil phonology

Close central compressed vowel

Close central compressed vowel
ÿ
ɏ
ɨ͡β̞
ɨᵝ

As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the centering diacritic is used with the front rounded vowel [y], which is normally compressed. Another possibility is ⟨ɏ⟩, a centralized [y] by analogy with the other close central vowels. Other possible transcriptions are ⟨ɨ͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous [ɨ] and labial compression) and ⟨ɨᵝ⟩ ([ɨ] modified with labial compression^[24]).

Features

• Its vowel height is close, also known as high, 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 roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.

Occurrence

This vowel is typically transcribed with ⟨ʉ⟩. It 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. Medumba has a compressed central vowel [ɨᵝ] where the corners of the mouth are not drawn together.^[25]

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	Some younger speakers[26]	空気/kūki	[kÿːki]	'air'	Near-back [u͍] for other speakers.[26] See Japanese phonology
Norwegian	Standard Eastern[27]	hus	[hÿːs]	'house'	Typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ʉː⟩. See Norwegian phonology
Swedish	Some dialects	ful	[fÿːl]	'ugly'	More front in Central Standard Swedish; typically transcribed in IPA as ⟨ʉː⟩. See Swedish phonology

See also

• Close back compressed vowel
• Close front protruded vowel

References

1. Dum-Tragut (2009:14)
2. Abdel-Massih (1971:20)
3. Harrington, Cox & Evans (1997)
4. "North American English Dialects" (PDF). p. 12.
5. Matthews (1938:78)
6. Przedlacka (2001:42)
7. "Received Pronunciation Phonology".
8. Mannell, Cox & Harrington (2009)
9. Lodge (2009:168)
10. Scobbie, Gordeeva & Matthews (2006:7)
11. Watson (2007:357)
12. Watt & Allen (2003:269)
13. Lass (2002:116)
14. Labov, Ash & Boberg (2006:?)
15. "Irish English and Ulster English" (PDF). p. 6. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 April 2014.
16. Khan & Weise (2013:236)
17. Schuh & Yalwa (1999:90)
18. Urua (2004:106)
19. Ó Sé (2000)
20. Ní Chasaide (1999:114)
21. Chirkova & Chen (2013:75)
22. Jones & Ward (1969:67–68)
23. Keane (2004), p. 114.
24. e.g. in Flemming (2002) Auditory representations in phonology, p. 83.
26. Okada (1999:118)
27. Kristoffersen (2000:15)

Bibliography

• Abdel-Massih, Ernest T. (1971), A Reference Grammar of Tamazight, Ann Arbor: University of Michigan
• Chirkova, Katia; Chen, Yiya (2013), "Lizu" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43 (1): 75–86, doi:10.1017/S0025100312000242
• Dum-Tragut, Jasmine (2009), Armenian: Modern Eastern Armenian, Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company
• Harrington, J.; Cox, F.; Evans, Z. (1997), "An acoustic phonetic study of broad, general, and cultivated Australian English vowels" (PDF), Australian Journal of Linguistics 17: 155–184, doi:10.1080/07268609708599550
• Jones, Daniel; Ward, Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
• Keane, Elinor (2004), "Tamil", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 111–116, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001549
• Khan, Sameer ud Dowla; Weise, Constanze (2013), "Upper Saxon (Chemnitz dialect)" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association 43 (2): 231–241, doi:10.1017/S0025100313000145
• Kristoffersen, Gjert (2000), The Phonology of Norwegian, Oxford: Oxford University Press
• Lass, Roger (2002), "South African English", in Mesthrie, Rajend, Language in South Africa, Cambridge University Press, ISBN 9780521791052
• Lodge, Ken (2009), A Critical Introduction to Phonetics, ISBN 978-0-8264-8873-2
• Mannell, R.; Cox, F.; Harrington, J. (2009), An Introduction to Phonetics and Phonology, Macquarie University
• Matthews, William (1938), Cockney, Past and Present: a Short History of the Dialect of London, Detroit: Gale Research Company
• Ní Chasaide, Ailbhe (1999), "Irish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 111–16, ISBN 0-521-63751-1
• Okada, Hideo (1991), "Japanese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 21 (2): 94–96, doi:10.1017/S002510030000445X
• Ó Sé, Diarmuid (2000), Gaeilge Chorca Dhuibhne (in Irish), Dublin: Institiúid Teangeolaíochta Éireann, ISBN 0-946452-97-0
• Przedlacka, Joanna (2001), "Estuary English and RP: Some Recent Findings", Studia Anglica Posnaniensia 36: 35–50
• Scobbie, James M; Gordeeva, Olga B.; Matthews, Benjamin (2006). "Acquisition of Scottish English Phonology: an overview". Edinburgh: QMU Speech Science Research Centre Working Papers.
• Schuh, Russell G.; Yalwa, Lawan D. (1999), "Hausa", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association, Cambridge University Press, pp. 90–95, ISBN 0-521-63751-1
• Urua, Eno-Abasi E. (2004), "Ibibio", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 105–109, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001550
• Watson, Kevin (2007), "Liverpool English" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association 37 (3): 351–360, doi:10.1017/s0025100307003180
• Watt, Dominic; Allen, William (2003), "Tyneside English", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 267–271, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001397