Close back rounded vowel

The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in many spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨u⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is 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", and these are the only terms found in introductory textbooks on phonetics such as those by Peter Ladefoged.

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

Close back protruded vowel

In most languages, close back rounded vowels are pronounced with protruded lips.

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 back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
• Its vowel roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.

Occurrence

Note: Since back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.

Close back compressed vowel

Some languages, such as Japanese and Swedish,^[18] are found with a close back vowel that has a distinct type of rounding, called compressed or exolabial. No language is known to contrast this with the more typical protruded (endolabial) close back vowel.

As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the spread-lip diacritic [  ͍ ] will be used here with the rounded vowel [u] as an ad hoc symbol. Other possible transcriptions are [ɯ͡β̞] (simultaneous [ɯ] and labial compression) and [ɯᵝ] ([ɯ] modified with labial compression).

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 back, which means the tongue is positioned as far back as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
• Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips approach one another, so that the inner surfaces are not exposed.

Occurrence

See also

• List of phonetics topics

References

Bibliography

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