Close back rounded vowel

Vowels

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Front

N.-front

Central

N.-back

Back

Close

i • y

ɨ • ʉ

ɯ • u

ɪ • ʏ

• ʊ

e • ø

ɘ • ɵ

ɤ • o

ɛ • œ

ɜ • ɞ

ʌ • ɔ

a • ɶ

ɑ • ɒ

Near-close

Close-mid

Mid

Open-mid

Near-open

Open

Where symbols appear in pairs, the one to the right
represents a rounded vowel.

The close back 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 u, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is u.

There is also a close back compressed vowel which contrasts with both the rounded and unrounded close back vowels.

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 vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded and protrude, and the inner surfaces are exposed.

Croatian: u [u], "in"
Dutch: voet [vut], "foot"
English: (RP and GA) boot [bu̟ːt]. The realization of this vowel in English is typically more front than the cardinal vowel [u]; in some dialects it can be further forward than the close central rounded vowel [ʉ].
Faroese: ur [uːr], "(wrist-)watch"
French: fou [fu], "crazy"
German: Fuß [fuːs], "foot"
Polish: lód [lut], "ice"
Portuguese: urso [ˈuɾsu], "bear"
Romanian: unu [ˈunu], "one"
Russian: узкий [ˈuskʲɪj], "narrow
Spanish: curable [kuˈɾable], "curable"
Scottish Gaelic: gu [gu], "to"
Turkish: uçak [utʃak], "airplane"
Vietnamese: tu [tū], "to mediate"