CLOSE BACK 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 , 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.

Contents

Features

Occurrence

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.

Occurrence

Language	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Croatian	'''u'''		'in'
Dutch	''v'oe't''		'foot'	See Dutch phonology
English (RP and GA)	''b'oo't''		'boot'	Typically more front than cardinal . See English phonology
Faroese	'''u'r''		'(wrist-)watch'
Finnish	''k'u'kka''		'flower'	See Finnish phonology
French	''f'ou'''		'crazy'	See French phonology
German	''F'u'ß''		'foot'	See German phonology
Greek	'ου'ρανός		'sky'	See Modern Greek phonology
Hungarian	'''u'nalmas''		'boring'	See Hungarian phonology
Irish	''gas'ú'r''		'boy'	See Irish phonology
Italian	''t'''u'''tta''		'all' (fem.)	See Italian phonology
Norwegian	''m'o't''		'courage'	See Norwegian phonology
Polish	''b'u'k''		'beech tree'	See Polish phonology
Portuguese	'''u'rs'o'''		'bear'	See Portuguese phonology
Romanian	'''u'n'u'''		'one'	See Romanian phonology
Russian	'у'зкий		'narrow'	See Russian phonology
Scottish Gaelic	''g'u'''		'to'
Serbian	ж'у'т /''ž'u't''		'yellow'
Slovak	'''u'''		'at'
Spanish	''c'u'rable''		'curable'	See Spanish phonology
Turkish	'''u'çak''		'airplane'
Swedish	''b'o't''		'penance'	See Swedish phonology
Vietnamese	''t'u'''		'to mediate'	See Vietnamese phonology