NEAR-CLOSE NEAR-BACK VOWEL

(Redirected from Near-close near-back rounded vowel)

The 'near-close near-back vowel' is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet for the 'near-close near-back rounded vowel' is . This derives from a small turned capital Ω; although officially called a ''small Latin letter upsilon'', it bears little resemblance to the Greek upsilon and is informally called "horseshoe u" instead. The equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is U.
Some languages may have a 'near-close near-back unrounded vowel' (see below). However, no language is known to contrast rounding of this vowel, so the IPA has not devised a standard symbol for it.

Contents

Near-close near-back rounded vowel

Features

History

Occurs in

Near-close near-back unrounded vowel

Features

Occurs in

Near-close near-back rounded vowel

Features

★ Its vowel height is near-close, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted.

★ Its vowel backness is near-back, which means the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth.

★ Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded. However, no language is known to contrast rounding this place of articulation, so the IPA symbol has not devised separate symbols.

History

Prior to 1989, there was an alternate IPA symbol for this sound, , called "closed omega". This symbol is no longer supported by the IPA.

Occurs in

Language	Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English	''h'oo'k''		'hook'	May be only slightly rounded. See English phonology
Faroese	''hval'u'r''		'whale'
French (Quebec)	''f'ou'le''		'crowd'	See French phonology
German	''Sch'u'tz''		'protection'	See German phonology
Russian	с'у'хой		'dry'	See Russian phonology
Swedish	'''o'rt''		'(geographic) place'	See Swedish phonology

Near-close near-back unrounded vowel

The 'near-close near-back unrounded vowel' may be transcribed with the symbol for a close back unrounded vowel with the mid-centralizing diacritic, .

Features

★ Its vowel height is near-close, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted.

★ Its vowel backness is near-back, which means the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth.

★ Its vowel roundedness is unrounded, which means that the lips are not rounded.

Occurs in

★ European Portuguese: ''p'e'gar'' , 'to hold'. The unstressed ''e'' of European Portuguese is sometimes transcribed as , even though it is not a mid central unrounded vowel. Nevertheless, it is a schwa in the broad sense of being 'an unstressed and toneless neutral vowel'.