Close back rounded vowel

Close back rounded vowel
Close back rounded vowel
u
IPA Number	308
Audio sample
	source · help
Encoding
Entity (decimal)	u
Unicode (hex)	U+0075
X-SAMPA	u
Braille

IPA: Vowels

	Front	Central	Back
Close	i y	ɨ ʉ	ɯ u
Near-close	ɪ ʏ		ʊ
Close-mid	e ø	ɘ ɵ	ɤ o
Mid	e̞ ø̞	ə	ɤ̞ o̞
Open-mid	ɛ œ	ɜ ɞ	ʌ ɔ
Near-open	æ	ɐ
Open	a ɶ	ä	ɑ ɒ

Legend: unrounded • rounded

The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel,^[1] 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.

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

[u] alternates with labio-velar approximant [w] in certain languages, such as French, and in the diphthongs of some languages, [u̯] with the non-syllabic diacritic and [w] are used in different transcription systems to represent the same sound.

^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".

[1] While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".

[1]