Near-close central rounded vowel

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Vowels

See also: IPA, Consonants

Front

Near- front

Central

Near- back

Back

Close

i · y

ɨ · ʉ

ɯ · u

ɪ · ʏ

ɪ̈ · ʊ̈

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. Vowel length is indicated by appending ː

The near-close central rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The International Phonetic Alphabet can represent this sound as < ʊ̈ > (centralized ʊ) or < ʉ̞ > (lowered ʉ). Recently the OED has adopted an unofficial extension of the IPA, ʊ̵, that is a conflation of ʊ and ʉ, for this sound or for free variation between [ʊ] and [ə].

1 Features
2 Occurrence
3 References
4 Bibliography

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 central, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a front vowel and a back vowel.
Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded.

Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
English		euphoria	[jʊ̈ˈfɔəɹiə]	'euphoria'	See English phonology. Reduced form of the vowel /uː/.
Russian^[1]		ютиться	[jʉ̞ˈtʲit͡sə]	'to huddle'	Occurs only between palatalized consonants and in unstressed syllables. See Russian phonology