Close front rounded vowel

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IPA – number	309
IPA – text	y
IPA – image
Entity	y
X-SAMPA	y
Kirshenbaum	y
Sound sample (help·info)

The close front 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 y, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is y.

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

Contents 1 Features 2 Occurrence 3 Close front compressed vowel 3.1 Features 3.2 Occurrence 4 See also 5 References 6 Bibliography

[edit] 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 front, which means the tongue is positioned as far forward 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.

[edit] Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Albanian		dy	[dy]	'two'
Azeri		güllə	[ɟylˈlæ]	'bullet'
Chinese	Cantonese	書/syu1	[syː]	'book'	See Standard Cantonese
	Mandarin	绿/lü	[lyː]	'green'	See Standard Mandarin
Chechen		уьш/üş	[yʃ]	'they'
Danish		yde	[ˈyːðə]	'to supply'	See Danish phonology
Dutch[1]		fuut	[fyːt]	'grebe'	See Dutch phonology
English	Scottish	food	[fyd]	'food'	Some dialects. Corresponds to /u/ or /ʉ/ in other dialects. See English phonology
Estonian		üks	[yks]	'one'
Finnish		yksi	[ˈyksi]	'one'	See Finnish phonology
French[2]		chute	[ʃyt]	'fall'	See French phonology
German		Blüte	[ˈblyːtə]	'blossom'	See German phonology
Hungarian[3]		tű	[tyː]	'pin'	See Hungarian phonology
Korean		위 wi	[y]	'top'	May be diphthongized to [wi] by younger speakers
Lombard		dü	[dy]	'two'
Norwegian		syd	[syːd]	'south'	See Norwegian phonology
Occitan	Gascon	lua	[ˈlyo]	'moon'
	Languedocien	luna	[ˈlyno]
	Provençal
Swedish		yla	[yː(ɥ)la] (help·info)	'howl'	See Swedish phonology
Turkish		güneş	[ɟyˈneʃ]	'sun'	See Turkish phonology

[edit] Close front compressed vowel

The close front compressed vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. There is no diacritic in the IPA to indicate compression, but since the Swedish back vowel /u/ and Norwegian central vowel /ʉ/ are also labially compressed (see close central compressed vowel and close back compressed vowel), <ʉ̟> is frequently chosen as an ad hoc transcription for Swedish. Another possibility would be to transcribe it as a near-front vowel with an old alternate labialization diacritic, <y̫>.

[edit] Features

• Its vowel height is near-close, which means the tongue is not quite so constricted as a close vowel.
• Its vowel backness is near-front, which means the tongue is positioned almost as far forward as a front vowel.
• Its vowel roundedness is compressed, which means the corners of the mouth are drawn slightly together and the lips may be compressed horizontally, but do not protrude.

[edit] Occurrence

As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the old diacritic for labialization, [  ̫], may be used here as an ad hoc symbol.

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Swedish		ut	[ʉ̟β̞t] (help·info)	'out'	May be central in other dialects. See Swedish phonology

[edit] See also

• List of phonetics topics

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Fougeron, Cecile & Caroline L Smith (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73-76
• Gussenhoven, Carlos (1992), "Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (2): 45-47
• Szende, Tamás (1994), "Illustrations of the IPA:Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Alphabet 24 (2): 91-94