Voyelle fermée postérieure arrondie

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 u, 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.

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 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.

Occurs in

• LL: voet [vuʷt], 'foot'
• LL: (RP and GA) boot [bu̟ʷt]. The realization of this vowel in English is typically fronter than the cardinal vowel [u]; in some dialects it can be further forward than [ʉ].
• LL: fou [fu], 'crazy'
• LL: Fuß [fuːs], 'foot'
• LL: urso [ˈuɾsu], 'bear'
• LL: unu [ˈunu], 'one'
• LL: cura [ˈkuɾa], 'preach'
• LL: tu [tū], 'to mediate'