Close front rounded vowel

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See also: IPA, Consonants
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i • y
ɨ • ʉ
ɯ • u
ɪ • ʏ
• ʊ
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.
IPA – number 309
IPA – text y
IPA – image {{{imagesize}}}
Entity y
X-SAMPA y
Kirshenbaum y
Sound sample 


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, commonly transcribed as [ʉ̟], which contrasts with both the rounded and unrounded close front vowels.

  • 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.

In standard British English, the front rounded vowel does not occur, but in regional varieties like the Scottish English, 'food' is realised as /fyːd/. In languages like Cantonese and Mandarin, this vowel is commonly used. A distinctive use of this vowel in Cantonese is in 雷, 'leoi', IPA /lɵy/. It is used as a diphthong /ɵy/, with the close-mid central rounded vowel /ɵ/. This feature is seldom, or not observed at all, in any other language.

Language Word IPA Meaning Notes
Albanian dy [dy] 'two'
Azeri güllə [ɟylˈlæ] 'bullet'
Chechen üsh [yʃ] 'they'
Cantonese Chinese [jyː] 'fish'
Cantonese Chinese [jɵy] 'sharp'
Cantonese Chinese [hyːn] 'dog'
Dutch fuut [fyːt] 'grebe' See Dutch phonology
Some dialects
of Scottish English
food [fyd] 'food' Corresponds to /uː/ in other English dialects
Estonian üks [yks] 'one'
Finnish yksi [ˈyksi] 'one' See Finnish phonology
French chute [ʃyt] 'fall' See French phonology
Gascon lua [ˈlyo] 'moon'
German Blüte [ˈblyːtə] 'blossom' See German phonology
Hungarian tű [tyː] 'pin' See Hungarian phonology
Mandarin 绿 [lyː] 'green' pinyin: lü
Norwegian syd [syːd] 'south' See Norwegian phonology
Occitan luna [ˈlyno] 'moon' In both Languedocien and Provençal
Swedish yla [yːla] 'howl' See Swedish phonology
Turkish güneş [gyˈneʃ] 'sun'
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