Close Back Rounded Vowel Information
The close back rounded vowel, or high back rounded vowel, 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.
The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low", and these are the only terms found in introductory textbooks on phonetics such as those by Peter Ladefoged.
In most languages this rounded vowel is pronounced with protruded lips ('endolabial'). However, in a few cases the lips are compressed ('exolabial').
Contents |
Close back protruded vowel
In most languages, close back rounded vowels are pronounced with protruded lips.
Features
| IPA vowel chart | ||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
||||||||||||||||||||
| Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded | ||||||||||||||||||||
| This table contains phonetic symbols. They may not display correctly in some browsers (Help). | ||||||||||||||||||||
|
IPA help • IPA key • chart • chart with audio • |
||||||||||||||||||||
- Its vowel height is close, also known as high, 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 without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its vowel roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.
Occurrence
Note: Since back rounded vowels are assumed to have protrusion, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have compression.
Close back compressed vowel
| Close back compressed vowel | |
|---|---|
| u͍ | |
| ɯᵝ | |
|
· · |
Some languages, such as Japanese listen (help·info) and Swedish,[18] are found with a close back vowel that has a distinct type of rounding, called compressed or exolabial. No language is known to contrast this with the more typical protruded (endolabial) close back vowel.
As there is no official diacritic for compression in the IPA, the spread-lip diacritic [ ͍ ] will be used here with the rounded vowel [u] as an ad hoc symbol. Other possible transcriptions are [ɯ͡β̞] (simultaneous [ɯ] and labial compression) and [ɯᵝ] ([ɯ] modified with labial compression).
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 without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant.
- Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips approach one another, so that the inner surfaces are not exposed.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Japanese | 空気 kūki | [ku͍ːki] ( listen) | 'air' | See Japanese phonology | |
| Swedish | oro | [ù͍β̞ru͍β̞] ( listen) | 'unease' | Contrasts with a close central and close front compressed vowel. See Swedish phonology | |
| Danish | du | [d̥u͍] | 'you' | See Danish phonology | |
| Norwegian | mot | [mu͍ːt] | 'courage' | See Norwegian phonology | |
See also
References
- ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:54)
- ^ Gussenhoven (1992:47)
- ^ Roach (2004:242)
- ^ Iivonen & Harnud (2005:60, 66)
- ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993:73)
- ^ Shosted & Chikovani (2006:261–262)
- ^ Szende (1994:92)
- ^ Rogers & d'Arcangeli (2004:119)
- ^ Iivonen & Harnud (2005:62, 66–67)
- ^ Jassem (2003:105)
- ^ Cruz-Ferreira (1995:91)
- ^ Barbosa (Albano:229)
- ^ Jones & Ward (1969:67)
- ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:256)
- ^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:24)
- ^ Iivonen & Harnud (2005:64, 68)
- ^ Merrill (2008:109)
- ^ Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
Bibliography
- Barbosa, Plínio A.; Albano, Eleonora C. (2004), "Brazilian Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 227–232, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001756
- Carbonell, Joan F.; Llisterri, Joaquim (1992), "Catalan", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (1-2): 53–56, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004618
- Cruz-Ferreira, Madalena (1995), "European Portuguese", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 25 (2): 90–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005223
- Gussenhoven, Carlos (1992), "Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 22 (2): 45–47, doi:10.1017/S002510030000459X
- Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73–76
- Iivonen, Antti; Harnud, Huhe (2005), "Acoustical comparison of the monophthong systems in Finnish, Mongolian and Udmurt", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 35 (1): 59–71, doi:10.1017/S002510030500191X
- Jassem, Wiktor (2003), "Polish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (1): 103–107, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001191
- Jones, Daniel; Dennis, Ward (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press
- Martínez-Celdrán, Eugenio; Fernández-Planas, Ana Ma.; Carrera-Sabaté, Josefina (2003), "Castilian Spanish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 33 (2): 255–259, doi:10.1017/S0025100303001373
- Merrill, Elizabeth (2008), "Tilquiapan Zapotec", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 38 (1): 107–114
- Roach, Peter (2004), "British English: Received Pronunciation", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (2): 239–245, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001768
- Rogers, Derek; d'Arcangeli, Luciana (2004), "Italian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 34 (1): 117–121, doi:10.1017/S0025100304001628
- Shosted, Ryan K.; Vakhtang, Chikovani (2006), "Standard Georgian", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 36 (2): 255–264, doi:10.1017/S0025100306002659
- Szende, Tamás (1994), "Illustrations of the IPA:Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Alphabet 24 (2): 91–94
- Thelwall, Robin (1990), "Illustrations of the IPA: Arabic", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 20 (2): 37–41
Categories:
|