Close front rounded vowel
| Close front rounded vowel | |
|---|---|
| y | |
| IPA number | 309 |
| Encoding | |
| Entity (decimal) | y |
| Unicode (hex) | U+0079 |
| X-SAMPA | y |
| Kirshenbaum | y |
| Sound | |
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The close front rounded vowel, or high 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. Across many languages, it is most commonly represented orthographically as ⟨ü⟩ (in German and Turkish) or ⟨y⟩, but also as ⟨u⟩ (in French and a few other Romance languages); ⟨iu⟩/⟨yu⟩ (in the romanization of various Asian languages); ⟨ű⟩ (in Hungarian for the long duration version; the short version is the ⟨ü⟩ found in other European alphabets); ⟨уь⟩ (in Cyrillic-based writing systems such as that for Chechen); or ⟨ㅟ⟩ (in Hangul, used for Korean).
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 compressed lips ('exolabial'). However, in a few cases the lips are protruded ('endolabial').
Contents |
Close front compressed vowel [edit]
Features [edit]
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- 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 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 roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.
Occurrence [edit]
Note: Since front rounded vowels are assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have protrusion.
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Afrikaans | uur | [yr] | 'hour' | ||
| Albanian | dy | [dy] | 'two' | ||
| Azeri | güllə | [ɟylˈlæ] | 'bullet' | ||
| Basque | Souletin | hirü | [hiɾy] | 'three' | |
| Breton | tud | [tyːd] | 'people' | ||
| Catalan | Northern | but | [byt] | 'aim' | Found in Occitan and French loanwords. See Catalan phonology |
| Chinese | Cantonese | 書 syu1 | [syː˥] | 'book' | See Cantonese phonology |
| Mandarin | 绿 lǜ | [ly˥˩] | 'green' | See Mandarin phonology | |
| Wu | 软 gniu | [ɲy˩˧] | 'soft' | ||
| Chechen | уьш / üş | [yʃ] | 'they' | ||
| Chuvash | ÿс / üs | [ys] | 'to grow' | ||
| Cornish | tus | [tyːz] | 'people' | Corresponds to /iː/ in "Late" dialect. | |
| Danish | yde | [ˈyːð̞ə] | 'to supply' | See Danish phonology | |
| Dutch | Belgian[1] | fuut | [fÿt] (help·info) |
'grebe' | Centralized; it corresponds to [ʉ̞] in the Netherlands. See Dutch phonology |
| English | Scottish | food | [fyd] | 'food' | Some dialects. Corresponds to /u/ (or [ʉ]) in other dialects. See English phonology |
| General SAE[2] | [fyːd] | Some younger speakers, especially females. Others pronounce a more central vowel [ʉː]. | |||
| Estonian | üks | [yks] | 'one' | ||
| Finnish[3] | yksi | [ˈyksi] | 'one' | See Finnish phonology | |
| French[4] | chute | [ʃyt] (help·info) |
'fall' | See French phonology | |
| German | Standard[5] | über | [ˈÿːbɐ] (help·info) |
'above' | Centralized. See German phonology |
| Hungarian[6] | tű | [tÿː] | 'pin' | Centralized. See Hungarian phonology | |
| Korean[dubious ] | 위 wi | [y] | 'top' | May be diphthongized to [wi] by younger speakers. See Korean phonology | |
| Lombard | düü | [dyː] | 'two' | ||
| Mongolian[7] | түймэр tüimer | [tʰyːmɘɾɘ̆] | 'prairie fire' | ||
| North Frisian | hüüs | [hyːs] | 'hoarse' | ||
| Occitan | Gascon | lua | [ˈlyo̞] | 'moon' | See Occitan phonology |
| Languedocien | luna | [ˈlyno̞] | |||
| Provençal | |||||
| Portuguese[8] | Brazilian | déjà vu | [de̞ʒɐ ˈvy] | 'déjà vu' | Found in French and German loanwords. Speakers with little contact with target language may instead use [u], if unstressed, or [i], if stressed. See Portuguese phonology |
| Scots | buit | [byt] | 'boot' | ||
| Turkish[9] | güneş | [ɟÿˈneʃ] | 'sun' | Centralized. See Turkish phonology | |
Close front protruded vowel [edit]
| Close front protruded vowel | |
|---|---|
| y̫ | |
| yʷ |
Catford notes that most languages with rounded front and back vowels use distinct types of labialization, protruded back vowels and compressed front vowels. However, a few languages, such as Scandinavian ones, have protruded front vowels. One of these, Swedish, even contrasts the two types of rounding in front vowels (see near-close near-front rounded vowel, with Swedish examples of both types of rounding).
As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, an old diacritic for labialization, ⟨ ̫⟩, will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for protruded front vowels. Another possible transcription is ⟨yʷ⟩ or ⟨iʷ⟩ (a close front vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.
Features [edit]
- Its vowel height is near-close, also known as near-high, which means the tongue is not quite so constricted as a close vowel (high vowel).
- Its vowel backness is near-front, which means the tongue is positioned almost as far forward as a front vowel.
- Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.
Occurrence [edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwegian | syd | [sy̫ːd] | 'south' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Swedish | yla | [y̫ː(ɥ)la] (help·info) |
'howl' | See Swedish phonology | |
See also [edit]
References [edit]
- ^ Verhoeven (2005:245)
- ^ Lass et al (2002:116)
- ^ Iivonen & Harnud (2005:60, 66)
- ^ Fougeron & Smith (1993:73)
- ^ Mangold (2005:37)
- ^ Szende (1994:92)
- ^ Iivonen & Harnud (2005:62, 66–67)
- ^ (Portuguese) The perception of German vowels by Portuguese-German bilinguals: do returned emigrants suffer phonological erosion? Pages 57 and 68.
- ^ Zimmer & Orgun (1999:155)
Bibliography [edit]
- Fougeron, Cecile; Smith, Caroline L (1993), "Illustrations of the IPA:French", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 23 (2): 73–76, doi:10.1017/S0025100300004874
- 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
- Lass et al (2002), Language in South Africa, ISBN 9780521791052
- Mangold, Max (2005), Das Aussprachewörterbuch, Duden, p. 37, ISBN 9783411040667
- Szende, Tamás (1994), "Illustrations of the IPA:Hungarian", Journal of the International Phonetic Alphabet 24 (2): 91–94, doi:10.1017/S0025100300005090
- Verhoeven, Jo (2005), "Belgian Standard Dutch", Journal of the International Phonetic Association 35 (2): 245, doi:10.1017/S0025100305002173
- Zimmer, Karl; Orgun, Orhan (1999), "Turkish", Handbook of the International Phonetic Association: A guide to the use of the International Phonetic Alphabet, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 154–158, ISBN 0-521-65236-7
