Near-close near-front rounded vowel

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IPA – number	320
IPA – text	ʏ
IPA – image
Entity	ʏ
X-SAMPA	Y
Kirshenbaum	I.
Sound sample (help·info)

The near-close near-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 ʏ, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is Y.

In most languages this vowel is exolabial (compressed). However, in a few cases it is endolabial (with protruded lips). This is the case with Swedish, which contrasts the two types of rounding.

Contents 1 Exolabial (compressed) 1.1 Features 1.2 Occurrence 2 Endolabial (protruded) 2.1 Features 2.2 Occurrence 3 References 4 Bibliography

[edit] Exolabial (compressed)

[edit] Features

• Its vowel height is near-close, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted.
• Its vowel backness is near-front, which means the tongue is positioned as in a front vowel, but slightly further back in the mouth.
• Its roundedness is exolabial, which means that the lips are rounded but vertically compressed, so that the inner surfaces are not exposed.

[edit] Occurrence

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
Dutch		hut	[hʏ̞t]	'hut'	Lowered. See Dutch phonology
English	Some Southern English varieties[1]	book	[bʏk]	'book'	Corresponds to /ʊ/ in other English dialects. See English phonology
Faroese		krúss	[kɹʏsː]	'mug'
French	Quebec	municipalité	[mʏnɪsɪpalɪte]	'municipality'	See Quebec French phonology
German		schützen	[ˈʃʏtsˑn]	'protect'	See German phonology
Icelandic		vinur	[vɪnʏr]	'friend'
Limburgish	Maastrichtian	un	[ʏn]	'union'
Swedish		ut	[ʏβ̞t] (help·info)	'out'	May be central in other dialects. See Swedish phonology

[edit] Endolabial (protruded)

Most languages with rounded front and back vowels use distinct types of labialization, endolabial or protruded back vowels, and exolabial or compressed front vowels. However, a few languages, such as Scandinavian, have front vowels with the typically back-vowel form of exolabial rounding. One of these, Swedish, even contrasts the two types of rounding in front vowels.^[2]

As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish endo- and exo-labial rounding, old diacritic for labialization, [  ̫], will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for endolabial front vowels. (Another possible transcription is [ʏʷ] or [ɪʷ] (a near-front near-close vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong.)

[edit] Features

• Its vowel height is near-close, which means the tongue is positioned similarly to a close vowel, but slightly less constricted.
• Its vowel backness is near-front, which means the tongue is positioned as in a front vowel, but slightly further back in the mouth.
• Its roundedness is endolabial, which means that the lips protrude, with the inner surfaces exposed.

[edit] Occurrence

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Norwegian		nytt	[nʏ̫t]	'new'	See Norwegian phonology
Swedish		ylle	[ˈʏ̫lːɛ] (help·info)	'wool'	See Swedish phonology

[edit] References

[edit] Bibliography

• Jones, Daniel & Ward Dennis (1969), The Phonetics of Russian, Cambridge University Press