Close central rounded vowel

Close central rounded vowel
ʉ
IPA number318
Audio sample
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Encoding
Entity (decimal)ʉ
Unicode (hex)U+0289
X-SAMPA}
Braille
Front Central Back
Close
Near-close
Close-mid
Mid
Open-mid
Near-open
Open

Legend: unrounded  rounded

The close central rounded vowel, or high central 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 ⟨ʉ⟩. The sound is also commonly referred to by the name of its symbol, "barred u".

The close central rounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the rare labialized post-palatal approximant [ẅ].

In most languages this rounded vowel is pronounced with protruded lips (endolabial). However, in a few cases the lips are compressed (exolabial).