Ʊ - LOWER CASE UPSILON
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Near-close, near-back, with closed lip-rounding. Checked (short), lax (weak). For the articulation of RP /ʊ/ a part of the tongue nearer the centre than the back is raised just above the close-mid position, in a symmetrical back relationship with the front vowel /ɪ/. There is close lip-rounding. The tongue is lax (compared with the tenser /u:/) and no firm contact is made between the side rims and the upper molars. There is an increasing tendency for this vowel to be unrounded in such common words as e.g. should, would and could, which have a schwa in their unaccented forms. Spelling
Exampleswolf / wʊlf /
PronunciationThe tonge is positioned slightly further forward than for a back vowel and is not quite so constricted as for a close vowel. There is medium lip-rounding. The soft palate is raised (unless followed by a nasal). |
Close back vowel. When we pronounce this sound, the back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate. The tongue is close to the palate. The lips are more rounded than when we pronounce /o/. The vocal folds vibrate during the production of this sound. Spelling<u> Examplesútil PronunciationThe back of the tongue is raised towards the soft palate. The tongue is close to the palate. The lips are more rounded than when we pronounce /o/. The vocal folds vibrate during the production of this sound. |