Editing Close back rounded vowel (section)

{{Short description|Vowel sound represented by ⟨u⟩ in IPA}}
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{{Infobox IPA
|ipa symbol=u
|ipa number=308
|decimal=117
|x-sampa=u
|braille=u
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x0075.svg
}}
{{IPA vowels|class=floatright}}

The '''close back rounded vowel''', or '''high back rounded vowel''',<ref>{{Vowel terminology}}</ref> is a type of [[Vowel diagram|vowel]] sound used in many spoken [[language]]s. The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents this sound is {{angbr IPA|u}}, and the equivalent [[X-SAMPA]] symbol is&nbsp;<code>u</code>.

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

{{IPA|[u]}} [[alternation (linguistics)|alternates]] with [[labio-velar approximant]] {{IPA|[w]}} in certain languages, such as [[French language|French]], and in the [[diphthong]]s of some languages, {{IPA|[u̯]}} with the [[non-syllabic]] diacritic and {{IPA|[w]}} are used in different [[phonetic transcription|transcription]] systems to represent the same sound.