Editing Close central rounded vowel (section)

{{Short description|Vowel sound represented by ⟨ʉ⟩ in IPA}}
{{Infobox IPA
|ipa symbol=ʉ
|ipa number=318
|decimal=649
|x-sampa=}
|kirshenbaum=u"
|imagefile=IPA Unicode 0x0289.svg
|imagesize=150px
|braille=356
|braille2=u
}}
{{IPA vowels|class=floatright}}

[[File:Spectrogram of close central rounded vowel (IPA ʉ).png|thumb|A spectrogram of {{IPA|[ʉ]}}]]

The '''close central rounded vowel''', or '''high central rounded vowel''',<ref>{{Vowel terminology}}</ref> is a type of [[vowel]] sound used in some spoken [[language]]s. The symbol in the [[International Phonetic Alphabet]] that represents this sound is {{angbr IPA|ʉ}}, and the equivalent [[X-SAMPA]] symbol is <code>}</code>. The sound is also commonly referred to by the name of [[U with bar|its symbol]], "barred u".

The close central rounded vowel is the vocalic equivalent of the rare [[labialized post-palatal approximant]] {{IPA|[ẅ]}}.<ref>Instead of "post-palatal", it can be called "retracted palatal", "backed palatal", "palato-velar", "pre-velar", "advanced velar", "fronted velar" or "front-velar".</ref>

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

Some languages feature the '''near-close central rounded vowel''' ({{audio|Near-close central rounded vowel2.ogg|listen}}), which is slightly lower. It is most often transcribed in IPA with {{angbr IPA|ʉ̞}}, {{angbr IPA|ʊ̈}} and {{angbr IPA|ʊ̟}}, but {{angbr IPA|ɵ̝}} is also a possible transcription. The symbol {{angbr IPA|ᵿ}}, a conflation of {{angbr IPA|ʊ}} and {{angbr IPA|ʉ}}, is used as an unofficial extension of the IPA to represent this sound by a number of publications, such as ''Accents of English'' by [[John C. Wells]]. In the third edition of the ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'', {{angbr IPA|ᵿ}} represents [[free variation]] between {{IPA|/ʊ/}} and {{IPA|/ə/}}.