RP
ʊ
Lower case upsilon
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
| <u> | put /ˈpʊt/ , cushion /ˈkʊʃn̩/ , sugar /ˈʃʊɡə/ |
| <oo> | look /lʊk/ , wool /wʊl/ |
| <o> | woman /ˈwʊmən/ , Wolverhampton /ˈwʊlvəˌhæmptən/ |
| <ou> | could /kʊd/ , should /ʃʊd/ |
Examples
| wolf / wʊlf / |
| wools / wʊlz / |
| butcher / ˈbʊtʃə / |
| worsted / ˈwʊstɪd / |
| sugar /ˈʃʊɡə/ |
| pudding /ˈpʊdɪŋ/ |
| Roumania / rʊˈmeɪnɪə / |
| neighbourhood / ˈneɪbəhʊd / |
|
Please, put the cookery books on the bookshelf in the dining-room, would you?
/ pli:z ˈpʊt ðə ˈkʊkəri ˌbʊks ɒn ðə ˈbʊkʃelf ɪn ðə ˈdaɪnɪŋ ˌru:m wʊd ˈju:/ |
|
The woman from Worcester suffered from bosom cancer.
/ ðə ˈwʊmən frəm ˈwʊstə ˈsʌfəd frəm ˌbʊzəm ˈkænsə/ |
|
Hugh first stood looking at the books, and then pulled the covers of Puss in Boots, threw them to the brook and told the truth, whithout beating about the bush.
/ ˈhju: ˈfɜ:st ˈstʊd ˈlʊkɪŋ ət ðə ˈbʊks ənd ˈðen ˈpʊld ðə ˈkʌvəz əv ˈpʊs ɪn ˈbu:ts ˈθru: ðəm tə ðə ˈbrʊk ənd ˈtəʊld ðə ˈtru:θ wɪðˈaʊt ˈbi:tɪŋ əˈbaʊt ðə ˈbʊʃ/ |
|
Esau Wood saw a wood saw, saw wood, as no wood saw would saw wood.
/ ˈɪsɔ: ˈwʊd ˈsɔ: ə ˌwʊd ˈsɔ:ˈsɔ: ˈwʊd əz ˈnəʊ ˌwʊd ˈsɔ: wʊd ˈsɔ: ˈwʊd/ |
Pronunciation
The 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).
PSp
u
Lower case u
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
Examples
| útil |
| curioso |
| iglú |
|
|
Pronunciation
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.
