ʊ

Near-close near-back vowel
The near-close near-back vowel, or near-high near-back vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some vocal languages. The IPA symbol for the near-close near-back rounded vowel is ⟨ʊ⟩. It is informally called "horseshoe u". Prior to 1989, there was an alternate IPA symbol for this sound, ⟨ɷ⟩, called "closed omega"; use of this symbol is no longer sanctioned by the IPA. In Americanist phonetic notation, the symbol ⟨ᴜ⟩ (a small capital U, not Greek lowercase upsilon) is used.
The IPA prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low".
Some languages may have a near-close near-back unrounded vowel, which can be represented with ⟨ɯ̽⟩ or ⟨ʊ̜⟩ in the IPA.

Features

• Its vowel height is near-close, also known as near-high, which means the tongue is not quite so constricted as a close vowel (high vowel).
• Its vowel backness is near-back, also known as back-central or centralized back, which means the tongue is positioned as in a back vowel, but slightly further forward in the mouth.
• Its vowel roundedness is sometimes rather ambiguous, but it is generally a rounded vowel, which means that the lips are rounded to a greater or lesser degree.