LoginHow to Pronounce the /ʊ/ Sound
Learn about the /ʊ/ sound, a short vowel found in words. Understand its pronunciation, how it differs from similar sounds, and its role in English phonology.
In this lesson, we are going to learn how the sound /ʊ/ is produced by looking at the articulatory organs.
What Type of Sound Is /ʊ/?
/ʊ/ is a short sound and is between /u/ and /o/.
How to Produce /ʊ/?
Mouth Configuration for /ʊ/
To produce it, close your mouth as if you are saying /o/, and round your lips as if you are saying /u/. Then push them outwards to make an open circle and utter /ʊ/. As you can see in the picture, the roundness of the /ʊ/ sound is somehow between the /o/ and /u/ sound.
Which Letters are Pronounced as /ʊ/?
/ʊ/ Around the World
As you can see in the table below, most common languages lack this sound, but with a little practice you will be able to master it.
| Existence | Example | |
|---|---|---|
| Mandarin | ✔ | 冬 (dōng) |
| Spanish | x | - |
| Hindi | ✔ | उन |
| Bengali | x | - |
| Portuguese | x | - |
| Russian | ✔ | мужчи́на |
| Japanese | x | - |
| Vietnamese | x | - |
| Turkish | x | - |
| French | x | - |
| German | ✔ | und |
| Italian | x | - |
| Persian | x | - |
| Standard Arabic | x | - |
| Korean | x | - |
| Indonesian | ✔ | rumput |
| Filipino | ✔ | ulól |
| Hungarian | x | - |
| Dutch | x | - |
| Polish | x | - |
| Romanian | x | - |
| Swedish* | ✔ | bott |
| Czech | x | - |
| Greek | x | - |
| Ukrainian | ✔ | туди́ |
| Urdu | ✔ | اُن |
* The sound exists in Sweden Swedish.
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