IPA phonetic symbol (vowel) /ʊ/

This is a Teflpedia phonetics article. For simplicity, our articles are presently based on British English and received pronunciation. We trust teachers will adapt the information to their particular situation and/or that of their students.

In Received Pronunciation, the IPA phonetic symbol /ʊ/ corresponds to the vowel sound in words like "put", "pull" and "could".

Common words

Some common words which practice this pronunciation include the following:

• with "o" or "oo": book - cook - foot - good - hook - look - shook - took - wool - wolf - whoops! - woman;
• with "ou": could - would - should;
• with "u": bull - bullet - bush - cushion - pull - push - put;
• homophones: wood/would.

Anticipated pronunciation difficulties depending on L1

Preconceived ideas and other interferences from L1 obviously interfere in many cases with how students perceive - and pronounce - sounds/words in English. The following sections aims to point out some of the most typical difficulties teachers and students may encounter regarding pronunciation.

Spanish

While /ʊ/ is very similar to the Spanish letter "u", it is actually much shorter, and some Spanish speakers may, at first, have difficulty distinguishing between the vowel sound in "good" and that of /u:/, as in "food", which is longer than the Spanish "u".

See also

• Pronunciation

External links

• British Library: Learning - Sounds Familiar?