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Vowel

Long OO / Blue Vowel

The high back rounded tense vowel sound heard in words like "blue", "food", "two", and "rule". Often called the BLUE vowel.

o͞o
Phonetic System (Merriam-Webster):o͞o

Watch the Sound

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Example Words

Main Example

blue
Phonetic: blu

Common Words

blueblu
foodfud
twotu
rulerul
youju
dodu
shoeʃu
newnu
throughθru
movemuv

Minimal Pairs

Listen and compare similar sounds

o͞o
pool
pul
Compare with
P
pull
pʊl
o͞o
Luke
luk
Compare with
L
look
lʊk
o͞o
fool
ful
Compare with
F
full
fʊl
o͞o
food
fud
Compare with
F
foot
fʊt

Tongue Twister

Sue chooses blue shoes on Tuesday.

Try it yourself

Practice saying this tongue twister

Technical Details

  • CategoryVowel
  • VoicingVoiced
  • Place of ArticulationBack (High)
  • Manner of ArticulationVowel (Close)
  • Mouth PositionLips are tightly rounded and pushed forward slightly. Tongue is high and pulled far back in the mouth. Jaw is relatively closed. Muscles around the lips are tense.