The "u" sound in English has several variations, most commonly the short /ʌ/ sound like "uh" in "up" or "uncle," the long /uː/ or /juː/ sound like "oo" in "blue" or "music," and the schwa /ə/ sound like the "a" in "sofa," all depending on the word and context. To make the short "uh" sound, your tongue is low and relaxed, while the long "you" sound involves a tighter tongue and rounded lips.
Letter U is the fifth and last vowel of the English alphabet, and it makes the /u/ sound - sounds like "uh". Say "UH". For example, "UP" or "CUT".
Vowels are the letters a, e, i, o, u, and sometimes y. They're the sounds we make with an open mouth, and they're found in every word and syllable. Vowels can be monophthongs (single sounds), diphthongs (two sounds), or triphthongs (three sounds), each affecting pronunciation.
The grapheme 'ue' can make the same sound as /y/ and /oo/ together (yoo), as in 'due'. 'ue' can also make an /oo/ sound, as in 'glue'. There is no specific pattern so you can try both when decoding a new word.
Short U Sound Words
English has 20 vowel sounds. Short vowels in the IPA are /ɪ/-pit, /e/-pet, /æ/-pat, /ʌ/-cut, /ʊ/-put, /ɒ/-dog, /ə/-about. Long vowels in the IPA are /i:/-week, /ɑ:/-hard,/ɔ:/-fork,/ɜ:/-heard, /u:/-boot.
It simply comes from the shortening of “zero meridian time” to “z-time”, which is the military phonetic alphabet is “Zulu”. For a while, when the “z” phonetic abbreviation was “zebra” this was called “Zebra time”. Zulu time's first major usage was by the Royal Navy in the 19th century.
For similar reasons, Charlie and Uniform have alternative pronunciations where the ch is pronounced "sh" and the u is pronounced "oo".
Some examples of Short U CVC words include tug, bus, mud, and lug.
To demonstrate the effect of the schwa, say the word 'lemon' and listen carefully. The first syllable is stressed and we clearly articulate the 'lem', however the second syllable is unstressed and we pronounce it more like 'uhn', giving us 'lemuhn'. Similarly, the word Melbourne: Australians tend to say 'Melbuhn'.
The words are fruit, June, broom, and unicorn. Which word has the long "u" that says /yoo/? Uniform has the long "u" that says /yoo/! The other words (fruit, June, broom) all have the long "u" that says /oo/.
There are two versions of the oo sound; a long sound and a short sound. An example of the long oo sound is spoon, and an example of the short oo sound is book.