AbstractThe aim of this paper is to analyze the phonological regularities and relationships within the Swedish vowel system. Particular attention will be paid to the vowel /U/, which offers special difficulties with its different variants (in, for example,gul, full, rutin). I will argue that/U/be considered as a phonologically (and also acoustically ‐perceptually) central vowel. The theoretical framework to be used is that of generative phonology. However, I will deviate from some of the dogmas of generative phonology in several important respect