The (near-)open front rounded vowel, or (near-)low front rounded vowel, is a type of
vowel
A vowel is a speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract, forming the nucleus of a syllable. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness a ...
sound that has not been confirmed to be
phonemic
A phoneme () is any set of similar speech sounds that are perceptually regarded by the speakers of a language as a single basic sound—a smallest possible phonetic unit—that helps distinguish one word from another. All languages con ...
in any
spoken language
Language is a structured system of communication that consists of grammar and vocabulary. It is the primary means by which humans convey meaning, both in spoken and signed language, signed forms, and may also be conveyed through writing syste ...
. The symbol in the
International Phonetic Alphabet
The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation ...
that represents this sound is , and the equivalent
X-SAMPA symbol is
&. The letter is the
small caps
In typography, small caps (short for small capitals) are grapheme, characters typeset with glyphs that resemble uppercase letters but reduced in height and weight close to the surrounding lowercase letters or text figures. Small caps are used i ...
rendition of . , the lowercase version of the ligature, is used for the
open-mid front rounded vowel
The open-mid front rounded vowel, or low-mid front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the sound is . The symbol œ is a lowercase ligature ...
.
While the IPA chart lists it as a fully open vowel, the rounded equivalent of , Ladefoged characterizes it as near-open, the rounded equivalent of .
A phoneme generally transcribed by this symbol is reported from the
Bavarian dialect of Amstetten. However, it is phonetically
open-mid, .
It occurs allophonically in Weert Limburgish
as well as in some speakers of
Danish and
Swedish.
Certain transcriptions of
Danish use to denote an ''open-mid'' front rounded vowel .
In
Maastrichtian Limburgish, the vowel transcribed with in th
Mestreechter Taoldictionary is phonetically near-open central . It is a phonological open-mid front rounded vowel, the long counterpart of .
reports that in Stockholm Swedish is sometimes difficult to distinguish from , which is the main realization of the phoneme, a sign that both vowels are phonetically very close.
Features
Occurrence
See also
*
Index of phonetics articles
A
* Acoustic phonetics
* Active articulator
* Affricate
* Airstream mechanism
* Alexander John Ellis
* Alexander Melville Bell
* Alfred C. Gimson
* Allophone
* Alveolar approximant ()
* Alveolar click ()
* Alveolar consonant
* Alveolar ej ...
Notes
References
*
*
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*
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*
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External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Open Front Rounded Vowel
Open vowels
Front vowels
Rounded vowels