The (near-)open front rounded vowel, or (near-)low front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound that has not been confirmed to be phonemic in any spoken language. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɶ⟩, a small capital ⟨Œ⟩. ⟨œ⟩, the lowercase of the ligature, is used for the open-mid front rounded vowel.
| Open front rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɶ | |||
| IPA number | 312 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| source · help | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɶ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0276 | ||
| X-SAMPA | & | ||
| Braille | |||
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Legend: unrounded • rounded |
While the IPA chart lists it as a fully open vowel, the rounded equivalent of [a], Ladefoged characterizes it as near-open, the rounded equivalent of [æ].
A phoneme generally transcribed by this symbol is reported from the Bavarian dialect of Amstetten. However, it is phonetically open-mid, [œ].
It occurs allophonically in Weert Limburgish as well as in some speakers of Danish and Swedish. Certain transcriptions of Danish use ⟨ɶ⟩ to denote an open-mid front rounded vowel [œ].
In Maastrichtian Limburgish, the vowel transcribed with ⟨ɶː⟩ in the Mestreechter Taol dictionary is phonetically near-open central [ɐ̹ː]. It is a phonological open-mid front rounded vowel, the long counterpart of /œ/.
Riad (2014) reports that [ɶː] in Stockholm Swedish is sometimes difficult to distinguish from [ɒː], which is the main realization of the /ɑː/ phoneme, a sign that both vowels are phonetically very close.
Features
- Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned far from the roof of the mouth – that is, low in the mouth.
- Its vowel backness is front, which means the tongue is positioned forward in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Rounded front vowels are often centralized, which means that often they are in fact near-front.
- It is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded rather than spread or relaxed.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danish | Some speakers | grøn | [ˈkʁɶ̝nˀ] | 'green' | Near-open; allophone of /ø/ between /ʁ/ and /v/ as well as an allophone of /œ/ between /ʁ/ and a nasal. Other speakers pronounce it the same as [œ]. See Danish phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect | bui | [bɶj] | 'shower' | Allophone of /œ/ before /j/. See Weert dialect phonology |
| Swedish | Stockholm | öra | [ˈɶ̂ːra̠] | 'ear' | Pre-/r/ allophone of /øː/ (sometimes also /œ/) for younger speakers. Open-mid [œː, œ] for other speakers. See Swedish phonology |
See also
Notes
- While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
- Jones (1956:15), Wells (1975:52)
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. p. 290. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
- Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:290)
- Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998:110)
- Basbøll (2005:46)
- Riad (2014:38)
- Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999:159, 161–162, 164)
- Grønnum (1998:100)
- Grønnum (2005:288)
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