Open front rounded vowel
| Open front rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɶ | |||
| IPA number | 312 | ||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɶ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0276 | ||
| X-SAMPA | & | ||
| Kirshenbaum | a. | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
| Listen | |||
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The (near) open front rounded vowel, or (near) low front rounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound, not confirmed to be phonemic in any spoken languages. While traditionally characterized as a fully open (low) vowel, the rounded equivalent of [a], acoustically it is near-open (or near-low), the rounded equivalent of [æ].[2] The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɶ⟩, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is &. The letter ⟨ɶ⟩ is a small caps rendition of ⟨Œ⟩. Note that ⟨œ⟩, the lowercase version of the ligature, is used for the open-mid front rounded vowel.
A phoneme generally transcribed by this symbol is reported from the Bavarian subdialect of Amstetten. However, phonetically it is open-mid, i.e. [œ].[3]
It occurs allophonically in Weert Limburgish[4] as well as in some speakers of Danish[5] and Swedish.[6] In certain transcriptions of Danish ⟨ɶ⟩ is used to denote an open-mid front rounded vowel [œ].[5]
Riad (2014) reports that [ɶː] in Stockholm Swedish is sometimes difficult to distinguish from [ɒː] (which is the main realization of the /ɑː/ phoneme). He states that it is a sign that these vowels are phonetically very close.[6]
Contents
Features[edit]
| IPA: Vowels | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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Paired vowels are: unrounded • rounded |
- Its vowel height is open, also known as low, which means the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth – that is, as low as possible in the mouth.
- Its vowel backness is front, which means the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant. Note that 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[edit]
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danish | Some speakers[5] | grøn | [ˈɡ̊ʁɶ̝nˀ] | 'green' | Near-open;[7] allophone of /œ/ after /r/.[8] Other speakers pronounce it the same as [œ].[5] See Danish phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect[4] | bùj | [bɶj] | 'shower' | Allophone of /œ/ before /j/.[4] |
| Swedish | Stockholm[6] | öra | [²ɶːra̠] | 'ear' | Pre-/r/ allophone of /øː/ (sometimes also /œ/) for younger speakers.[6] Open-mid [œː, œ] for other speakers.[6] See Swedish phonology |
See also[edit]
Notes[edit]
- ^ While the International Phonetic Association prefers the terms "close" and "open" for vowel height, many linguists use "high" and "low".
- ^ Geoff Lindsey (2013) The vowel space, Speech Talk
- ^ Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996:290)
- ^ a b c Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998:110)
- ^ a b c d Basbøll (2005:46)
- ^ a b c d e Riad (2014:38)
- ^ Grønnum (1998:100)
- ^ Grønnum (2005:288)
References[edit]
- Basbøll, Hans (2005), The Phonology of Danish, ISBN 0-203-97876-5
- Grønnum, Nina (1998), "Danish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28 (1–2): 99–105, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006290
- Grønnum, Nina (2005), Fonetik og fonologi, Almen og Dansk (3rd ed.), Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, ISBN 87-500-3865-6
- Heijmans, Linda; Gussenhoven, Carlos (1998), "The Dutch dialect of Weert" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28: 107–112, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006307
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19814-8.
- Riad, Tomas (2014), The Phonology of Swedish, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-954357-1
- Traunmüller, Hartmut (1982), "Vokalismus in der westniederösterreichischen Mundart.", Zeitschrift für Dialektologie und Linguistik, 2: 289–333
