The open front rounded vowel, or low front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound that has not been confirmed to be phonetic in any spoken language, but is occasionally used in phonemic transcriptions for some Germanic languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is , a small capital . It was added to the IPA vowel chart to balance the quadrilateral by filling in the remaining gap for a rounded equivalent of .
While the IPA chart lists this vowel as the rounded equivalent of , studies of formant acoustics suggest it is closer to the rounded homologue of .
A phoneme transcribed with is reported for the Amstetten dialect of Bavarian; however, it is phonetically open-mid , pairing with unrounded phonemic (phonetic )., cited in Similarly, certain studies of Danish and Swedish use to transcribe a phoneme that is phonetically open-mid or near-open (depending on the analysis), where phonemic is phonetically raised closer to mid . In Maastrichtian Limburgish, the vowel transcribed with in the Mestreechter Taol dictionary is phonetically centralized, with a height between open-mid and near-open ; phonologically, it is the long counterpart of .
Some phoneticians, such as Geoffrey K. Pullum, have argued that the co-occurrence of a fully open articulation with rounded lips is a phonetic impossibility. Following the 1989 Kiel Convention, Pullum wrote the following semi-jocular remark:
Features
Occurrence
No language has been reported to conclusively have a phonetically true open realization. The table below mainly provides examples of near-open realizations (thus being rounded homologues of , i.e. a near-open front rounded vowel), which are phonetically raised compared to cardinal , and also often centralized (similar to , but not as central). In the case of the latter, these may be transcribed as mid-centralized (alternatively, or ).
Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Danish Some speakers 'green' Near-open and centralized; allophone of between and (), and of between and a nasal; though becoming in the latter environments. Historically also an allophone of before , but likewise has merged to . May instead be analyzed as open-mid . See Danish phonology Limburgish Weert dialect 'shower' Near-open and centralized; allophone of before in non-diphthong sequences. See Weert dialect phonology Northern Altai Kumandin / 'enemy' Described by as an open front rounded vowel, but using the transcriptions / instead of and noting that the vowel frequently delabializes to , suggesting that it may actually be a near-open realization. Described by later sources as open-mid instead. Swedish Stockholm 'ear' Near-open; realization of the phoneme (which recommend transcribing instead as ). Corresponds to in Linköping and Lund dialects. An acoustic study by points instead to a potentially open-mid central realization . See Swedish phonology
See also Index of phonetics articles
Notes
References
External links