The mid front rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages.
Although there is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the "exact" mid front rounded vowel between close-mid and open-mid , is generally used. If precision is desired, diacritics can be used, such as or .
Some of the vowels listed in the table below may phonetically be more back than typical front vowels, as near-front vowels. See mid near-front rounded vowel for other examples.
Mid front compressed vowel The mid front compressed vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as or . This article uses the first symbol for simplicity. There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, the compression of the lips can be shown with the letter as / (simultaneous / and labial compression) or / ( / modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic may also be used with a rounded vowel letters / as an ad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded.
Features
Occurrence Because front rounded vowels are assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have protrusion.
Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Breton Possible realization of unstressed ; can be open-mid or close-mid instead. Catalan Northern 'leaves' Realization of in Capcir. Also found in Occitan and French loanwords and interferences. See Catalan phonology Danish Standard 'hen' Also described as close-mid ;, cited in . typically transcribed with . See Danish phonology Dutch Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect 'well' Typically transcribed in IPA with . English Cockney bird 'bird' Occasional realization of ; can be unrounded or, more often, unrounded central instead. May be transcribed in IPA with or . General New Zealand May be open-mid instead. In broader varieties, it is close-mid or higher. Typically transcribed in IPA with . See New Zealand English phonology South African Used in General and Broad accents; may be close-mid instead. In the Cultivated variety, it is realized as mid central unrounded . See South African English phonology Southern Welsh Also described as open-mid and close-mid . West Midlands Faroese, cited in . 'high' Typically transcribed in IPA with . See Faroese phonology Finnish 'Common bent' See Finnish phonology Greek Tyrnavos 'bedbug' Corresponds to and in Standard Modern Greek. Velvendos Hungarian 'kill' See Hungarian phonology Icelandic 'age' Typically transcribed in IPA with . The long allophone is often diphthongized to . See Icelandic phonology Korean () 'left hand' Typically transcribed in IPA with . Diphthongized to in Modern Standard Korean. See Korean phonology Romanian 'light blue' Found only in loanwords. See Romanian phonology Turkish Standard 'eye' Typically transcribed in IPA with . May be more centralized as . See Turkish phonology
Mid front protruded vowel
Catford notes that most languages with rounded front and back vowels use distinct types of labialization, protruded back vowels and compressed front vowels. However, a few languages, such as Scandinavian ones, have protruded front vowels. One of these, Swedish, even contrasts the two types of rounding in front vowels (see near-close near-front rounded vowel, with Swedish examples of both types of rounding).
As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, (a mid front rounded vowel modified by endolabialization) will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for protruded mid front vowels.
Acoustically, this sound is "between" the more typical compressed mid front vowel and the unrounded mid front vowel .
Features
Occurrence Language Word IPA Meaning Notes Swedish Central Standard 'to vote' reported the phonemes and placed the short variant at mid height, as in . According to , the long vowel has been lowered to open-mid in Linköping and Lund, and near-open in Stockholm, with the recommendation of transcribing the phoneme as instead of . reported both short and long variants as allophones of the phonemes , lowered before and any retroflex segment; long are marked as 'lower-mid' and short are marked as 'mid-high', each pairing being differentiated primarily by formant acoustics other than height, and all as central rather than front. See Swedish phonology
Notes
References
External links
pl:Samogłoska półprzymknięta przednia zaokrąglona