The open front rounded vowel, or low front rounded vowel,[1] is a type of vowel sound that has not been confirmed to be phonetic in any spoken language,[2] but is occasionally used in phonemic transcriptions for some Germanic languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ɶ⟩, a small capital ⟨Œ⟩. It was added to the IPA vowel chart to balance the quadrilateral by filling in the remaining gap for a rounded equivalent of [a].[3]
While the IPA chart lists this vowel as the rounded equivalent of [a], studies of formant acoustics suggest it is closer to the rounded homologue of [æ].[citation needed]
A phoneme transcribed with ⟨ɶ⟩ is reported for the Amstetten dialect of Bavarian; however, it is phonetically open-mid [œ], pairing with unrounded phonemic /æ/ (phonetic [ɛ]).[4] Similarly, certain studies of Danish[5][6] and Swedish[7] use ⟨ɶ⟩ to transcribe a phoneme that is phonetically open-mid [œ] or near-open [œ̞] (depending on the analysis), where phonemic /œ/ is phonetically raised closer to mid [œ̝].[6][8] In Maastrichtian Limburgish, the vowel transcribed with ⟨ɶː⟩ in the Mestreechter Taol dictionary[9] is phonetically centralized, with a height between open-mid [œ̈ː] and near-open [œ̞̈ː]; phonologically, it is the long counterpart of /œ/.[10]
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
No language has been reported to have a phonetically true open realization. The table below provides examples of near-open realizations (thus being rounded homologues of [æ], i.e. a near-open front rounded vowel), which are phonetically raised compared to cardinal [ɶ], and also often centralized (similar to [ɞ̞], but not as central). In the case of the latter, these may be transcribed as mid-centralized [ɶ̽] (alternatively, [ɶ̝̈] or [œ̞̈]).
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danish | Some speakers[6] | grøn | [ˈkʁɶ̽nˀ] | 'green' | Near-open and centralized;[5] allophone of /ø/ between [ʁ] and /v/ ([w]),[11] and of /œ/ between [ʁ] and a nasal;[12] though becoming [ʌ̞̈] in the latter environments.[13] Historically also an allophone of /ø/ before /j/, but likewise has merged to [ʌ̞̈].[14] May instead be analyzed as open-mid [œ].[6] See Danish phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect[15] | bui | [bɶ̽j] | 'shower' | Near-open and centralized; allophone of /œ/ before /j/ in non-diphthong sequences.[15] See Weert dialect phonology |
| Swedish | Stockholm | öra | [ˈɶ̝̂ːrä] | 'ear' | Near-open; realization of the phoneme /øː/ (which Pelzer & Boersma (2019) recommend transcribing instead as /œː/).[16] Corresponds to [œ̫ː] in Linköping and Lund dialects. An acoustic study by Persson (2024) points instead to a potentially open-mid central realization [œ̈ː].[8] 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), p. 15: "This cardinal sound is not known to occur in any language."
- ↑ Wells (1975), p. 52: "Although it may seldom or never be needed for phonemic transcription, I feel that for completeness' sake, and to fill an awkward gap in our vowel chart, we should recognize this symbol for an open front rounded vowel."
- ↑ Traunmüller (1982), cited in Ladefoged & Maddieson (1996), p. 290
- 1 2 Grønnum (1998), p. 100.
- 1 2 3 4 Basbøll (2005), pp. 46–48.
- ↑ Riad (2014), p. 38.
- 1 2 Persson (2024), Fig. 1, 7.
- ↑ "Mestreechter Taol".
- ↑ Gussenhoven & Aarts (1999), pp. 159, 161–162, 164.
- ↑ Grønnum (2005), pp. 60, 288.
- ↑ Grønnum (2005), pp. 61, 396.
- ↑ Grønnum (2005), p. 333.
- ↑ Grønnum (2005), pp. 331–333.
- 1 2 Heijmans & Gussenhoven (1998), p. 110.
- ↑ Pelzer & Boersma (2019), pp. 1146–1147.
References
- Basbøll, Hans (2005), The Phonology of Danish, Taylor & Francis, ISBN 0-203-97876-5
- Grønnum, Nina (1998), "Danish", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28 (1–2): 99–105, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006290, S2CID 249412109
- Grønnum, Nina (2005), Fonetik og fonologi, Almen og Dansk (3rd ed.), Copenhagen: Akademisk Forlag, ISBN 87-500-3865-6
- Gussenhoven, Carlos; Aarts, Flor (1999), "The dialect of Maastricht" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 29 (2), University of Nijmegen, Centre for Language Studies: 155–166, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006526, S2CID 145782045, archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-10-11, retrieved 2022-02-18
- Heijmans, Linda; Gussenhoven, Carlos (1998), "The Dutch dialect of Weert" (PDF), Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 28 (1–2): 107–112, doi:10.1017/S0025100300006307, JSTOR 44526862, S2CID 145635698, archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04, retrieved 2015-10-25
- Jones, Daniel (1956), Cardinal Vowels Spoken by Daniel Jones: Text of Records with Explanatory Notes by Professor Jones (PDF), London: Linguaphone Institute
- Ladefoged, Peter; Maddieson, Ian (1996). The Sounds of the World's Languages. Oxford: Blackwell. ISBN 0-631-19815-6.
- Pelzer, Joppe A.; Boersma, Paul (2019). Diphthongization in three regional varieties of Swedish (PDF). Proceedings of the 19th International Congress of Phonetic Sciences. Melbourne: Australian Speech Science and Technology Association. pp. 1144–1148.
- Persson, Anna (2024), "The acoustic characteristics of Swedish vowels", Phonetica, 81 (6): 599–643, doi:10.1515/phon-2024-0011, PMID 39443329
- 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
- Wells, J. C. (1975), "The Association's Alphabet", Journal of the International Phonetic Association, 5 (2): 52–58, doi:10.1017/S0025100300001274, JSTOR 44525810