Open front rounded vowel
| Open front rounded vowel | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| ɶ | |||
| IPA number | 312 | ||
| Audio sample | |||
| Encoding | |||
| Entity (decimal) | ɶ | ||
| Unicode (hex) | U+0276 | ||
| X-SAMPA | & | ||
| Braille |   | ||
| |||
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]
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:
The [ɶ] symbol for Cardinal 12 survived – the unusable in pursuit of the unspeakable, as Oscar Wilde might have said, since Cardinal 12 is an unpronounceable contradiction in terms with jaws fully open and lips rounded. Perhaps one day it can be acoustically synthesized so we can hear it uttered as nature never intended.[11]
Features
[edit]- 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
[edit]| Near-open front rounded vowel | |
|---|---|
| œ̞ | |
| ɶ̝ |
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 [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]),[12] and of /œ/ between [ʁ] and a nasal;[13] though becoming [ʌ̞̈] in the latter environments.[14] Historically also an allophone of /ø/ before /j/, but likewise has merged to [ʌ̞̈].[15] May instead be analyzed as open-mid [œ].[6] See Danish phonology |
| Limburgish | Weert dialect[16] | bui | [bɶ̽j] | 'shower' | Near-open and centralized; allophone of /œ/ before /j/ in non-diphthong sequences.[16] See Weert dialect phonology |
| Northern Altai | Kumandin | ӧштӱ / öštü | [ɶɕty] | 'enemy' | Described by Selyutina (2000) as an open front rounded vowel, but using the transcriptions ⟨ꜵ⟩/⟨ᴔ⟩ instead of ⟨ɶ⟩ and noting that the vowel frequently delabializes to [ɐ],[17] suggesting that it may actually be a near-open realization. Described by later sources as open-mid [œ] instead.[18] |
| Swedish | Stockholm | öra | [ˈɶ̝̂ːrä] | 'ear' | Near-open; realization of the phoneme /øː/ (which Pelzer & Boersma (2019) recommend transcribing instead as /œː/).[19] 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
[edit]Notes
[edit]- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Pullum (1990), p. 37.
- ↑ 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.
- ↑ Selyutina (2000), pp. 19, 43.
- ↑ "Кумандинский | Малые языки России". minlang.iling-ran.ru. Retrieved 2026-08-21.
- ↑ Pelzer & Boersma (2019), pp. 1146–1147.
References
[edit]- 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.
- Pullum, Geoffrey K. (1990). "Remarks on the 1989 Revision of the International Phonetic Alphabet". Journal of the International Phonetic Association. 20 (1): 33–40. JSTOR 44526784.
- Riad, Tomas (2014). The Phonology of Swedish. Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-954357-1.
- Selyutina, I. Y. (2000). Fonetika yazyka kumandintsev kak istoriko-lingvisticheskiy istochnik (eksperimentalno-foneticheskoye issledovaniye) Фонетика языка кумандинцев как историко-лингвистический источник (экспериментально-фонетическое исследование) [Phonetics of the Kumandin Language as a Historical-Linguistic Source (Experimental-Phonetic Study)] (PDF) (PhD thesis). Yakutsk: Humanities Research Institute, Russian Academy of Sciences.
- 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.