Close-mid front rounded vowel
The close-mid front rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ø, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is 2. The symbol [[ø]] is a lowercase letter o with a diagonal stroke through it, derived from the Danish, Faroese, and Norwegian alphabets, which also use this symbol to represent this sound. This symbol is also commonly referred to as "o, slash".
Features
- Its vowel height is close-mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between close vowel and a mid vowel.
- 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.
- Its vowel roundedness is rounded, which means that the lips are rounded.
Occurrence
| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danish | købe | 'buy' | See Danish phonology | ||
| Dutch | keuken | 'kitchen' | See Dutch phonology | ||
| Faroese | øl | 'beer' | |||
| French | peu | 'few' | See French phonology | ||
| German | schön | 'beautiful' | See German phonology | ||
| Hungarian | nő | 'woman' | See Hungarian phonology | ||
| Korean | 쇠 soe | [søː] | 'iron' | May be diphthongized to [we] by younger speakers. See Korean phonology | |
| Ngwe | Mmockngie dialect | [nøɣə̀] | 'sun' | ||
| Norwegian | søt | [søːt] | 'sweet' | See Norwegian phonology | |
| Rotuman | mösʻạki | [møːsʔɔki] | 'to put to bed' | ||
| Swedish | öl | 'beer' | See Swedish phonology | ||
| Western Lombard | cöör/coeur | [kø:r] | 'heart' | ||
| Estonian | köök | [kø:k] | 'kitchen' | ||
Mid front rounded vowel
Some languages have a mid front rounded vowel, distinct from both the close-mid and open-mid vowels. However, since no language is known to distinguish all three, there is no separate IPA symbol for the mid vowel, and [ø] is generally used. If precision is desired, the lowering diacritic may be used: [ø̞].
Occurrence
In the following transcriptions, the lowering diacritic has been omitted for the sake of simplicity.| Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| English | New Zealand | bird | [bø̈ːd] | 'bird' | Centralized; may be Open-mid. See English phonology |
| Finnish | rölli | 'common bent' | See Finnish phonology | ||
| Hungarian | öl | 'kill' | See Hungarian phonology | ||
| Turkish | göz | [ɟøz] | 'eye' | ||
References
Bibliography
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Last updated on Sunday October 05, 2008 at 16:47:50 PDT (GMT -0700)
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