Front vowel

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A front vowel is a class of vowel sounds used in some spoken languages, its defining characteristic being that the highest point of the tongue is positioned approximately as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would otherwise make it a consonant. Front vowels are sometimes also called bright vowels because they are perceived as sounding brighter than the back vowels. [1]

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Near-front vowels are essentially a type of front vowel; no language is known to contrast front and near-front vowels based on backness alone.

Rounded front vowels are typically centralized, that is, near-front in their articulation. This is one reason they are written to the right of unrounded front vowels in the IPA vowel chart.

Partial list

The front vowels that have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are:

There also are front vowels without dedicated symbols in the IPA:

As above, other front vowels can be indicated with diacritics of relative articulation applied to letters for neighboring vowels, such as ⟨i̞⟩, ⟨e̝⟩ or ⟨ɪ̟⟩ for a near-close front unrounded vowel.

Articulatorily fronted vowels

Fronted vowels are one of three articulatory dimensions of vowel space. The prototypical fronted vowel is [i]. Below it in the chart are fronted vowels with jaw opening. Esling vowel chart.png
Fronted vowels are one of three articulatory dimensions of vowel space. The prototypical fronted vowel is [i]. Below it in the chart are fronted vowels with jaw opening.

In articulation, fronted vowels, where the tongue moves forward from its resting position, contrast with raised vowels and retracted vowels. In this conception, fronted vowels are a broader category than those listed in the IPA chart, including [ɪʏ], [ɨʉ], and, marginally, mid-central vowels. Within the fronted vowels, vowel height (open or close) is determined by the position of the jaw, not by the tongue directly. Phonemic raised and retracted vowels may be phonetically fronted by certain consonants, such as palatals and in some languages pharyngeals. For example, /a/ may be fronted to [æ] next to /j/ or /ħ/. [2]

Effect on preceding consonant

In the history of many languages, for example French and Japanese, front vowels have altered preceding velar or alveolar consonants, bringing their place of articulation towards palatal or postalveolar. This change can be allophonic variation, or it can have become phonemic.

This historical palatalization is reflected in the orthographies of several European languages, including the ⟨c⟩ and ⟨g⟩ of almost all Romance languages, the ⟨k⟩ and ⟨g⟩ in Norwegian, Swedish, Faroese and Icelandic, and the ⟨κ⟩, ⟨γ⟩ and ⟨χ⟩ in Greek. English follows the French pattern, but without as much regularity. However, for native or early borrowed words affected by palatalization, English has generally altered the spelling after the pronunciation (Examples include cheap, church, cheese, churn from /*k/, and yell, yarn, yearn, yeast from /*ɡ/.)

Before back vowel: hardBefore front vowel: soft
English ⟨C⟩call /kɔːl/ cell /sɛl/
English ⟨G⟩gall /ɡɔːl/ gel /dʒɛl/
French ⟨C⟩Calais [kalɛ] ⓘ cela [səla] ⓘ
French ⟨G⟩gare [ɡaʁ] ⓘ gel [ʒɛl] ⓘ
Greek ⟨Γ⟩γάιδαρος [ˈɣai̯ðaros] ⓘ γη [ʝi] ⓘ
Greek ⟨Χ⟩Χανιά [xaˈɲa] ⓘ χαίρετε [ˈçerete] ⓘ
Italian ⟨C⟩caro [ˈkaːro] ⓘ città [tʃitˈta] ⓘ
Italian ⟨G⟩gatto [ˈɡatto] ⓘ gente [ˈdʒɛnte] ⓘ
Italian ⟨SC⟩scusa [ˈskuːza] ⓘ pesce [ˈpeʃʃe] ⓘ
Japanese ⟨S⟩sūdoku [sɯꜜːdokɯ] ⓘ shiitake [ɕiꜜːtake] ⓘ [lower-alpha 1]
Japanese ⟨T⟩atatakai [atatakaꜜi] ⓘ dotchi [dotꜜtɕi] ⓘ [lower-alpha 1]
Swedish ⟨K⟩karta [ˈkɑ̂ːʈa] ⓘ kär [ɕæːr] ⓘ
Swedish ⟨G⟩god [ɡuːd] ⓘ göra [ˈjœ̂ːra] ⓘ
Swedish ⟨SK⟩skal [skɑːl] ⓘ skälla [ˈɧɛ̂lːa] ⓘ
  1. 1 2 Palatalization of /si/, /ti/ etc. is shown in spelling in Hepburn romanization.

See also

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The International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) is an alphabetic system of phonetic notation based primarily on the Latin script. It was devised by the International Phonetic Association in the late 19th century as a standard written representation for the sounds of speech. The IPA is used by lexicographers, foreign language students and teachers, linguists, speech–language pathologists, singers, actors, constructed language creators, and translators.

A vowel is a syllabic speech sound pronounced without any stricture in the vocal tract. Vowels are one of the two principal classes of speech sounds, the other being the consonant. Vowels vary in quality, in loudness and also in quantity (length). They are usually voiced and are closely involved in prosodic variation such as tone, intonation and stress.

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Voiced labial–palatal approximant</span> Consonantal sound represented by ⟨ɥ⟩ in IPA

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<span class="mw-page-title-main">Near-close vowel</span> Type of vowel sound

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The mid front rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages.

This article covers the phonology of the Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect, a variety of Getelands spoken in Orsmaal-Gussenhoven, a village in the Linter municipality.

References

  1. ↑ Tsur, Reuven (February 1992). The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception. Duke University Press. p. 20. ISBN   0-8223-1170-4.
  2. ↑ Scott Moisik, Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins, & John H. Esling (2012) "The Epilaryngeal Articulator: A New Conceptual Tool for Understanding Lingual-Laryngeal Contrasts"
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