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Legend: unrounded • rounded |
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.
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:
- close front unrounded vowel [i]
- close front compressed vowel [y]
- near-close front unrounded vowel [ɪ]
- near-close front compressed vowel [ʏ]
- close-mid front unrounded vowel [e]
- close-mid front compressed vowel [ø]
- open-mid front unrounded vowel [ɛ]
- open-mid front compressed vowel [œ]
- near-open front unrounded vowel [æ]
- open front unrounded vowel [a]
- open front rounded vowel [ɶ]
There also are front vowels without dedicated symbols in the IPA:
- close front protruded vowel [yʷ]
- near-close front protruded vowel [ʏʷ]
- close-mid front protruded vowel [øʷ]
- mid front unrounded vowel [e̞] or [ɛ̝]
- mid front compressed vowel [ø̞] or [œ̝]
- mid front protruded vowel [ø̞ʷ] or [œ̝ʷ]
- open-mid front protruded vowel [œʷ]
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
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 [ɪ ʏ], [ɨ ʉ], 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/.
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: hard | Before 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] |
| Japanese ⟨T⟩ | atatakai [atatakaꜜi] | dotchi [dotꜜtɕi] |
| Swedish ⟨K⟩ | karta [ˈkɑ̂ːʈa] | kär [ɕæːr] |
| Swedish ⟨G⟩ | god [ɡuːd] | göra [ˈjœ̂ːra] |
| Swedish ⟨SK⟩ | skal [skɑːl] | skälla [ˈɧɛ̂lːa] |
Occurrences
According to PHOIBLE, /i/ is the most common phonemic front vowel, occurring in around 92% of inventories, while /œ/ is the least common, occurring in only one inventory on the database.
| Vowel | % |
|---|---|
| /i/ | 92 |
| /a/ | 88 |
| /e/ | 61 |
| /ɛ/ | 37 |
| /ɪ/ | 15 |
| /æ/ | 7 |
| /y/ | 6 |
| /ø/ | 3 |
| /œ/ | 3 |
| /ʏ/ | 1 |
| /ɶ/ | 0 |
- Palatalization of /si/, /ti/ etc. is shown in spelling in Hepburn romanization.
- Of the phonological inventories listed on PHOIBLE, ɶ only occurs in Northern Altai
See also
- Central vowel
- Back vowel
- List of phonetics topics
- Relative articulation
References
- Tsur, Reuven (February 1992). The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception. Duke University Press. p. 20. ISBN 0-8223-1170-4.
- Scott Moisik, Ewa Czaykowska-Higgins, & John H. Esling (2012) "The Epilaryngeal Articulator: A New Conceptual Tool for Understanding Lingual-Laryngeal Contrasts"
- Steven Moran and Daniel McCloy, ed. (2019). PHOIBLE 2.0. Jena: Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History.
This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources Front vowel news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2021 Learn how and when to remove this message IPA VowelsFront Central BackClose i y ɨ ʉ ɯ uNear close ɪ ʏ ʊClose mid e o ɘ ɵ ɤ oMid e o e ɤ o Open mid ɛ œ ɜ ɞ ʌ ɔNear open ae ɐOpen a ɶ a ɑ ɒIPA help audio full chart template Legend unrounded roundedThis article contains phonetic transcriptions in the International Phonetic Alphabet IPA For an introductory guide on IPA symbols see Help IPA For the distinction between and see IPA Brackets and transcription delimiters 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 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 listThe front vowels that have dedicated symbols in the International Phonetic Alphabet are close front unrounded vowel i close front compressed vowel y near close front unrounded vowel ɪ near close front compressed vowel ʏ close mid front unrounded vowel e close mid front compressed vowel o open mid front unrounded vowel ɛ open mid front compressed vowel œ near open front unrounded vowel ae open front unrounded vowel a open front rounded vowel ɶ There also are front vowels without dedicated symbols in the IPA close front protruded vowel yʷ near close front protruded vowel ʏʷ close mid front protruded vowel oʷ mid front unrounded vowel e or ɛ mid front compressed vowel o or œ mid front protruded vowel o ʷ or œ ʷ open mid front protruded vowel œʷ As above other front vowels can be indicated with diacritics of relative articulation applied to letters for neighboring vowels such as i e or ɪ for a near close front unrounded vowel Articulatorily fronted vowelsFronted 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 ɪ ʏ ɨ ʉ 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 ae next to j or ħ Effect on preceding consonantIn 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 k g and x 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 hard Before front vowel softEnglish C call k ɔː l cell s ɛ l English G gall ɡ ɔː l gel dʒ ɛ l French C Calais kalɛ cela sela French G gare ɡaʁ gel ʒɛl Greek G gaidaros ˈɣai daros gh ʝi Greek X Xania xaˈɲa xairete ˈcerete Italian C caro ˈkaːro citta tʃitˈta Italian G gatto ˈɡatto gente ˈdʒɛnte Italian SC scusa ˈskuːza pesce ˈpeʃʃe Japanese S sudoku sɯꜜːdokɯ shiitake ɕiꜜːtake Japanese T atatakai atatakaꜜi dotchi dotꜜtɕi Swedish K karta ˈkɑ ːʈa kar ɕaeːr Swedish G god ɡuːd gora ˈjœ ːra Swedish SK skal skɑːl skalla ˈɧɛ lːa OccurrencesAccording to PHOIBLE i is the most common phonemic front vowel occurring in around 92 of inventories while œ is the least common occurring in only one inventory on the database Frequency of front vowels Vowel i 92 a 88 e 61 ɛ 37 ɪ 15 ae 7 y 6 o 3 œ 3 ʏ 1 ɶ 0Palatalization of si ti etc is shown in spelling in Hepburn romanization Of the phonological inventories listed on PHOIBLE ɶ only occurs in Northern AltaiSee alsoCentral vowel Back vowel List of phonetics topics Relative articulationReferencesTsur Reuven February 1992 The Poetic Mode of Speech Perception Duke University Press p 20 ISBN 0 8223 1170 4 Scott Moisik Ewa Czaykowska Higgins amp John H Esling 2012 The Epilaryngeal Articulator A New Conceptual Tool for Understanding Lingual Laryngeal Contrasts Steven Moran and Daniel McCloy ed 2019 PHOIBLE 2 0 Jena Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History
