# Mid front rounded vowel

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The mid front rounded vowel is a type of vowel sound, used in some spoken languages.
Although there is no dedicated symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents the "exact" mid front rounded vowel between close-mid [ø] and open-mid [œ], ⟨ø⟩ is generally used. If precision is desired, diacritics can be used, such as ⟨ø̞⟩ or ⟨œ̝⟩.

## Mid front compressed vowel

The mid front compressed vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as ⟨ø̞⟩ or ⟨œ̝⟩. This article uses the first symbol for simplicity. There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, the compression of the lips can be shown with the letter ⟨β̞⟩ as ⟨e̞͡β̞⟩ / ⟨ɛ̝͡β̞⟩ (simultaneous [e̞] / [ɛ̝] and labial compression) or ⟨e̞ᵝ⟩ / ⟨ɛ̝ᵝ⟩ ([e̞] / [ɛ̝] modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic ⟨ ͍ ⟩ may also be used with a rounded vowel letters ⟨ø͍˕⟩ / ⟨œ͍˔⟩ as an ad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded.

### Features

* Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel.
* 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.
* Its roundedness is compressed, which means that the margins of the lips are tense and drawn together in such a way that the inner surfaces are not exposed.

### Occurrence

Because front rounded vowels are assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have protrusion.
| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Breton | Breton | | | | Possible realization of unstressed /œ/; can be open-mid [œ] or close-mid [ø] instead. |
| Catalan | Northern | fulles | [ˈfø̞jəs] | 'leaves' | Found in Occitan and French loanwords and interferences. See Catalan phonology |
| Danish | Standard | høne | [ˈhœ̝ːnə] | 'hen' | Also described as close-mid [øː]; typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨œː⟩ See Danish phonology |
| Dutch | Orsmaal-Gussenhoven dialect | mùl | [mœ̝ɫ] | 'well' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨œ⟩. |
| English | Cockney | bird | [bœ̝ːd] | 'bird' | Occasional realization of /ɜː/; can be unrounded [ɛ̝̈ː] or, more often, unrounded central [ɜ̝ː] instead. May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɜː⟩ or ⟨œː⟩. |
| English | General New Zealand | bird | [bœ̝ːd] | 'bird' | May be open-mid [œː] instead. In broader varieties, it is close-mid or higher. Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ɵː⟩. See New Zealand English phonology |
| English | South African | bird | [bœ̝ːd] | 'bird' | Used in General and Broad accents; may be close-mid [øː] instead. In the Cultivated variety, it is realized as mid central unrounded [ɜ̝ː]. See South African English phonology |
| English | Southern Welsh | bird | [bœ̝ːd] | 'bird' | Also described as open-mid [œː] and close-mid [øː]. |
| English | West Midlands | bird | [bœ̝ːd] | 'bird' | |
| Faroese | Faroese | høgt | [hœ̝kt] | 'high' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨œ⟩. See Faroese phonology |
| Finnish | Finnish | rölli | [ˈrø̞lːi] | 'Common bent' | See Finnish phonology |
| Greek | Tyrnavos | κοριός / koreos | [ko̞ˈɾø̞s] | 'bedbug' | Corresponds to /jo/ and /eo/ in Standard Modern Greek. |
| Greek | Velvendos | κοριός / koreos | [ko̞ˈɾø̞s] | 'bedbug' | Corresponds to /jo/ and /eo/ in Standard Modern Greek. |
| Hungarian | Hungarian | öl | [ø̞l] | 'kill' | See Hungarian phonology |
| Icelandic | Icelandic | öld | [œ̝l̪t̪] | 'age' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨œ⟩. The long allophone is often diphthongized to [øœ]. See Icelandic phonology |
| Korean | Korean | 왼손 / oenson | [ø̞ːnson] | 'left hand' | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨ø⟩. Diphthongized to [we] in Modern Standard Korean. See Korean phonology |
| Romanian | Romanian | bleu | [bl̪ø̞] | 'light blue' | Found only in loanwords. See Romanian phonology |
| Turkish | Standard | göz | [ˈɟø̞˗z̟] | 'eye' | May be transcribed in IPA with ⟨œ⟩. See Turkish phonology |

## Mid front protruded vowel

Catford notes that most languages with rounded front and back vowels use distinct types of labialization, protruded back vowels and compressed front vowels. However, a few languages, such as Scandinavian ones, have protruded front vowels. One of these, Swedish, even contrasts the two types of rounding in front vowels (see near-close near-front rounded vowel, with Swedish examples of both types of rounding).
As there are no diacritics in the IPA to distinguish protruded and compressed rounding, ⟨ø̞ʷ⟩ (a mid front rounded vowel modified by endolabialization) will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for protruded mid front vowels.
Acoustically, this sound is "between" the more typical compressed mid front vowel [ø̞] and the unrounded mid front vowel [e̞].

### Features

* Its vowel height is mid, which means the tongue is positioned halfway between a close vowel and an open vowel.
* 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.
* Its roundedness is protruded, which means that the corners of the lips are drawn together, and the inner surfaces exposed.

### Occurrence

| Language | Language | Word | IPA | Meaning | Notes |
| Swedish | Central Standard | nött | | 'worn' (past part. s.) | Typically transcribed in IPA with ⟨œ⟩. See Swedish phonology |