Close front rounded vowel

The close front compressed vowel is typically transcribed in IPA simply as , and that is the convention used in this article. There is no dedicated diacritic for compression in the IPA. However, the compression of the lips can be shown with the letter as (simultaneous and labial compression) or ( modified with labial compression). The spread-lip diacritic may also be used with a rounded vowel letter as an ad hoc symbol, though technically 'spread' means unrounded. Features of Occurrence Because front rounded vowels are assumed to have compression, and few descriptions cover the distinction, some of the following may actually have protrusion. ==Close 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, an old diacritic for labialization, , will be used here as an ad hoc symbol for protruded front vowels. Another possible transcription is or (a close front vowel modified by endolabialization), but this could be misread as a diphthong. Acoustically, this sound is "between" the more typical compressed close front vowel and the unrounded close front vowel . Features Occurrence ==See also==