A 'front vowel' is a type of
vowel sound used in some spoken
languages. The defining characteristic of a front vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far forward as possible in the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a
consonant. The front vowels identified by the
International Phonetic Alphabet are:
★
close front unrounded vowel
★
close front rounded vowel
★
close-mid front unrounded vowel
★
close-mid front rounded vowel
★
open-mid front unrounded vowel
★
open-mid front rounded vowel
★
near-open front unrounded vowel
★
open front unrounded vowel
★
open front rounded vowel
In some languages, the open front vowels do not pattern or group with the other front vowels in their
phonologies.
Effect on preceding consonant
In the history of many
Indo-European languages, front vowels altered preceding
velar consonants, bringing them forward to a
palatal,
postalveolar, or
alveolar place of articulation. Similar changes, or sometimes ongoing
allophonic variation, have occurred in many other languages, including
Japanese. See ''
palatalization.''
This historical palatalization is reflected in the
orthographies of several European languages, including the "c" and "g" of
Italian,
Spanish, and
French, the "k" in
Norwegian and
Swedish, and the "γ" in
Greek.
English follows the French pattern, but without as much regularity.
However, for native or early borrowed words affected by palatization, English has generally altered the spelling after the pronunciation (Examples include ''cheap, church, cheese, churn'' from
★ ''yell, yarn, yearn, yeast'' from
★ .)
| Before back vowel: hard | Before front vowel: soft |
|---|
| English "C" | 'call' | 'cell' |
|---|
| English "G" | 'gall' | 'gel' |
|---|
| French "C" | 'calque' | 'celà' |
|---|
| French "G" | 'gare' | 'gel' |
|---|
| Italian "C" | 'cara' | 'ciao' |
|---|
| Italian "G" | 'gallo' | 'genere' |
|---|
| Swedish "K" | 'karta' | 'kär' |
|---|
| Swedish "G" | 'god' | 'göra' |
|---|
| Swedish "SK" | 'skal' | 'skära' |
|---|