Open front rounded vowel

{{Short description|Vowel sound represented by ⟨ɶ⟩ in IPA}}

{{hatnote group|

{{redirect-distinguish|ɶ|Œ}}

{{other uses|oe (disambiguation)}}

}}

{{Infobox IPA

|ipa symbol = ɶ

|ipa number = 312

|decimal = 630

|x-sampa = &

|kirshenbaum = a.

|imagefile = IPA Unicode 0x0276.svg

|imagesize = 150px

|braille = in

|braille2 = ow

}}

{{IPA vowels|class=floatright}}

The (near-)open front rounded vowel, or (near-)low front rounded vowel,{{Vowel terminology}} is a type of vowel sound that has not been confirmed to be phonemic in any spoken language.{{citation needed|date=June 2023|reason=Source for the claim "has not been confirmed to be phonemic."}} The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is {{angbr IPA|ɶ}}, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is &. The letter {{angbr IPA|ɶ}} is the small caps rendition of {{angbr|Œ}}. {{angbr IPA|œ}}, the lowercase version of the ligature, is used for the open-mid front rounded vowel.

While the IPA chart lists it as a fully open vowel, the rounded equivalent of {{IPA|[a]}}, Ladefoged{{SOWL|290}} characterizes it as near-open, the rounded equivalent of {{IPA|[æ]}}.

A phoneme generally transcribed by this symbol is reported from the Bavarian dialect of Amstetten. However, it is phonetically open-mid, {{IPAblink|œ}}.{{Harvcoltxt|Traunmüller|1982}}, cited in {{Harvcoltxt|Ladefoged|Maddieson|1996|p=290}}

It occurs allophonically in Weert Limburgish{{Harvcoltxt|Heijmans|Gussenhoven|1998|p=110}} as well as in some speakers of Danish{{Harvcoltxt|Basbøll|2005|p=46}} and Swedish.{{Harvcoltxt|Riad|2014|p=38}} Certain transcriptions of Danish use {{angbr IPA|ɶ}} to denote an open-mid front rounded vowel {{IPAblink|œ}}.

In Maastrichtian Limburgish, the vowel transcribed with {{angbr IPA|ɶː}} in the [https://www.mestreechtertaol.nl/home Mestreechter Taol] dictionary is phonetically near-open central {{IPAblink|ɐ̹ː}}. It is a phonological open-mid front rounded vowel, the long counterpart of {{IPA|/œ/}}.{{Harvcoltxt|Gussenhoven|Aarts|1999|pp=159, 161–162, 164}}

{{Harvcoltxt|Riad|2014}} reports that {{IPA|[ɶː]}} in Stockholm Swedish is sometimes difficult to distinguish from {{IPAblink|ɒː}}, which is the main realization of the {{IPA|/ɑː/}} phoneme, a sign that both vowels are phonetically very close.