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Roundedness
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==English== Vowel pairs differentiated by roundedness can be found in some [[British English|British]] dialects (such as the [[Cardiff dialect]], [[Geordie]] and [[Port Talbot English]]) as well as in General [[South African English]]. They involve a contrastive pair of [[close-mid vowel]]s, with the unrounded vowel being either {{sc2|SQUARE}} {{IPAc-en|ɛər}} or a monophthongal {{sc2|FACE}} {{IPAc-en|eɪ}} and the rounded counterpart being {{sc2|NURSE}} {{IPAc-en|ɜːr}}. Contrasts based on roundedness are rarely categorical in English and they may be enhanced by additional differences in height, backness or diphthongization.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|1990|pp=88, 95}}{{sfnp|Connolly|1990|pp=122–123, 125}}{{sfnp|Lass|2002}}{{sfnp|Watt|Allen|2003|p=269}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ {{sc|FACE}}, {{sc|SQUARE}} and {{sc|NURSE}} in some dialects ! rowspan="2" | Accent ! colspan="3" | Vowel ! rowspan="2" | Notes |- ! {{sc|FACE}} ! {{sc|SQUARE}} ! {{sc|NURSE}} |- ! [[Cardiff dialect|Cardiff]]{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|1990|pp=88, 95–97}} | {{IPA|[ei]}} | {{IPAblink|eː}} | {{IPAblink|øː}} | {{sc2|SQUARE}} may be open-mid {{IPAblink|ɛː}}.{{sfnp|Collins|Mees|1990|p=95}} |- ! General [[South African English|SAE]]{{sfnp|Lass|2002}} | {{IPA|[eɪ]}} | {{IPAblink|eː}} | {{IPAblink|øː}} | |- ! [[Geordie]]{{sfnp|Watt|Allen|2003|p=269}} | {{IPAblink|eː}} | {{IPAblink|ɛː}} | {{IPAblink|øː}} | {{sc2|FACE}} may be diphthongal {{IPA|[ɪə ~ eɪ]}}, whereas<br/>{{sc2|NURSE}} may be back {{IPAblink|ɔː}} or unrounded {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɪː}} ~ {{IPAplink|ɜ̝|ɜː}}]}}.{{sfnp|Watt|Allen|2003|p=269}}{{sfnp|Wells|1982|p=375}} |- ! [[Port Talbot English|Port Talbot]]{{sfnp|Connolly|1990|pp=122–123, 125}} | {{IPAblink|eː}} | {{IPAblink|ɛː}} | {{IPAblink|øː}} | The accent does not feature the [[pane–pain merger]].{{sfnp|Connolly|1990|pp=122–123}} |} In addition, contemporary Standard Southern British English as well as [[Western Pennsylvania English]] contrast {{sc2|STRUT}} with {{sc2|LOT}} mostly by rounding. An example of a minimal pairs is ''nut'' vs. ''not''. The vowels are open-mid {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ʌ}}, {{IPAplink|ɔ}}]}} in the former dialect and open {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɑ}}, {{IPAplink|ɒ}}]}} in the latter. In Western Pennsylvania English, the {{sc2|LOT}} class also includes the {{sc2|THOUGHT}} class (see [[cot-caught merger]]) and the {{sc2|PALM}} one (see [[father-bother merger]]). In addition, {{sc2|LOT}} may be longer than {{sc2|STRUT}} due to its being a [[Checked and free vowels|free vowel]]: {{IPAblink|ɒː}}. In SSBE, these are all distinct and {{sc2|LOT}} is a checked vowel. In [[Scottish English]], the two vowels tend to be realized as {{IPAblink|ʌ}} and {{IPAblink|ɔ}}, respectively. The latter often includes the {{sc2|THOUGHT}} class as the cot-caught merger is common in Scotland. If {{sc2|THOUGHT}} is distinct, it is realized as {{IPAblink|ɔ}}, whereas {{sc2|LOT}} is lowered to {{IPAblink|ɒ}} or raised to {{IPAblink|o̞}}. This means that while ''nought'' {{IPA|[nɔʔ]}} contrasts with ''nut'' {{IPA|[nʌʔ]}} by rounding, ''not'' may have a different vowel {{IPA|[nɒʔ ~ no̞ʔ]}}. In addition, all three vowels are short in Scotland (see [[Scottish vowel length rule]]), unless followed by a voiced fricative where {{sc2|THOUGHT}} (and {{sc2|LOT}}, if they are merged) is long, as in England.{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=399–403}}{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|pp=88–9}}{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=122, 126–128, 130}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ {{sc|STRUT}}, {{sc|LOT}} and {{sc|THOUGHT}} in some dialects ! rowspan="2" | Accent ! colspan="3" | Vowel ! rowspan="2" | Notes |- ! {{sc|STRUT}} ! {{sc|LOT}} ! {{sc|THOUGHT}} |- ! [[Scottish English]]{{sfnp|Wells|1982|pp=399–403}} | {{IPAblink|ʌ}} | {{IPA|[{{IPAplink|ɔ|ɔ(ː)}} ~ {{IPAplink|ɒ}} ~ {{IPAplink|o̞}}]}} | {{IPAblink|ɔ|ɔ(ː)}} | {{sc2|LOT}} often merges with {{sc2|THOUGHT}}. |- ! Standard Southern British English{{sfnp|Cruttenden|2014|pp=122, 126–128, 130}} | {{IPAblink|ʌ}} | {{IPAblink|ɔ}} | {{IPAblink|o̞ː}} | |- ! [[Western Pennsylvania English]]{{sfnp|Labov|Ash|Boberg|2006|pp=88–9}} | {{IPAblink|ɑ}} | colspan="2" | {{IPAblink|ɒ|ɒ(ː)}} | The {{sc2|LOT}} class also includes {{sc2|THOUGHT}} and {{sc2|PALM}}. |} General South African English is unique among accents of English in that it can feature up to three front rounded vowels, with two of them having unrounded counterparts.{{sfnp|Lass|2002}} {|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center" |+ Long front vowels in General SAE{{sfnp|Lass|2002|pp=116, 118–119}} ! rowspan="2" | Height ! colspan="2" | Unr. vowel ! colspan="2" | Rnd. vowel ! rowspan="2" | Notes |- ! {{small|[[lexical set]]}} ! {{small|realization}} ! {{small|lexical set}} ! {{small|realization}} |- ! [[Close vowel|Close]] | {{sc2|FLEECE}} | {{IPAblink|iː}} | {{sc2|GOOSE}} | {{IPAblink|yː}} | {{sc2|GOOSE}} may be central {{IPAblink|ʉː}}. |- ! [[Close-mid vowel|Close-mid]] | {{sc2|SQUARE}} | {{IPAblink|eː}} | {{sc2|NURSE}} | {{IPAblink|øː}} | |- ! [[Open-mid vowel|Open-mid]] | colspan="2" | ''(unpaired)'' | {{sc2|GOAT}} | {{IPAblink|œː}} | {{sc2|GOAT}} may be diphthongal {{IPA|[œɤ̈]}}. |} The potential contrast between the close-mid {{IPAblink|øː}} and the open-mid {{IPAblink|œː}} is hard to perceive by outsiders, making utterances such as ''the total onslaught'' {{IPA|[ðə ˈtœːtl̩ ˈɒnsloːt]}} sound almost like ''the turtle onslaught'' {{IPA|[ðə ˈtøːtl̩ ˈɒnsloːt]}}.{{sfnp|Lass|2002|p=118}}
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