Avantvowels

Avantvowels are a proposed class of vowel sounds in phonology and phonetics. They are defined as vowels with an unusually advanced tongue position during articulation, producing a perceptually more fronted vowel quality than typical front vowels. The term is used in theoretical discussions to describe a potential dimension of vowel variation beyond the standard high, mid, and low front/back contrasts.

Articulatory and acoustic properties: Avantvowels are typically high or close-mid vowels with extreme tongue advancement toward the teeth or alveolar ridge. They may display marked palatalization or distinctive coarticulation with adjacent front consonants. Acoustically, they tend to have high second formant values and a spectral profile that sets them apart from canonical front vowels, giving them a notably forward quality in perception.

Phonological status and typology: In languages that would phonemically contrast avantvowels, they behave like nucleus vowels and can participate in typical vowel harmony or allophony with surrounding vowels. Cross-linguistic evidence for avantvowels is limited and largely confined to theoretical discussions, experimental phonetics, or constructed languages used in typological explorations.

History and usage: The idea originated in speculative work exploring the space of possible vowel inventories. The name avantvowel reflects the notion of an “advanced” tongue position central to their proposed articulation. In practice, avantvowels are discussed as a hypothetical option rather than a widely attested natural class.

Examples and construction: Some world-building grammars depict avantvowels in small inventories, often as the most fronted members of a language’s vowel system realized in the nucleus of syllables or before consonant clusters. They are sometimes imagined to influence prosody or harmony in these constructions. See also vowels, frontness, palatalization, vowel harmony.