Frontmidvokaler

Frontmidvokaler, or front-mid vowels, are vowels produced with the tongue positioned toward the front of the mouth and with a mid height, meaning the tongue is neither as high as in close vowels nor as low as in open vowels. In the front portion of the vowel space, these vowels lie between close-front and open-front vowels.

In the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA) front-mid vowels are typically represented by four symbols, depending on rounding: e (close-mid front unrounded), ɛ (open-mid front unrounded), ø (close-mid front rounded), and œ (open-mid front rounded). The exact height (whether close-mid or open-mid) and the presence of rounding distinctions can vary by language. Some languages maintain all four as distinct phonemes; others merge one or more of them with neighboring vowels.

Front-mid vowels contrast with other front vowels (higher or lower in height) and with back vowels. Rounding is a key feature: the rounded pair ø vs. e and œ vs. ɛ reflect how lip rounding interacts with tongue position for these sounds. The inventory and distribution of front-mid vowels are language-specific, with some languages maintaining a full set and others showing reduced contrasts due to historical sound changes.

French is a well-documented example in which front-mid vowels play an important role. French commonly contrasts /e/ and /ɛ/ as well as /ø/ and /œ/, occurring in words such as été, bête, peu, and cœur. Other languages in which front-mid vowels occur include various Romance and Germanic languages, though the exact phoneme inventories and realizations differ across languages and dialects.

Phonological processes can affect front-mid vowels through mergers, diphthongization, vowel harmony, or vowel reduction in unstressed syllables, depending on the language.