utrundet

utrundet is a phonetic term used in phonology to denote vowels produced without lip rounding. The term derives from Scandinavian usage, where ut-rundet translates roughly to “not rounded.” In cross-linguistic phonology, utrundet vowels are contrasted with rounded vowels, contributing to phonemic vowel inventories and vowel harmony analyses. The distinction between rounded and unrounded features can be phonologically active, affecting assimilation, vowel height, and backness patterns.

In descriptive work, utrundet vowels include front unrounded vowels that occur in many languages, as well as certain back unrounded vowels that appear in specific phonologies. The rounding feature is considered independent of height, allowing languages to have multiple vowel qualities that differ only by rounding. Rounding can be phonemic in some languages, or allophones conditioned by neighboring sounds or vowel harmony processes.

The concept is relevant to speech synthesis and acoustic phonetics, where lip rounding influences formant frequencies and perceived vowel quality. In comparative phonology, the distribution of utrundet vowels helps distinguish language families and historical sound changes, such as the loss or reintroduction of rounding in vowels over time.

Conventional resources on phonology often present utrundet along with other feature systems, such as rounding, height, backness, and nasality, as part of a formal description of vowel inventories.