What exactly is a front rounded vowel? An acoustic and articulatory investigation of the NURSE vowel in South Wales English

Descriptive reports of South Wales English indicate front rounded realizations of the NURSE vowel (e.g. Wells 1982; Collins & Mees 1990; Mees & Collins 1999; Walters 1999, 2001). However, the specific phonetic properties of the vowel are not depicted uniformly in these studies. In addition, they have relied entirely on auditory descriptions, rather than instrumental measurements. The study presented here is the first to provide a systematic acoustic and articulatory investigation of the NURSE vowel in South Wales English, and to explore its relationship to realizations of Standard Southern British English /3:/ and Standard German /empty set:/. The results indicate systematic differences between the three vowels, with the South Wales English vowel produced with an open rounded lip posture, yet the acoustic characteristics of an unrounded front vowel. Implications for the notion of 'front-rounding' are discussed.