Open front rounded vowel

The open front rounded vowel, or low front rounded vowel, is a type of vowel sound, not confirmed to be phonemic in any spoken languages. The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is $\langle\rangle$, and the equivalent X-SAMPA symbol is &. The letter $\langle\rangle$ is a small caps rendition of $\langleŒ\rangle$. Note that $\langle\rangle$, the lowercase version of the ligature, is used for the open-mid front rounded vowel.

The IPA prefers terms "close" and "open" for vowels, and the name of the article follows this. However, a large number of linguists, perhaps a majority, prefer the terms "high" and "low".

reports that in Stockholm Swedish is sometimes difficult to distinguish from. He states that it is "a sign that these vowels are phonetically very close".