Unrounding

Part of speech: noun, verb

Definitions

1. The process of pronouncing sounds without rounding the lips when they normally would be rounded
2. A phonetic change where lip rounding is omitted in the articulation of certain vowels or consonants
3. An adjustment in speech pronunciation that eliminates the rounding of the lips for specific phonemes

Etymology: "Unrounding" is the present participle and gerund of the verb "unround", which is formed from the prefix "un-" and the verb "round", meaning to make something round or to shape it into a curve. In phonetics, the sense is to withdraw lip rounding, so that a vowel or consonant that is normally articulated with the lips pushed forward and pursed is pronounced with the lips spread or neutral instead. The pattern is easiest to hear in pairs of vowels. Saying the English vowel in "see" and then the one in "sue" shows the difference: the second is rounded, and removing that rounding gives a sound closer to the first. Linguists describe this in terms of the lips, and the same contrast distinguishes many languages' vowel systems, such as French "u" and "i" or German "ü" and "i".