Universal #888
Legacy number: 888
| Number | 885 |
| Original | There are no languages with rounded front vowels but without rounded back vowels. |
| Standardized | IF there is a rounded front vowel, THEN there is a rounded back vowel. |
| Formula | front rounded vowel ⇒ back rounded vowel |
| Keywords | rounded, front, back, vowel, height |
| Domain | phonology |
| Type | implication |
| Status | achronic |
| Quality | almost absolute |
| Basis | 170 languages surveyed in Sedlak 1969 |
| Source | Jakobson 1957 [1971]: 526 (also cited in Uspensky 1965: 194), Sedlak 1969: 31 |
Discussion
Counterexamples
Working class Central Scots English (Germanic, Indo-European) with [y] but not [u] (Lass 1984: 77).
Notes
Cf. Sedlak’s original statement: “A front rounded vowel implies a back rounded vowel at the same tongue height”.
Comment
Cf. Sedlak's original statement: "A front rounded vowel implies a back rounded vowel at the same tongue height".
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