Fronted (phonetics)
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In phonetics, a fronted or advanced sound is one that is pronounced further to the front of the vocal tract than some reference point. The diacritic for this in the International Phonetic Alphabet is the subscript plus, [ ̟]. Both consonants and vowels may be marked as fronted.
In English, the back vowel /u/ is further forward than what is normally indicated by the IPA letter <u>. This fronting may be shown explicitly, especially within a narrow transcription: [u̟ʷ]. Whether this is as far front as the central vowel [ʉ], or somewhere between [u] and [ʉ], may need to be clarified verbally.
In General American English, the /t/ in the word eighth is further front than normal, due to assimilation with the interdental consonant /θ/, and may be transcribed as [eɪt̟θ].
The difference between a fronted and non-fronted consonant can be heard in the English words key [k̟ʰiʲ] and coo [kʰuʷ], where the /k/ in key is fronted under the influence of the front vowel /i/.
In verbal description, the prefix pre- may be used to indicated fronting, especially in the terms prepalatal and prevelar. Otherwise phrases like "fronted u" may be used.
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