» This article is concerned with roundedness in vowels. For roundedness in consonants, see Consonants. In phonetics, vowel roundedness refers to the amount of rounding in the lips during the articulation of a vowel. That is, it's vocalic labialization. When pronouncing a rounded vowel, the lips form a circular opening, while unrounded vowels (also called spread vowels) are pronounced with the lips relaxed. In most languages, front vowels tend to be unrounded, while back vowels tend to be rounde… (More on Roundedness)