Actually, 'how front/back was that /a/?' sounds pretty ok to me. Laurence Horn wrote: > In principle, "front" and "back" SHOULD be gradable for vowels, but > as you say they don't seem to be--"How front/back was that /a/?" > sounds as weird as the analytic and synthetic comparatives above. I > share Rudy's judgments and usage patterns, I think. > > larry