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class="page-heading"> <h1 id="firstHeading" class="firstHeading mw-first-heading">Vowel length</h1> <div class="tagline"></div> </div> <ul id="p-associated-pages" class="minerva__tab-container"> <li class="minerva__tab selected"> <a class="minerva__tab-text" href="/wiki/Vowel_length" rel="" data-event-name="tabs.subject">Article</a> </li> <li class="minerva__tab "> <a class="minerva__tab-text" href="/wiki/Talk:Vowel_length" rel="discussion" data-event-name="tabs.talk">Talk</a> </li> </ul> <nav class="page-actions-menu"> <ul id="p-views" class="page-actions-menu__list"> <li id="language-selector" class="page-actions-menu__list-item"> <a role="button" href="#p-lang" data-mw="interface" data-event-name="menu.languages" title="Language" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet language-selector"> Language </a> </li> <li id="page-actions-watch" class="page-actions-menu__list-item"> <a 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open-block";block.previousSibling.className+=" open-block";}</script><div class="mw-content-ltr mw-parser-output" lang="en" dir="ltr"><section class="mf-section-0" id="mf-section-0"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1251242444">.mw-parser-output .ambox{border:1px solid #a2a9b1;border-left:10px solid #36c;background-color:#fbfbfb;box-sizing:border-box}.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+link+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+style+.ambox,.mw-parser-output .ambox+.mw-empty-elt+link+link+.ambox{margin-top:-1px}html body.mediawiki .mw-parser-output .ambox.mbox-small-left{margin:4px 1em 4px 0;overflow:hidden;width:238px;border-collapse:collapse;font-size:88%;line-height:1.25em}.mw-parser-output .ambox-speedy{border-left:10px solid #b32424;background-color:#fee7e6}.mw-parser-output .ambox-delete{border-left:10px solid #b32424}.mw-parser-output .ambox-content{border-left:10px solid #f28500}.mw-parser-output .ambox-style{border-left:10px solid #fc3}.mw-parser-output .ambox-move{border-left:10px solid #9932cc}.mw-parser-output .ambox-protection{border-left:10px solid #a2a9b1}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-text{border:none;padding:0.25em 0.5em;width:100%}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image{border:none;padding:2px 0 2px 0.5em;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-imageright{border:none;padding:2px 0.5em 2px 0;text-align:center}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-empty-cell{border:none;padding:0;width:1px}.mw-parser-output .ambox .mbox-image-div{width:52px}@media(min-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .ambox{margin:0 10%}}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .ambox{display:none!important}}</style><table class="box-More_citations_needed plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This article needs additional citations for <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">verification</a>. Please help <a href="/wiki/Special:EditPage/Vowel_length" title="Special:EditPage/Vowel length">improve this article</a> by <a href="/wiki/Help:Referencing_for_beginners" title="Help:Referencing for beginners">adding citations to reliable sources</a>. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?as_eq=wikipedia&q=%22Vowel+length%22">"Vowel length"</a> – <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbm=nws&q=%22Vowel+length%22+-wikipedia&tbs=ar:1">news</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?&q=%22Vowel+length%22&tbs=bkt:s&tbm=bks">newspapers</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.google.com/search?tbs=bks:1&q=%22Vowel+length%22+-wikipedia">books</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=%22Vowel+length%22">scholar</a> · <a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.jstor.org/action/doBasicSearch?Query=%22Vowel+length%22&acc=on&wc=on">JSTOR</a> (September 2015) (<a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a>)</div></td></tr></tbody></table> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1257001546">.mw-parser-output .infobox-subbox{padding:0;border:none;margin:-3px;width:auto;min-width:100%;font-size:100%;clear:none;float:none;background-color:transparent}.mw-parser-output .infobox-3cols-child{margin:auto}.mw-parser-output .infobox .navbar{font-size:100%}@media screen{html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme)>div:not(.notheme)[style]{background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .infobox-full-data:not(.notheme) div:not(.notheme){background:#1f1f23!important;color:#f8f9fa}}@media(min-width:640px){body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table{display:table!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>caption{display:table-caption!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table>tbody{display:table-row-group}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table tr{display:table-row!important}body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table th,body.skin--responsive .mw-parser-output .infobox-table td{padding-left:inherit;padding-right:inherit}}</style><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1151960987">body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox table{display:table}body.skin-minerva .mw-parser-output .infobox caption{display:table-caption}</style>In <a href="/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistics</a>, vowel length is the perceived length of a <a href="/wiki/Vowel" title="Vowel">vowel</a> sound: the corresponding physical measurement is <a href="/wiki/Length_(phonetics)" title="Length (phonetics)">duration</a>. In some languages vowel length is an important <a href="/wiki/Phonemic" class="mw-redirect" title="Phonemic">phonemic</a> factor, meaning vowel length can change the meaning of the word, for example in <a href="/wiki/Arabic_phonology#Vowels" title="Arabic phonology">Arabic</a>, <a href="/wiki/Czech_phonology" title="Czech phonology">Czech</a>, <a href="/wiki/Dravidian_languages" title="Dravidian languages">Dravidian languages</a> (such as <a href="/wiki/Tamil_language" title="Tamil language">Tamil</a>), some <a href="/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages" title="Finno-Ugric languages">Finno-Ugric languages</a> (such as <a href="/wiki/Finnish_phonology#Length" title="Finnish phonology">Finnish</a> and <a href="/wiki/Estonian_phonology" title="Estonian phonology">Estonian</a>), <a href="/wiki/Japanese_phonology#Vowels" title="Japanese phonology">Japanese</a>, <a href="/wiki/Kyrgyz_phonology" title="Kyrgyz phonology">Kyrgyz</a>, <a href="/wiki/Samoan_language#Phonology" title="Samoan language">Samoan</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Xhosa_language#Vowels" title="Xhosa language">Xhosa</a>. Some languages in the past likely had the distinction even though their descendants do not, with an example being <a href="/wiki/Latin_phonology#Vowels" class="mw-redirect" title="Latin phonology">Latin</a> and its descendent <a href="/wiki/Romance_languages" title="Romance languages">Romance languages</a>. <table class="infobox" style="width: 16em;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="background: #f2f2ce;">Long</th></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background: #ffffe6;">◌ː</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/IPA_number" title="IPA number">IPA number</a></th><td class="infobox-data">503</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background: #ffffe6;">Encoding</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Entity <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r886047488">.mw-parser-output .nobold{font-weight:normal}</style>(decimal)</th><td class="infobox-data"><code>&#720;</code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Unicode <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488">(hex)</th><td class="infobox-data">U+02D0</td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1151960987"><table class="infobox" style="width: 16em;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="background: #f2f2ce;">Half-long</th></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background: #ffffe6;">◌ˑ</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/IPA_number" title="IPA number">IPA number</a></th><td class="infobox-data">504</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background: #ffffe6;">Encoding</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Entity <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488">(decimal)</th><td class="infobox-data"><code>&#721;</code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Unicode <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488">(hex)</th><td class="infobox-data">U+02D1</td></tr></tbody></table> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1257001546"><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1151960987"><table class="infobox" style="width: 16em;"><tbody><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-above" style="background: #f2f2ce;"><a href="/wiki/Extra-short" class="mw-redirect" title="Extra-short">Extra-short</a></th></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background: #ffffe6;">◌̆</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label"><a href="/wiki/IPA_number" title="IPA number">IPA number</a></th><td class="infobox-data">505</td></tr><tr><th colspan="2" class="infobox-header" style="background: #ffffe6;">Encoding</th></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Entity <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488">(decimal)</th><td class="infobox-data"><code>&#774;</code></td></tr><tr><th scope="row" class="infobox-label">Unicode <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r886047488">(hex)</th><td class="infobox-data">U+0306</td></tr></tbody></table> Whether vowel length alone changes word-meanings in <a href="/wiki/English_language" title="English language">English</a> depends on the particular dialect; it is able to do so in a few <a href="/wiki/Non-rhotic" class="mw-redirect" title="Non-rhotic">non-rhotic</a> dialects, such as <a href="/wiki/Australian_English" title="Australian English">Australian English</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lunenburg_English" title="Lunenburg English">Lunenburg English</a>, <a href="/wiki/New_Zealand_English" title="New Zealand English">New Zealand English</a>, <a href="/wiki/South_African_English" title="South African English">South African English</a>, and possibly some <a href="/wiki/English_language_in_Southern_England" title="English language in Southern England">Southern British English</a>, and in a few rhotic dialects, such as <a href="/wiki/Scottish_English" title="Scottish English">Scottish English</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ulster_English" title="Ulster English">Northern Irish English</a>. It also plays a lesser phonetic role in <a href="/wiki/Cantonese" title="Cantonese">Cantonese</a>, unlike in other <a href="/wiki/Varieties_of_Chinese" title="Varieties of Chinese">varieties of Chinese</a>, which do not have phonemic vowel length distinctions. Many languages do not distinguish vowel length phonemically, meaning that vowel length does not change meaning. However, the amount of time a vowel is uttered can change based on factors such as the phonetic characteristics of the sounds around it, for instance whether the vowel is followed by a voiced or a voiceless consonant. Languages that do distinguish vowel length phonemically usually only distinguish between short vowels and long vowels. Very few languages distinguish three phonemic vowel lengths; some that do so are <a href="/wiki/Estonian_language" title="Estonian language">Estonian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Luise%C3%B1o_language" title="Luiseño language">Luiseño</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Mixe_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Mixe language">Mixe</a>. However, languages with two vowel lengths may permit words in which two adjacent vowels are of the same quality: Japanese ほうおう, <a href="/wiki/H%C5%8D%C5%8D" class="mw-redirect" title="Hōō">hōō</a>, "phoenix", or <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Ancient Greek</a> ἀάατος [a.áː.a.tos],<a href="#cite_note-1">[1]</a> "inviolable". Some languages that do not ordinarily have phonemic vowel length but permit vowel <a href="/wiki/Hiatus_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Hiatus (linguistics)">hiatus</a> may similarly exhibit sequences of identical vowel phonemes that yield phonetically long vowels, such as <a href="/wiki/Georgian_language" title="Georgian language">Georgian</a> გააადვილებ, gaaadvileb <a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/Georgian" title="Help:IPA/Georgian">[ɡa.a.ad.vil.eb]</a>, "you will facilitate it". <div id="toc" class="toc" role="navigation" aria-labelledby="mw-toc-heading"><input type="checkbox" role="button" id="toctogglecheckbox" class="toctogglecheckbox" style="display:none"><div class="toctitle" lang="en" dir="ltr"><h2 id="mw-toc-heading">Contents</h2><label class="toctogglelabel" for="toctogglecheckbox"></label></div> <ul> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-1"><a href="#Related_features">1 Related features</a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-2"><a href="#Phonemic_vowel_length">2 Phonemic vowel length</a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-3"><a href="#By_language">3 By language</a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-4"><a href="#In_English">3.1 In English</a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-5"><a href="#Contrastive_vowel_length">3.1.1 Contrastive vowel length</a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-6"><a href="#Allophonic_vowel_length">3.1.2 Allophonic vowel length</a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-7"><a href="#%22Long%22_and_%22short%22_vowel_letters_in_spelling_and_the_classroom_teaching_of_reading">3.1.3 "Long" and "short" vowel letters in spelling and the classroom teaching of reading</a></li> </ul> </li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-8"><a href="#Origin">4 Origin</a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-9"><a href="#Notations">5 Notations</a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-10"><a href="#Latin_alphabet">5.1 Latin alphabet</a> <ul> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-11"><a href="#IPA">5.1.1 IPA</a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-12"><a href="#Diacritics">5.1.2 Diacritics</a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-13"><a href="#Additional_letters">5.1.3 Additional letters</a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-14"><a href="#Other_signs">5.1.4 Other signs</a></li> <li class="toclevel-3 tocsection-15"><a href="#No_distinction">5.1.5 No distinction</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-2 tocsection-16"><a href="#Other_writing_systems">5.2 Other writing systems</a></li> </ul> </li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-17"><a href="#See_also">6 See also</a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-18"><a href="#References">7 References</a></li> <li class="toclevel-1 tocsection-19"><a href="#External_links">8 External links</a></li> </ul> </div> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(1)"><h2 id="Related_features">Related features</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=1" title="Edit section: Related features" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-1 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-1"> <a href="/wiki/Stress_(linguistics)" title="Stress (linguistics)">Stress</a> is often reinforced by allophonic vowel length, especially when it is lexical. For example, <a href="/wiki/French_language" title="French language">French</a> long vowels are always in stressed syllables. <a href="/wiki/Finnish_language" title="Finnish language">Finnish</a>, a language with two phonemic lengths, indicates the stress by adding allophonic length, which gives four distinctive lengths and five physical lengths: short and long stressed vowels, short and long unstressed vowels, and a half-long vowel, which is a short vowel found in a syllable immediately preceded by a stressed short vowel: i-so. Among the languages with distinctive vowel length, there are some in which it may occur only in stressed syllables, such as in <a href="/wiki/Alemannic_German" title="Alemannic German">Alemannic German</a>, <a href="/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic" title="Scottish Gaelic">Scottish Gaelic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Egyptian_Arabic" title="Egyptian Arabic">Egyptian Arabic</a>. In languages such as <a href="/wiki/Czech_language" title="Czech language">Czech</a>, <a href="/wiki/Finnish_language" title="Finnish language">Finnish</a>, some Irish dialects and <a href="/wiki/Classical_Latin" title="Classical Latin">Classical Latin</a>, vowel length is distinctive also in unstressed syllables. In some languages, vowel length is sometimes better analyzed as a sequence of two identical vowels. In <a href="/wiki/Finnic_languages" title="Finnic languages">Finnic languages</a>, such as Finnish, the simplest example follows from <a href="/wiki/Consonant_gradation" title="Consonant gradation">consonant gradation</a>: haka → haan. In some cases, it is caused by a following <a href="/wiki/Chroneme" title="Chroneme">chroneme</a>, which is etymologically a consonant: jää "ice" ← <a href="/wiki/Proto-Uralic" class="mw-redirect" title="Proto-Uralic">Proto-Uralic</a> *jäŋe. In non-initial syllables, it is ambiguous if long vowels are vowel clusters; poems written in the <a href="/wiki/Kalevala_meter" class="mw-redirect" title="Kalevala meter">Kalevala meter</a> often syllabicate between the vowels, and an (etymologically original) intervocalic -h- is seen in that and some modern dialects (taivaan vs. taivahan "of the sky"). Morphological treatment of <a href="/wiki/Diphthong" title="Diphthong">diphthongs</a> is essentially similar to long vowels. Some old Finnish long vowels have developed into diphthongs, but successive layers of borrowing have introduced the same long vowels again so the diphthong and the long vowel now again contrast (nuotti "musical note" vs. nootti "diplomatic note"). In Japanese, most long vowels are the results of the phonetic change of <a href="/wiki/Diphthong" title="Diphthong">diphthongs</a>; au and ou became ō, iu became yū, eu became yō, and now ei is becoming ē. The change also occurred after the loss of intervocalic phoneme /h/. For example, modern Kyōto (<a href="/wiki/Kyoto" title="Kyoto">Kyoto</a>) has undergone a shift: /kjauto/ → /kjoːto/. Another example is shōnen (boy): /seuneɴ/ → /sjoːneɴ/ [ɕoːneɴ]. </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(2)"><h2 id="Phonemic_vowel_length">Phonemic vowel length</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=2" title="Edit section: Phonemic vowel length" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-2 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-2"> As noted above, only a relatively few of the world's languages make a <a href="/wiki/Phoneme" title="Phoneme">phonemic</a> distinction between long and short vowels. Some families have many such languages, examples being the <a href="/wiki/Dravidian_languages" title="Dravidian languages">Dravidian languages</a> and the <a href="/wiki/Finno-Ugric_languages" title="Finno-Ugric languages">Finno-Ugric languages</a>. Other languages have fewer relatives with vowel length, including <a href="/wiki/Arabic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, <a href="/wiki/Japanese_language" title="Japanese language">Japanese</a>, <a href="/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic" title="Scottish Gaelic">Scottish Gaelic</a>. There are also older languages such as <a href="/wiki/Sanskrit_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Sanskrit language">Sanskrit</a>, <a href="/wiki/Biblical_Hebrew" title="Biblical Hebrew">Biblical Hebrew</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> which have phonemic vowel length but no descendants that preserve it. In Latin and Hungarian, some long vowels are analyzed as separate phonemes from short vowels: <table> <tbody><tr> <td width="50%" valign="top"> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"> <caption>Latin vowels </caption> <tbody><tr> <th rowspan="2"> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Front_vowel" title="Front vowel">Front</a> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Central_vowel" title="Central vowel">Central</a> </th> <th colspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Back_vowel" title="Back vowel">Back</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th>short</th> <th>long </th> <th>short</th> <th>long </th> <th>short</th> <th>long </th></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Close_vowel" title="Close vowel">High</a> </th> <td>/ɪ/</td> <td>/iː/ </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td>/ʊ/</td> <td>/uː/ </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Mid_vowel" title="Mid vowel">Mid</a> </th> <td>/ɛ/</td> <td>/eː/ </td> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td>/ɔ/</td> <td>/oː/ </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Open_vowel" title="Open vowel">Low</a> </th> <td colspan="2"> </td> <td>/a/</td> <td>/aː/ </td> <td colspan="2"> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td> <td width="50%" valign="top"> <table class="wikitable" style="text-align:center"> <caption>Hungarian vowels </caption> <tbody><tr> <th rowspan="3"> </th> <th colspan="4"><a href="/wiki/Front_vowel" title="Front vowel">Front</a> </th> <th colspan="1" rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Central_vowel" title="Central vowel">Central</a> </th> <th colspan="2" rowspan="2"><a href="/wiki/Back_vowel" title="Back vowel">Back</a> </th></tr> <tr> <th colspan="2">unrounded </th> <th colspan="2">rounded </th></tr> <tr> <th>short </th> <th>long </th> <th>short </th> <th>long </th> <th>long </th> <th>short </th> <th>long </th></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Close_vowel" title="Close vowel">High</a> </th> <td>/i/ </td> <td>/iː/ </td> <td>/y/ </td> <td>/yː/ </td> <td> </td> <td>/u/ </td> <td>/uː/ </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Mid_vowel" title="Mid vowel">Mid</a> </th> <td>/ɛ/ </td> <td>/eː/ </td> <td>/ø/ </td> <td>/øː/ </td> <td> </td> <td>/o/ </td> <td>/oː/ </td></tr> <tr> <th><a href="/wiki/Open_vowel" title="Open vowel">Low</a> </th> <td colspan="4"> </td> <td>/aː/ </td> <td>/ɒ/ </td> <td> </td></tr></tbody></table> </td></tr></tbody></table> Vowel length contrasts with more than two phonemic levels are rare, and several hypothesized cases of three-level vowel length can be analysed without postulating this typologically unusual configuration.<a href="#cite_note-2">[2]</a> <a href="/wiki/Estonian_language" title="Estonian language">Estonian</a> has three distinctive lengths, but the third is <a href="/wiki/Suprasegmental" class="mw-redirect" title="Suprasegmental">suprasegmental</a>, as it has developed from the allophonic variation caused by now-deleted grammatical markers. For example, half-long 'aa' in saada comes from the agglutination *saa+tta+k */sɑːtˑɑk/ "send (saatta-) +(imperative)", and the overlong 'aa' in saada comes from *saa+dak "get+(infinitive)". As for languages that have three lengths, independent of vowel quality or syllable structure, these include <a href="/wiki/Dinka_language" title="Dinka language">Dinka</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mixe_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Mixe language">Mixe</a>, <a href="/wiki/Yavapai_language" title="Yavapai language">Yavapai</a> and <a href="/wiki/Wichita_language" title="Wichita language">Wichita</a>. An example from Mixe is [poʃ] "guava", [poˑʃ] "spider", [poːʃ] "knot". In Dinka the longest vowels are three <a href="/wiki/Mora_(linguistics)" title="Mora (linguistics)">moras</a> long, and so are best analyzed as overlong e.g. /oːː/. Four-way distinctions have been claimed, but these are actually long-short distinctions on adjacent syllables.[<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>] For example, in <a href="/wiki/Kikamba_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Kikamba language">Kikamba</a>, there is [ko.ko.na], [kóó.ma̋], [ko.óma̋], [nétónubáné.éetɛ̂] "hit", "dry", "bite", "we have chosen for everyone and are still choosing". </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(3)"><h2 id="By_language">By language</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=3" title="Edit section: By language" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-3 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-3"> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="In_English">In English</h3> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=4" title="Edit section: In English" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1251242444"><table class="box-Tone plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-style ambox-Tone" role="presentation"><tbody><tr><td class="mbox-text"><div class="mbox-text-span">This section's tone or style may not reflect the <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles#Tone" title="Wikipedia:Writing better articles">encyclopedic tone</a> used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia's <a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Writing_better_articles#Tone" title="Wikipedia:Writing better articles">guide to writing better articles</a> for suggestions. (October 2018) (<a href="/wiki/Help:Maintenance_template_removal" title="Help:Maintenance template removal">Learn how and when to remove this message</a>)</div></td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Contrastive_vowel_length">Contrastive vowel length</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=5" title="Edit section: Contrastive vowel length" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> In many varieties of English, vowels contrast with each other both in length and in quality, and descriptions differ in the relative importance given to these two features. Some descriptions of <a href="/wiki/Received_Pronunciation" title="Received Pronunciation">Received Pronunciation</a> and more widely some descriptions of <a href="/wiki/English_phonology" title="English phonology">English phonology</a> group all non-diphthongal vowels into the categories "long" and "short", convenient terms for grouping the many vowels of English.<a href="#cite_note-3">[3]</a><a href="#cite_note-4">[4]</a><a href="#cite_note-5">[5]</a> <a href="/wiki/Daniel_Jones_(phonetician)" title="Daniel Jones (phonetician)">Daniel Jones</a> proposed that phonetically similar pairs of long and short vowels could be grouped into single phonemes, distinguished by the presence or absence of phonological length (<a href="/wiki/Chroneme" title="Chroneme">chroneme</a>).<a href="#cite_note-6">[6]</a> The usual long-short pairings for RP are /iː + ɪ/, /ɑː + æ/, /ɜ: + ə/, /ɔː + ɒ/, /u + ʊ/, but Jones omits /ɑː + æ/. This approach is not found in present-day descriptions of English. Vowels show allophonic variation in length and also in other features according to the context in which they occur. The terms tense (corresponding to long) and lax (corresponding to short) are alternative terms that do not directly refer to length.<a href="#cite_note-7">[7]</a> In <a href="/wiki/Australian_English_phonology" title="Australian English phonology">Australian English</a>, there is contrastive vowel length in closed syllables between long and short /e/ and /ɐ/. The following are <a href="/wiki/Minimal_pair" title="Minimal pair">minimal pairs</a> of length: <table style="margin-left: 1em;" cellspacing="3"> <tbody><tr> <td>/ˈfeɹiː/ ferry</td> <td></td> <td>/ˈfeːɹiː/ fairy </td></tr> <tr> <td>/ˈkɐt/ cut</td> <td></td> <td>/ˈkɐːt/ cart </td></tr></tbody></table> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Allophonic_vowel_length">Allophonic vowel length</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=6" title="Edit section: Allophonic vowel length" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> In most varieties of English, for instance <a href="/wiki/Received_Pronunciation" title="Received Pronunciation">Received Pronunciation</a> and <a href="/wiki/General_American" class="mw-redirect" title="General American">General American</a>, there is <a href="/wiki/Allophony" class="mw-redirect" title="Allophony">allophonic</a> variation in vowel length depending on the value of the consonant that follows it: vowels are shorter before voiceless consonants and are longer when they come before voiced consonants.<a href="#cite_note-8">[8]</a> Thus, the vowel in bad /bæd/ is longer than the vowel in bat /bæt/. Also compare neat <a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/niːt/</a> with need <a href="/wiki/Help:IPA/English" title="Help:IPA/English">/niːd/</a>. The vowel sound in "beat" is generally pronounced for about 190 milliseconds, but the same vowel in "bead" lasts 350 milliseconds in normal speech, the voiced final consonant influencing vowel length. <a href="/wiki/Cockney_English" class="mw-redirect" title="Cockney English">Cockney English</a> features short and long varieties of the closing diphthong [ɔʊ]. The short [ɔʊ] corresponds to RP /ɔː/ in morphologically closed syllables (see <a href="/wiki/Thought_split" class="mw-redirect" title="Thought split">thought split</a>), whereas the long [ɔʊː] corresponds to the non-prevocalic sequence /ɔːl/ (see <a href="/wiki/L-vocalization" title="L-vocalization">l-vocalization</a>). The following are minimal pairs of length: <table style="margin-left: 1em;" cellspacing="3"> <tbody><tr> <td>[ˈfɔʊʔ] fort/fought</td> <td></td> <td>[ˈfɔʊːʔ] fault </td></tr> <tr> <td>[ˈpɔʊz] pause</td> <td></td> <td>[ˈpɔʊːz] Paul's </td></tr> <tr> <td>[ˈwɔʊʔə] water</td> <td></td> <td>[ˈwɔʊːʔə] Walter </td></tr></tbody></table> The difference is lost in running speech, so that fault falls together with fort and fought as [ˈfɔʊʔ] or [ˈfoːʔ]. The contrast between the two diphthongs is phonetic rather than phonemic, as the /l/ can be restored in formal speech: [ˈfoːɫt] etc., which suggests that the underlying form of [ˈfɔʊːʔ] is /ˈfoːlt/ (John Wells says that the vowel is equally correctly transcribed with ⟨ɔʊ⟩ or ⟨oʊ⟩, not to be confused with <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r920966791">.mw-parser-output span.smallcaps{font-variant:small-caps}.mw-parser-output span.smallcaps-smaller{font-size:85%}</style>GOAT /ʌʊ/, [ɐɤ]). Furthermore, a vocalized word-final /l/ is often restored before a word-initial vowel, so that fall out [fɔʊl ˈæəʔ] (cf. thaw out [fɔəɹ ˈæəʔ], with an <a href="/wiki/Intrusive_r" class="mw-redirect" title="Intrusive r">intrusive /r/</a>) is somewhat more likely to contain the lateral [<a href="/wiki/Voiced_alveolar_lateral_approximant" class="mw-redirect" title="Voiced alveolar lateral approximant">l</a>] than fall [fɔʊː]. The distinction between [ɔʊ] and [ɔʊː] exists only word-internally before consonants other than intervocalic /l/. In the morpheme-final position only [ɔʊː] occurs (with the <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r920966791">THOUGHT vowel being realized as [ɔə ~ ɔː ~ ɔʊə]), so that all [ɔʊː] is always distinct from or [ɔə]. Before the intervocalic /l/ [ɔʊː] is the banned diphthong, though here either of the <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r920966791">THOUGHT vowels can occur, depending on morphology (compare falling [ˈfɔʊlɪn] with aweless [ˈɔəlɪs]).<a href="#cite_note-aoe-9">[9]</a> In Cockney, the main difference between /ɪ/ and /ɪə/, /e/ and /eə/ as well as /ɒ/ and /ɔə/ is length, not quality, so that his [ɪz], merry [ˈmɛɹɪi] and Polly [ˈpɒlɪi ~ ˈpɔlɪi] differ from here's [ɪəz ~ ɪːz], Mary [ˈmɛəɹɪi ~ ˈmɛːɹɪi] and poorly [ˈpɔəlɪi ~ ˈpɔːlɪi] (see <a href="/wiki/Cure-force_merger" class="mw-redirect" title="Cure-force merger">cure-force merger</a>) mainly in length. In broad Cockney, the contrast between /æ/ and /æʊ/ is also mainly one of length; compare hat [æʔ] with out [æəʔ ~ æːʔ] (cf. the near-RP form [æʊʔ], with a wide closing diphthong).<a href="#cite_note-aoe-9">[9]</a> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id='"Long"_and_"short"_vowel_letters_in_spelling_and_the_classroom_teaching_of_reading'>"Long" and "short" vowel letters in spelling and the classroom teaching of reading</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=7" title='Edit section: "Long" and "short" vowel letters in spelling and the classroom teaching of reading' class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1236090951">.mw-parser-output .hatnote{font-style:italic}.mw-parser-output div.hatnote{padding-left:1.6em;margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .hatnote i{font-style:normal}.mw-parser-output .hatnote+link+.hatnote{margin-top:-0.5em}@media print{body.ns-0 .mw-parser-output .hatnote{display:none!important}}</style><div role="note" class="hatnote navigation-not-searchable">Several terms redirect here. For the Minor League Baseball classification called "Short A", see <a href="/wiki/Class_A_Short_Season" title="Class A Short Season">Class A Short Season</a>. For the Cyrillic letters, see <a href="/wiki/Short_I_(Cyrillic)" title="Short I (Cyrillic)">Short I (Cyrillic)</a> and <a href="/wiki/Short_U_(Cyrillic)" title="Short U (Cyrillic)">Short U (Cyrillic)</a>.</div> In the teaching of English, vowels are commonly said to have a "short" and a "long" version. The terms "short" and "long" are not accurate from a linguistic point of view—at least in the case of Modern English—as the vowels are not actually short and long versions of the same sound; the terminology is a historical holdover due to their arising from proper vowel length in <a href="/wiki/Middle_English" title="Middle English">Middle English</a>. The phonetic values of these vowels are shown in the table below. <table class="wikitable"> <tbody><tr> <th>letter</th> <th>"short"</th> <th>"long"</th> <th>examples </th></tr> <tr align="center"> <th>a </th> <td>/æ/</td> <td>/eɪ/</td> <td>mat / mate </td></tr> <tr align="center"> <th>e </th> <td>/ɛ/</td> <td>/iː/</td> <td>pet / Pete </td></tr> <tr align="center"> <th>i </th> <td>/ɪ/</td> <td>/aɪ/</td> <td>twin / twine </td></tr> <tr align="center"> <th>o </th> <td>/ɒ/</td> <td>/oʊ/</td> <td>not / note </td></tr> <tr align="center"> <th>oo </th> <td>/ʊ/</td> <td>/uː/</td> <td>wood / wooed </td></tr> <tr align="center"> <th>u </th> <td>/ʌ/</td> <td>/juː/</td> <td>cub / cube </td></tr></tbody></table> In some types of phonetic transcription (e.g. <a href="/wiki/Pronunciation_respelling" title="Pronunciation respelling">pronunciation respelling</a>), "long" vowel letters may be marked with a macron; for example, ⟨ā⟩ may be used to represent the IPA sound /eɪ/. This is sometimes used in dictionaries, most notably in <a href="/wiki/Merriam-Webster" title="Merriam-Webster">Merriam-Webster</a><a href="#cite_note-10">[10]</a> (see <a href="/wiki/Pronunciation_respelling_for_English#Traditional_respelling_systems" title="Pronunciation respelling for English">Pronunciation respelling for English</a> for more). Similarly, the short vowel letters are rarely represented in teaching reading of English in the classroom by the symbols ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, o͝o, and ŭ. The long vowels are more often represented by a horizontal line above the vowel: ā, ē, ī, ō, o͞o, and ū.<a href="#cite_note-11">[11]</a>[<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Verifiability#Self-published_sources" title="Wikipedia:Verifiability">self-published source?</a>] </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(4)"><h2 id="Origin">Origin</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=8" title="Edit section: Origin" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-4 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-4"> Vowel length may often be traced to <a href="/wiki/Assimilation_(linguistics)" class="mw-redirect" title="Assimilation (linguistics)">assimilation</a>. In Australian English, the second element [ə] of a diphthong [eə] has assimilated to the preceding vowel, giving the pronunciation of bared as [beːd], creating a contrast with the short vowel in bed [bed]. Another common source is the vocalization of a consonant such as the <a href="/wiki/Voiced_velar_fricative" title="Voiced velar fricative">voiced velar fricative</a> [ɣ] or <a href="/wiki/Voiced_palatal_fricative" title="Voiced palatal fricative">voiced palatal fricative</a> or even an approximant, as the English 'r'. A historically-important example is the <a href="/wiki/Laryngeal_theory" title="Laryngeal theory">laryngeal theory</a>, which states that long vowels in the <a href="/wiki/Indo-European_languages" title="Indo-European languages">Indo-European languages</a> were formed from short vowels, followed by any one of the several "laryngeal" sounds of <a href="/wiki/Proto-Indo-European" class="mw-redirect" title="Proto-Indo-European">Proto-Indo-European</a> (conventionally written h1, h2 and h3). When a laryngeal sound followed a vowel, it was later lost in most Indo-European languages, and the preceding vowel became long. However, Proto-Indo-European had long vowels of other origins as well, usually as the result of older sound changes, such as <a href="/wiki/Szemer%C3%A9nyi%27s_law" title="Szemerényi's law">Szemerényi's law</a> and <a href="/wiki/Stang%27s_law" title="Stang's law">Stang's law</a>. Vowel length may also have arisen as an <a href="/wiki/Allophony" class="mw-redirect" title="Allophony">allophonic</a> quality of a single vowel phoneme, which may have then become split in two phonemes. For example, the Australian English phoneme /æː/ was created by the incomplete application of a rule extending /æ/ before certain voiced consonants, a phenomenon known as the <a href="/wiki/Phonological_history_of_English_short_A#Bad%E2%80%93lad_split" class="mw-redirect" title="Phonological history of English short A">bad–lad split</a>. An alternative pathway to the phonemicization of allophonic vowel length is the shift of a vowel of a formerly-different quality to become the short counterpart of a vowel pair. That too is exemplified by Australian English, whose contrast between /a/ (as in duck) and /aː/ (as in dark) was brought about by a <a href="/wiki/Open_vowel" title="Open vowel">lowering</a> of the earlier /ʌ/. <a href="/wiki/Estonian_language" title="Estonian language">Estonian</a>, a <a href="/wiki/Finnic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Finnic language">Finnic language</a>, has a rare[<a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed" title="Wikipedia:Citation needed">citation needed</a>] phenomenon in which allophonic length variation has become phonemic after the deletion of the suffixes causing the allophony. Estonian had already inherited two vowel lengths from <a href="/wiki/Proto-Finnic_language" title="Proto-Finnic language">Proto-Finnic</a>, but a third one was then introduced. For example, the Finnic imperative marker *-k caused the preceding vowels to be articulated shorter. After the deletion of the marker, the allophonic length became phonemic, as shown in the example above. </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(5)"><h2 id="Notations">Notations</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=9" title="Edit section: Notations" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-5 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-5"> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Latin_alphabet">Latin alphabet</h3> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=10" title="Edit section: Latin alphabet" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="IPA">IPA</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=11" title="Edit section: IPA" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> In the <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">International Phonetic Alphabet</a> the sign ː (not a colon, but two triangles facing each other in an <a href="/wiki/Hourglass_shape" class="mw-redirect" title="Hourglass shape">hourglass shape</a>; Unicode <code class="mw-highlight mw-highlight-lang-text mw-content-ltr" style="" dir="ltr">U+02D0</code>) is used for both vowel and consonant length. This may be doubled for an extra-long sound, or the top half (ˑ) may be used to indicate that a sound is "half long". A <a href="/wiki/Breve" title="Breve">breve</a> is used to mark an <a href="/wiki/Extra-short" class="mw-redirect" title="Extra-short">extra-short</a> vowel or consonant. Estonian has a three-way <a href="/wiki/Phonemic_contrast" title="Phonemic contrast">phonemic contrast</a>: <dl><dd>saada [saːːda] "to get" (overlong)</dd> <dd>saada [saːda] "send!" (long)</dd> <dd>sada [sada] "hundred" (short)</dd></dl> Although not phonemic, a half-long distinction can also be illustrated in certain accents of English: <dl><dd>bead [biːd]</dd> <dd>beat [biˑt]</dd> <dd>bid [bɪˑd]</dd> <dd>bit [bɪt]</dd></dl> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Diacritics">Diacritics</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=12" title="Edit section: Diacritics" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Macron_(diacritic)" title="Macron (diacritic)">Macron</a> (ā), used to indicate a long vowel in <a href="/wiki/M%C4%81ori_language" title="Māori language">Māori</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hawaiian_language" title="Hawaiian language">Hawaiian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Samoan_language" title="Samoan language">Samoan</a>, <a href="/wiki/Latvian_language" title="Latvian language">Latvian</a> and many transcription schemes, including romanizations for <a href="/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a> and <a href="/wiki/Arabic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, the <a href="/wiki/Hepburn_romanization" title="Hepburn romanization">Hepburn romanization</a> for <a href="/wiki/Japanese_language" title="Japanese language">Japanese</a>, and <a href="/wiki/Yale_romanization_of_Korean" title="Yale romanization of Korean">Yale</a> for <a href="/wiki/Korean_language" title="Korean language">Korean</a>. While not part of their standard orthography, the macron is used as a teaching aid in modern <a href="/wiki/Latin" title="Latin">Latin</a> and <a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Ancient Greek language">Ancient Greek</a> textbooks. Macron is also used in modern official <a href="/wiki/Cyrillic_script" title="Cyrillic script">Cyrillic</a> orthographies of some minority languages (<a href="/wiki/Mansi_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Mansi language">Mansi</a>,<a href="#cite_note-12">[12]</a> <a href="/wiki/Kildin_Sami_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Kildin Sami language">Kildin Sami</a>, <a href="/wiki/Evenki_language" title="Evenki language">Evenki</a>).</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Breve" title="Breve">Breves</a> (ă) are used to mark short vowels in several <a href="/wiki/Linguistics" title="Linguistics">linguistic</a> transcription systems, as well as in <a href="/wiki/Vietnamese_language" title="Vietnamese language">Vietnamese</a> and Alvarez-Hale's orthography for <a href="/wiki/O%27odham_language" class="mw-redirect" title="O'odham language">O'odham</a>.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Acute_accent" title="Acute accent">Acute accent</a> (á), used to indicate a long vowel in <a href="/wiki/Czech_language" title="Czech language">Czech</a>, <a href="/wiki/Slovak_language" title="Slovak language">Slovak</a>, <a href="/wiki/Old_Norse_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Old Norse language">Old Norse</a>, <a href="/wiki/Hungarian_language" title="Hungarian language">Hungarian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Irish_language" title="Irish language">Irish</a>, traditional <a href="/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic" title="Scottish Gaelic">Scottish Gaelic</a> (for long [oː] ó, [eː] é, as opposed to [ɛː] è, [ɔː] ò) and pre-20th-century transcriptions of <a href="/wiki/Sanskrit" title="Sanskrit">Sanskrit</a>, <a href="/wiki/Arabic_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Arabic language">Arabic</a>, etc. <ul><li>An <a href="/wiki/Apex_(diacritic)" title="Apex (diacritic)">apex</a>, which was a light acute accent that was angled lower and aligned with a letter's right, was used in <a href="/wiki/Classical_Latin" title="Classical Latin">Classical Latin</a>. (However, for I, a taller ꟾ was sometimes used instead.)</li></ul></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Circumflex" title="Circumflex">Circumflex</a> (â), used for example in <a href="/wiki/Welsh_language" title="Welsh language">Welsh</a>. The circumflex is occasionally used as a surrogate for the macrons, particularly in <a href="/wiki/Hawaiian_language" title="Hawaiian language">Hawaiian</a> and in the <a href="/wiki/Kunrei-shiki" class="mw-redirect" title="Kunrei-shiki">Kunrei-shiki</a> romanization of <a href="/wiki/Japanese_language" title="Japanese language">Japanese</a>, or in transcriptions of <a href="/wiki/Old_High_German" title="Old High German">Old High German</a>. In transcriptions of <a href="/wiki/Middle_High_German" title="Middle High German">Middle High German</a>, a system where inherited lengths are marked with the circumflex and new lengths with the macron is occasionally used.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Grave_accent" title="Grave accent">Grave accent</a> (à) is used in <a href="/wiki/Scottish_Gaelic" title="Scottish Gaelic">Scottish Gaelic</a>, with a e i o u. (In traditional spelling, [ɛː] is è and [ɔː] is ò as in gnè, pòcaid, Mòr (personal name), while [eː] is é and [oː] is ó, as in dé, mór.)</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ogonek" title="Ogonek">Ogonek</a> (ą), used in <a href="/wiki/Lithuanian_language" title="Lithuanian language">Lithuanian</a> to indicate long vowels.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Diaeresis_(diacritic)" title="Diaeresis (diacritic)">Trema</a> (ä), used in <a href="/wiki/Aymara_language" title="Aymara language">Aymara</a> to indicate long vowels.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Additional_letters">Additional letters</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=13" title="Edit section: Additional letters" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> <ul><li>Vowel doubling, used consistently in <a href="/wiki/Estonian_language" title="Estonian language">Estonian</a>, <a href="/wiki/Finnish_language" title="Finnish language">Finnish</a>, <a href="/wiki/Lombard_language" title="Lombard language">Lombard</a>, <a href="/wiki/Navajo_language" title="Navajo language">Navajo</a> and <a href="/wiki/Somali_language" title="Somali language">Somali</a>, and in closed syllables in <a href="/wiki/Dutch_language" title="Dutch language">Dutch</a>, <a href="/wiki/Afrikaans" title="Afrikaans">Afrikaans</a>, and <a href="/wiki/West_Frisian_language" title="West Frisian language">West Frisian</a>. Example: Finnish tuuli /ˈtuːli/ 'wind' vs. tuli /ˈtuli/ 'fire'. <ul><li>Estonian also has a rare "overlong" vowel length but does not distinguish it from the normal long vowel in writing, as they are distinguishable by context; see the example below.</li></ul></li> <li>Consonant doubling after short vowels is very common in <a href="/wiki/Swedish_language" title="Swedish language">Swedish</a> and other Germanic languages, including English. The system is somewhat inconsistent, especially in loanwords, around consonant clusters and with word-final nasal consonants. Examples:</li></ul> <dl><dd>Consistent use: byta /²byːta/ 'to change' vs bytta /²bʏtːa/ 'tub' and koma /²koːma/ 'coma' vs komma /²kɔma/ 'to come'</dd> <dd>Inconsistent use: fält /ˈfɛlt/ 'a field' and kam /ˈkamː/ 'a comb' (but the verb 'to comb' is kamma)</dd></dl> <ul><li>Classical <a href="/wiki/Milanese" class="mw-redirect" title="Milanese">Milanese</a> orthography uses consonant doubling in closed short syllables, e.g., lenguagg 'language' and pubblegh 'public'.<a href="#cite_note-13">[13]</a></li> <li>ie is used to mark the long /iː/ sound in <a href="/wiki/German_language" title="German language">German</a> because of the preservation and the generalization of a historic ie spelling, which originally represented the sound /iə̯/. In <a href="/wiki/Low_German" title="Low German">Low German</a>, a following e letter lengthens other vowels as well, e.g., in the name <a href="/wiki/Bernkastel-Kues" title="Bernkastel-Kues">Kues</a> /kuːs/.</li> <li>A following h is frequently used in <a href="/wiki/German_language" title="German language">German</a> and older <a href="/wiki/Swedish_language" title="Swedish language">Swedish</a> spelling, e.g., German Zahn [tsaːn] 'tooth'.</li> <li>In <a href="/wiki/Czech_language" title="Czech language">Czech</a>, the additional letter ů is used for the long U sound, and the character is known as a <a href="/wiki/Krou%C5%BEek" class="mw-redirect" title="Kroužek">kroužek</a>, e.g., kůň "horse". (It actually developed from the <a href="/wiki/Typographic_ligature" class="mw-redirect" title="Typographic ligature">ligature</a> "uo", which noted the <a href="/wiki/Diphthong" title="Diphthong">diphthong</a> /uo/ until it shifted to /uː/.)</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="Other_signs">Other signs</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=14" title="Edit section: Other signs" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Colon_(letter)" title="Colon (letter)">Colon</a>, ⟨꞉⟩, from <a href="/wiki/Americanist_phonetic_notation" title="Americanist phonetic notation">Americanist phonetic notation</a>, and used in orthographies based on it such as <a href="/wiki/O%CA%BCodham_language" title="Oʼodham language">Oʼodham</a>, <a href="/wiki/Mohawk_language" title="Mohawk language">Mohawk</a> or <a href="/wiki/Seneca_language" title="Seneca language">Seneca</a>. The triangular colon ⟨ː⟩ in the <a href="/wiki/International_Phonetic_Alphabet" title="International Phonetic Alphabet">International Phonetic Alphabet</a> derives from this.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Interpunct#Letter" title="Interpunct">Middot</a> or half-colon, ⟨ꞏ⟩, a more common variant in the Americanist tradition, also used in language orthographies.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Saltillo_(linguistics)#The_saltillo_letter" title="Saltillo (linguistics)">Saltillo</a> (straight apostrophe), used in <a href="/wiki/Mi%EA%9E%8Ckmaq_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Miꞌkmaq language">Miꞌkmaq</a>, as evidenced by the name itself. This is the convention of the Listuguj orthography (Miꞌgmaq), and a common substitution for the acute accent (Míkmaq) of the Francis-Smith orthography.</li></ul> <div class="mw-heading mw-heading4"><h4 id="No_distinction">No distinction</h4> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=15" title="Edit section: No distinction" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> Some languages make no distinction in writing. This is particularly the case with ancient languages such as <a href="/wiki/Old_English_language" class="mw-redirect" title="Old English language">Old English</a>. Modern edited texts often use macrons with long vowels, however. <a href="/wiki/Australian_English" title="Australian English">Australian English</a> does not distinguish the vowels /æ/ from /æː/ in spelling, with words like 'span' or 'can' having different pronunciations depending on meaning. <div class="mw-heading mw-heading3"><h3 id="Other_writing_systems">Other writing systems</h3> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=16" title="Edit section: Other writing systems" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div> In non-Latin writing systems, a variety of mechanisms have also evolved. <ul><li>In abjads derived from the <a href="/wiki/Aramaic_alphabet" title="Aramaic alphabet">Aramaic alphabet</a>, notably <a href="/wiki/Arabic_alphabet" title="Arabic alphabet">Arabic</a> and <a href="/wiki/Hebrew_alphabet" title="Hebrew alphabet">Hebrew</a>, long vowels are written with consonant letters (mostly <a href="/wiki/Approximant_consonant" class="mw-redirect" title="Approximant consonant">approximant consonant</a> letters) in a process called <a href="/wiki/Mater_lectionis" title="Mater lectionis">mater lectionis</a> e.g. in Modern Arabic the long vowel /aː/ is represented by the letter ا (<a href="/wiki/Aleph" title="Aleph">Alif</a>), the vowels /uː/ and /oː/ are represented by و (<a href="/wiki/Waw_(letter)" title="Waw (letter)">wāw</a>), and the vowels /iː/ and /eː/ are represented by ي (<a href="/wiki/Yodh" title="Yodh">yāʼ</a>), while short vowels are typically omitted entirely. Most of these scripts also have optional diacritics that can be used to mark short vowels when needed.</li> <li>In <a href="/wiki/South-Asian" class="mw-redirect" title="South-Asian">South-Asian</a> <a href="/wiki/Abugida" title="Abugida">abugidas</a>, such as <a href="/wiki/Devanagari" title="Devanagari">Devanagari</a> or the <a href="/wiki/Thai_alphabet" class="mw-redirect" title="Thai alphabet">Thai alphabet</a>, there are different vowel signs for short and long vowels.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Ancient_Greek" title="Ancient Greek">Ancient Greek</a> also had distinct vowel signs, but only for some long vowels; the vowel letters η (<a href="/wiki/Eta" title="Eta">eta</a>) and ω (<a href="/wiki/Omega" title="Omega">omega</a>) originally represented long forms of the vowels represented by the letters ε (<a href="/wiki/Epsilon" title="Epsilon">epsilon</a>, literally "bare e") and ο (<a href="/wiki/Omicron" title="Omicron">omicron</a> – literally "small o", by contrast with omega or "large o"). The other vowel letters of Ancient Greek, α (<a href="/wiki/Alpha" title="Alpha">alpha</a>), ι (<a href="/wiki/Iota" title="Iota">iota</a>) and υ (<a href="/wiki/Upsilon" title="Upsilon">upsilon</a>), could represent either short or long vowel phones.</li> <li><a href="/wiki/Japanese_phonology" title="Japanese phonology">Japanese phonology</a>: <ul><li>In the <a href="/wiki/Hiragana" title="Hiragana">hiragana</a> syllabary, long vowels are usually indicated by adding a vowel character after. For vowels /aː/, /iː/, and /uː/, the corresponding independent vowel is added. Thus: あ (a), おかあさん, "okaasan", mother; い (i), にいがた "Niigata", city in northern Japan (usually 新潟, in <a href="/wiki/Kanji" title="Kanji">kanji</a>); う (u), りゅう "ryuu" (usu. 竜), dragon. The mid-vowels /eː/ and /oː/ may be written with え (e) (rare) (ねえさん (姉さん), neesan, "elder sister") and お (o) [おおきい (usu 大きい), ookii, big], or with い (i) (めいれい (命令), "meirei", command/order) and う (u) (おうさま (王様), ousama, "king") depending on etymological, morphological, and historic grounds.</li> <li>Most long vowels in the <a href="/wiki/Katakana" title="Katakana">katakana</a> syllabary are written with a special bar symbol ー (vertical in <a href="/wiki/Tategaki" class="mw-redirect" title="Tategaki">vertical writing</a>), called a <a href="/wiki/Ch%C5%8Don" class="mw-redirect" title="Chōon">chōon</a>, as in メーカー mēkā "maker" instead of メカ meka "<a href="/wiki/Mecha" title="Mecha">mecha</a>". However, some long vowels are written with additional vowel characters, as with hiragana, with the distinction being orthographically significant.</li> <li>Some analyses make a distinction between a long vowel and a succession of two identical vowels, citing pairs such as 砂糖屋 satōya 'sugar shop' [satoːja] vs. 里親, satooya, 'foster parent' [satooja]. They are usually identical in normal speech, but when enunciated a distinction may be made with a pause or a <a href="/wiki/Glottal_stop" title="Glottal stop">glottal stop</a> inserted between two identical vowels.<a href="#cite_note-FOOTNOTELabrune201245%E2%80%9346-14">[14]</a></li> <li>In transcription: tsuki /tuki/ 'moon' vs. tsūki /tuuki/ 'airflow'.</li></ul></li> <li>In the Korean <a href="/wiki/Hangul" title="Hangul">Hangul</a> alphabet, vowel length is not distinguished in normal writing. Some dictionaries use a double dot, ⟨:⟩, for example 무: "<a href="/wiki/Daikon" title="Daikon">Daikon radish</a>".</li> <li>In the Classic <a href="/wiki/Maya_script" title="Maya script">Maya script</a>, also based on syllabic characters, long vowels in monosyllabic roots were generally written with word-final syllabic signs ending in the vowel -i rather than an echo-vowel. Hence, chaach "basket", with a long vowel, was written as cha-chi (compare chan "sky", with a short vowel, written as cha-na). If the nucleus of the syllable was itself i, however, the word-final vowel for indicating length was -a: tziik- "to count; to honour, to sanctify" was written as tzi-ka (compare sitz' "appetite", written as si-tz'i).</li></ul> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(6)"><h2 id="See_also">See also</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=17" title="Edit section: See also" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-6 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-6"> <ul><li><a href="/wiki/Gemination" title="Gemination">Gemination</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Length_(phonetics)" title="Length (phonetics)">Length (phonetics)</a></li> <li><a href="/wiki/Mora_(linguistics)" title="Mora (linguistics)">Mora (linguistics)</a></li></ul> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(7)"><h2 id="References">References</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=18" title="Edit section: References" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-7 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-7"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239543626">.mw-parser-output .reflist{margin-bottom:0.5em;list-style-type:decimal}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .reflist{font-size:90%}}.mw-parser-output .reflist .references{font-size:100%;margin-bottom:0;list-style-type:inherit}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-2{column-width:30em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns-3{column-width:25em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns ol{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .reflist-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-alpha{list-style-type:upper-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-upper-roman{list-style-type:upper-roman}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-alpha{list-style-type:lower-alpha}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-greek{list-style-type:lower-greek}.mw-parser-output .reflist-lower-roman{list-style-type:lower-roman}</style><div class="reflist"> <div class="mw-references-wrap mw-references-columns"><ol class="references"> <li id="cite_note-1"><a href="#cite_ref-1">^</a> Liddell, H. G., and R. Scott (1996). A Greek-English Lexicon (revised 9th ed. with supplement). Oxford: Oxford University Press. p.1 </li> <li id="cite_note-2"><a href="#cite_ref-2">^</a> Odden, David (2011). The Representation of Vowel Length. In Marc van Oostendorp, Colin J. Ewen, Elizabeth Hume, & Keren Rice (eds.) The Blackwell Companion to Phonology. Wiley-Blackwell, 465-490. </li> <li id="cite_note-3"><a href="#cite_ref-3">^</a> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1238218222">.mw-parser-output cite.citation{font-style:inherit;word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation q{quotes:"\"""\"""'""'"}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-free.id-lock-free a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/65/Lock-green.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited.id-lock-limited a,.mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration.id-lock-registration a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/d6/Lock-gray-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription.id-lock-subscription a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Lock-red-alt-2.svg")right 0.1em center/9px no-repeat}.mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background:url("//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/4/4c/Wikisource-logo.svg")right 0.1em center/12px no-repeat}body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-free a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-limited a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-registration a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .id-lock-subscription a,body:not(.skin-timeless):not(.skin-minerva) .mw-parser-output .cs1-ws-icon a{background-size:contain;padding:0 1em 0 0}.mw-parser-output .cs1-code{color:inherit;background:inherit;border:none;padding:inherit}.mw-parser-output .cs1-hidden-error{display:none;color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-visible-error{color:var(--color-error,#d33)}.mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{display:none;color:#085;margin-left:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-left{padding-left:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .cs1-kern-right{padding-right:0.2em}.mw-parser-output .citation .mw-selflink{font-weight:inherit}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .cs1-format{font-size:95%}html.skin-theme-clientpref-night .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}@media screen and (prefers-color-scheme:dark){html.skin-theme-clientpref-os .mw-parser-output .cs1-maint{color:#18911f}}</style><cite id="CITEREFWells1982" class="citation book cs1">Wells, John C (1982). Accents of English. Cambridge University Press. p. 119.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Accents+of+English&rft.pages=119&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.date=1982&rft.aulast=Wells&rft.aufirst=John+C&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-4"><a href="#cite_ref-4">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJonesRoachSetterEsling2011" class="citation book cs1">Jones, Daniel; Roach, Peter; Setter, Jane; Esling, John (2011). The Cambridge English Pronouncing Dictionary (18th ed.). Cambridge. p. vii. <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-15255-6" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-521-15255-6"><bdi>978-0-521-15255-6</bdi></a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Cambridge+English+Pronouncing+Dictionary&rft.pages=vii&rft.edition=18th&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=2011&rft.isbn=978-0-521-15255-6&rft.aulast=Jones&rft.aufirst=Daniel&rft.au=Roach%2C+Peter&rft.au=Setter%2C+Jane&rft.au=Esling%2C+John&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-5"><a href="#cite_ref-5">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFWells2008" class="citation book cs1">Wells, J.C. (2008). Longman Pronunciation Dictionary (3rd ed.). Longman. p. xxiii.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Longman+Pronunciation+Dictionary&rft.pages=xxiii&rft.edition=3rd&rft.pub=Longman&rft.date=2008&rft.aulast=Wells&rft.aufirst=J.C.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-6"><a href="#cite_ref-6">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFJones1967" class="citation book cs1">Jones, Daniel (1967). An Outline of English Phonetics (9th ed.). Heffer. p. 63.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=An+Outline+of+English+Phonetics&rft.pages=63&rft.edition=9th&rft.pub=Heffer&rft.date=1967&rft.aulast=Jones&rft.aufirst=Daniel&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-7"><a href="#cite_ref-7">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFGiegerich1992" class="citation book cs1">Giegerich, H. (1992). English phonology: an introduction. Cambridge. p. para 3.3.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=English+phonology%3A+an+introduction&rft.pages=para+3.3&rft.pub=Cambridge&rft.date=1992&rft.aulast=Giegerich&rft.aufirst=H.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-8"><a href="#cite_ref-8">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFKluenderDiehlWright1988" class="citation book cs1">Kluender, Keith; Diehl, Randy; Wright, Beverly (1988). Vowel-length Differences Before Voiced and Voiceless Consonants: An Auditory Explanation. Journal of Phonetics. p. 153.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Vowel-length+Differences+Before+Voiced+and+Voiceless+Consonants%3A+An+Auditory+Explanation&rft.pages=153&rft.pub=Journal+of+Phonetics&rft.date=1988&rft.aulast=Kluender&rft.aufirst=Keith&rft.au=Diehl%2C+Randy&rft.au=Wright%2C+Beverly&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-aoe-9">^ <a href="#cite_ref-aoe_9-0">a</a> <a href="#cite_ref-aoe_9-1">b</a> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1041539562">.mw-parser-output .citation{word-wrap:break-word}.mw-parser-output .citation:target{background-color:rgba(0,127,255,0.133)}</style><cite id="CITEREFWells1982" class="citation book"><a href="/wiki/John_C._Wells" title="John C. Wells">Wells, John C.</a> (1982). Accents of English. Vol. 2: The British Isles (pp. i–xx, 279–466). Cambridge University Press. <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><a href="/wiki/Doi_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="Doi (identifier)">doi</a>:<a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://doi.org/10.1017%2FCBO9780511611759">10.1017/CBO9780511611759</a>. <a href="/wiki/International_Standard_Book_Number" class="mw-redirect" title="International Standard Book Number">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-52128540-2" title="Special:BookSources/0-52128540-2">0-52128540-2</a><span class="Z3988" title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fde.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=Accents+of+English&rft.aulast=Wells&rft.aufirst=John+C.&rft.date=1982&rft.pub=Cambridge+University+Press&rft.volume=2%3A+The+British+Isles&rft.isbn=0-52128540-2&rft_id=info:doi/10.1017%2FCBO9780511611759"> .</cite> </li> <li id="cite_note-10"><a href="#cite_ref-10">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.merriam-webster.com/assets/mw/static/pdf/help/guide-to-pronunciation.pdf">"Guide to Pronunciation"</a> (PDF). Merriam-Webster. Retrieved 2018-10-18.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Guide+to+Pronunciation&rft.pub=Merriam-Webster&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.merriam-webster.com%2Fassets%2Fmw%2Fstatic%2Fpdf%2Fhelp%2Fguide-to-pronunciation.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-11"><a href="#cite_ref-11">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://www.actionfactor.com/pages/lesson-plans/v1.05-short-and-long-vowels.html#:~:text=The%20short%20vowels%20can%20represented,%2C%20%C4%AB%2C%20%C5%8D%2C%20%C5%AB.">"Short Vowels and Long Vowels Lesson Plan"</a>.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=unknown&rft.btitle=Short+Vowels+and+Long+Vowels+Lesson+Plan&rft_id=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.actionfactor.com%2Fpages%2Flesson-plans%2Fv1.05-short-and-long-vowels.html%23%3A~%3Atext%3DThe%2520short%2520vowels%2520can%2520represented%2C%252C%2520%25C4%25AB%252C%2520%25C5%258D%252C%2520%25C5%25AB.&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-12"><a href="#cite_ref-12">^</a> <link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite class="citation web cs1"><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="http://www.babel.gwi.uni-muenchen.de/media/downloads/grammar/NorthernMansi/Phonology/Northern-Mansi_Phonemes_unified.pdf">"OB-UGRIC LANGUAGES: CONCEPTUAL STRUCTURES, LEXICON, CONSTRUCTIONS, CATEGORIES TRANSLITERATION TABLES FOR NORTHERN MANSI : Counterparts of Cyrillic, FUT Counterparts of Cyrillic, FUT Cyrillic, FUT and IPA characters and IPA characters and IPA characters for Northern Mansi"</a> (PDF). Babel.gwi.uni-muenchen.de. Retrieved 30 May 2018.</cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Ajournal&rft.genre=unknown&rft.jtitle=Babel.gwi.uni-muenchen.de&rft.atitle=OB-UGRIC+LANGUAGES%3A+CONCEPTUAL+STRUCTURES%2C+LEXICON%2C+CONSTRUCTIONS%2C+CATEGORIES+TRANSLITERATION+TABLES+FOR+NORTHERN+MANSI+%3A+Counterparts+of+Cyrillic%2C+FUT+Counterparts+of+Cyrillic%2C+FUT+Cyrillic%2C+FUT+and+IPA+characters+and+IPA+characters+and+IPA+characters+for+Northern+Mansi&rft_id=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.babel.gwi.uni-muenchen.de%2Fmedia%2Fdownloads%2Fgrammar%2FNorthernMansi%2FPhonology%2FNorthern-Mansi_Phonemes_unified.pdf&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"> </li> <li id="cite_note-13"><a href="#cite_ref-13">^</a> <a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/s:Autore:Carlo_Porta" class="extiw" title="it:s:Autore:Carlo Porta">Carlo Porta</a> on the Italian <a href="/wiki/Wikisource" title="Wikisource">Wikisource</a> </li> <li id="cite_note-FOOTNOTELabrune201245–46-14"><a href="#cite_ref-FOOTNOTELabrune201245%E2%80%9346_14-0">^</a> <a href="#CITEREFLabrune2012">Labrune (2012)</a>, pp. 45–46. </li> </ol></div></div> <ul><li><link rel="mw-deduplicated-inline-style" href="mw-data:TemplateStyles:r1238218222"><cite id="CITEREFLabrune2012" class="citation cs2">Labrune, Laurence (2012), The Phonology of Japanese, Oxford, England: Oxford University Press, <a href="/wiki/ISBN_(identifier)" class="mw-redirect" title="ISBN (identifier)">ISBN</a> <a href="/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-19-954583-4" title="Special:BookSources/978-0-19-954583-4"><bdi>978-0-19-954583-4</bdi></a></cite><span title="ctx_ver=Z39.88-2004&rft_val_fmt=info%3Aofi%2Ffmt%3Akev%3Amtx%3Abook&rft.genre=book&rft.btitle=The+Phonology+of+Japanese&rft.place=Oxford%2C+England&rft.pub=Oxford+University+Press&rft.date=2012&rft.isbn=978-0-19-954583-4&rft.aulast=Labrune&rft.aufirst=Laurence&rfr_id=info%3Asid%2Fen.wikipedia.org%3AVowel+length" class="Z3988"></li></ul> </section><div class="mw-heading mw-heading2 section-heading" onclick="mfTempOpenSection(8)"><h2 id="External_links">External links</h2> <a role="button" href="/w/index.php?title=Vowel_length&action=edit&section=19" title="Edit section: External links" class="cdx-button cdx-button--size-large cdx-button--fake-button cdx-button--fake-button--enabled cdx-button--icon-only cdx-button--weight-quiet "> edit </a> </div><section class="mf-section-8 collapsible-block" id="mf-section-8"> <style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1239549316">.mw-parser-output .refbegin{margin-bottom:0.5em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul{margin-left:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{margin-left:0;padding-left:3.2em;text-indent:-3.2em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul,.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents ul li{list-style:none}@media(max-width:720px){.mw-parser-output .refbegin-hanging-indents>ul>li{padding-left:1.6em;text-indent:-1.6em}}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns{margin-top:0.3em}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns ul{margin-top:0}.mw-parser-output .refbegin-columns li{page-break-inside:avoid;break-inside:avoid-column}@media screen{.mw-parser-output .refbegin{font-size:90%}}</style><div class="refbegin" style=""> <ul><li><a rel="nofollow" class="external text" href="https://web.archive.org/web/20051125044824/http://www.cc.jyu.fi/~tojan/rlang/finn2.htm">Some Features of the Vernacular Finnish of Jyväskylä</a></li></ul> </div> <div class="navbox-styles"><style data-mw-deduplicate="TemplateStyles:r1129693374">.mw-parser-output .hlist dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist ul{margin:0;padding:0}.mw-parser-output .hlist dd,.mw-parser-output .hlist dt,.mw-parser-output .hlist li{margin:0;display:inline}.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ol,.mw-parser-output .hlist.inline ul,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl dl,.mw-parser-output .hlist dl ol,.mw-parser-output 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<h4>Languages</h4> <section> <ul id="p-variants" class="minerva-languages"></ul> <ul class="minerva-languages"><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-bg mw-list-item"><a href="https://bg.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%9A%D0%B2%D0%B0%D0%BD%D1%82%D0%B8%D1%82%D0%B5%D1%82" title="Квантитет – Bulgarian" lang="bg" hreflang="bg" data-title="Квантитет" data-language-autonym="Български" data-language-local-name="Bulgarian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Български</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-br mw-list-item"><a href="https://br.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hirder_vogalennek" title="Hirder vogalennek – Breton" lang="br" hreflang="br" data-title="Hirder vogalennek" data-language-autonym="Brezhoneg" data-language-local-name="Breton" class="interlanguage-link-target">Brezhoneg</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-de mw-list-item"><a href="https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vokalquantit%C3%A4t" title="Vokalquantität – German" lang="de" hreflang="de" data-title="Vokalquantität" data-language-autonym="Deutsch" data-language-local-name="German" class="interlanguage-link-target">Deutsch</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-es mw-list-item"><a href="https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vocal_larga" title="Vocal larga – Spanish" lang="es" hreflang="es" data-title="Vocal larga" data-language-autonym="Español" data-language-local-name="Spanish" class="interlanguage-link-target">Español</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-eu mw-list-item"><a href="https://eu.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokalen_iraupen" title="Bokalen iraupen – Basque" lang="eu" hreflang="eu" data-title="Bokalen iraupen" data-language-autonym="Euskara" data-language-local-name="Basque" class="interlanguage-link-target">Euskara</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fa mw-list-item"><a href="https://fa.wikipedia.org/wiki/%DA%A9%D8%B4%D8%B4_%D9%88%D8%A7%DA%A9%D9%87" title="کشش واکه – Persian" lang="fa" hreflang="fa" data-title="کشش واکه" data-language-autonym="فارسی" data-language-local-name="Persian" class="interlanguage-link-target">فارسی</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-fr mw-list-item"><a href="https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantit%C3%A9_vocalique" title="Quantité vocalique – French" lang="fr" hreflang="fr" data-title="Quantité vocalique" data-language-autonym="Français" data-language-local-name="French" class="interlanguage-link-target">Français</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-gl mw-list-item"><a href="https://gl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lonxitude_voc%C3%A1lica" title="Lonxitude vocálica – Galician" lang="gl" hreflang="gl" data-title="Lonxitude vocálica" data-language-autonym="Galego" data-language-local-name="Galician" class="interlanguage-link-target">Galego</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ko mw-list-item"><a href="https://ko.wikipedia.org/wiki/%EB%AA%A8%EC%9D%8C%EC%9D%98_%EA%B8%B8%EC%9D%B4" title="모음의 길이 – Korean" lang="ko" hreflang="ko" data-title="모음의 길이" data-language-autonym="한국어" data-language-local-name="Korean" class="interlanguage-link-target">한국어</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-it mw-list-item"><a href="https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantit%C3%A0_vocalica" title="Quantità vocalica – Italian" lang="it" hreflang="it" data-title="Quantità vocalica" data-language-autonym="Italiano" data-language-local-name="Italian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Italiano</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ms mw-list-item"><a href="https://ms.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kepanjangan_vokal" title="Kepanjangan vokal – Malay" lang="ms" hreflang="ms" data-title="Kepanjangan vokal" data-language-autonym="Bahasa Melayu" data-language-local-name="Malay" class="interlanguage-link-target">Bahasa Melayu</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ja mw-list-item"><a href="https://ja.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E9%95%B7%E6%AF%8D%E9%9F%B3" title="長母音 – Japanese" lang="ja" hreflang="ja" data-title="長母音" data-language-autonym="日本語" data-language-local-name="Japanese" class="interlanguage-link-target">日本語</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pl mw-list-item"><a href="https://pl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iloczas" title="Iloczas – Polish" lang="pl" hreflang="pl" data-title="Iloczas" data-language-autonym="Polski" data-language-local-name="Polish" class="interlanguage-link-target">Polski</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-pt mw-list-item"><a href="https://pt.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantidade_voc%C3%A1lica" title="Quantidade vocálica – Portuguese" lang="pt" hreflang="pt" data-title="Quantidade vocálica" data-language-autonym="Português" data-language-local-name="Portuguese" class="interlanguage-link-target">Português</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-ru mw-list-item"><a href="https://ru.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%94%D0%BE%D0%BB%D0%B3%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%B8_%D0%BA%D1%80%D0%B0%D1%82%D0%BA%D0%B8%D0%B5_%D0%B3%D0%BB%D0%B0%D1%81%D0%BD%D1%8B%D0%B5" title="Долгие и краткие гласные – Russian" lang="ru" hreflang="ru" data-title="Долгие и краткие гласные" data-language-autonym="Русский" data-language-local-name="Russian" class="interlanguage-link-target">Русский</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-simple mw-list-item"><a href="https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vowel_length" title="Vowel length – Simple English" lang="en-simple" hreflang="en-simple" data-title="Vowel length" data-language-autonym="Simple English" data-language-local-name="Simple English" class="interlanguage-link-target">Simple English</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh-yue mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh-yue.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E5%85%83%E9%9F%B3%E9%95%B7%E5%BA%A6" title="元音長度 – Cantonese" lang="yue" hreflang="yue" data-title="元音長度" data-language-autonym="粵語" data-language-local-name="Cantonese" class="interlanguage-link-target">粵語</a></li><li class="interlanguage-link interwiki-zh mw-list-item"><a href="https://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E6%AF%8D%E9%9F%B3%E9%95%B7%E5%BA%A6" title="母音長度 – Chinese" lang="zh" hreflang="zh" data-title="母音長度" data-language-autonym="中文" data-language-local-name="Chinese" class="interlanguage-link-target">中文</a></li></ul> </section> </div> <div class="minerva-footer-logo"><img src="/static/images/mobile/copyright/wikipedia-wordmark-en.svg" alt="Wikipedia" width="120" height="18" style="width: 7.5em; height: 1.125em;"/> </div> <ul id="footer-info" class="footer-info hlist hlist-separated"> <li id="footer-info-lastmod"> This page was last edited on 4 December 2024, at 17:44 (UTC).</li> <li id="footer-info-copyright">Content is available under <a class="external" rel="nofollow" href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/deed.en">CC BY-SA 4.0</a> unless otherwise noted.</li> </ul> <ul id="footer-places" class="footer-places hlist hlist-separated"> <li id="footer-places-privacy"><a href="https://foundation.wikimedia.org/wiki/Special:MyLanguage/Policy:Privacy_policy">Privacy policy</a></li> <li id="footer-places-about"><a href="/wiki/Wikipedia:About">About 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