VOWEL LENGTH Meaning and
Definition
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Vowel length refers to the duration or length of time in which a vowel sound is produced when spoken. It is a linguistic concept used to describe the variation in the duration of vowel sounds. In many languages, such as English, vowel length plays a crucial role in distinguishing between words and conveying meaning.
Vowels can be categorized as either short or long, depending on their duration. Short vowels are generally produced with a relatively brief period of time, while long vowels are pronounced for a longer time span. The duration of vowel sounds is typically measured in milliseconds.
Vowel length can have significant implications for the phonetics and phonology of a language. In some languages, such as Finnish or Japanese, vowel length is phonemic, meaning it can create meaningful distinctions between words. For instance, in Finnish, "kato" means "a disappearance" whereas "kaato" means "a fall" – the only difference being the length of the vowel sound.
In other cases, vowel length may not be phonemic but contribute to the overall rhythm and stress patterns of a language. It can affect the timing of syllables and ultimately influence the prosody of speech.
Linguists often use various notation systems to represent vowel length, such as using a colon (:) after a vowel symbol to indicate a long vowel, or doubling the vowel symbol itself. This helps in accurately transcribing and studying vowel length in different linguistic contexts.
Etymology of VOWEL LENGTH
The etymology of the word "vowel length" can be traced back to the Old English word "lang", meaning "long". In Middle English, the term "vowel length" was formed by combining the word "vowel" (from Old French "vouel") and "length" (from Old English "lengþu"). The concept of vowel length refers to the duration or length of a vowel sound in a word.
