Langvokaler

Langvokaler, or long vowels, are vowels produced with longer duration than short vowels. In many languages the length of a vowel is phonemic, meaning that a difference in duration alone can distinguish words. In other languages vowel length is not phonemic but can influence rhythm and intelligibility, often interacting with surrounding consonants and syllable structure.

Phonetic and phonological realization centers on duration, measured in time units such as milliseconds. Long vowels typically retain the same articulation as their short counterparts, but they may show modest changes in quality or tenseness. In languages with a vowel-length contrast, short and long variants often occur in complementary distribution with consonant length or syllable boundaries, contributing to word identity and prosody.

Orthography and typology vary across languages. Some mark length by doubling the vowel (for example aa or ee), while others use diacritics or write length as an inherent property of the vowel without distinct spelling. Across language families, long vowels are common in many European languages (such as several Germanic and Finnic languages) and in others, though some languages do not maintain a phonemic vowel-length distinction.

Historical notes and function: Vowel length frequently arises from historical changes where warm or stressed vowels developed into distinct phonemic categories. Long vowels can interact with stress patterns, syllable weight, or consonant length, thereby influencing phonotactics and the rhythm of speech. Langvokaler thus play a central role in phonology and orthography in many languages worldwide.