Lengteklarassen

Lengteklarassen is a term used in linguistics and worldbuilding to describe a typological feature observed in a subset of Lengteklaran languages, a fictional language family spoken in the Veridia archipelago. The name combines a notion of length with a class designation, indicating a systematic contrast between long and short vowel realizations within phonemic inventories.

Phonological characteristics: Lengteklarassen vowels are phonemically long; they maintain stable spectral properties and perceptual distinctness even when length is the sole cue. They can contrast with short vowels and with different vowel qualities. In languages with lengteklarassen, vowel length can interact with syllable structure and stress, often expanding the duration of the nucleus in open syllables or in stressed positions.

Phonotactics and allophony: In many Lengteklaran languages, long vowels do not simply copy the length; they may trigger vowel height changes in surrounding vowels or influence consonant duration. Length contrasts may be neutralized in fast speech but remain robust in careful speech.

Typology and distribution: Lengteklarassen is used to categorize about half of the Lengteklaran languages, notably those in the eastern islands. Some languages display three long vowel qualities (high, mid, low) with phonemic length; others show a binary long/short system.

Examples (illustrative): laa [laː], too [tuː], kee [kieː]. Short counterparts: la [la], to [tu], ke [ke].

History and usage: The term is primarily used within conworldbuilding and speculative linguistics. It is not attested in natural-language documentation and remains a theoretical construct for illustrating how vowel length might behave in a fictional language family.

See also: vowel length, gemination, phonology, consonant length.