long vowels
Stretched spoken tones
Long vowels are vowel sounds pronounced with the same name as the letter itself—A as in "cake," E as in "be," I as in "kite," O as in "go," U as in "cube." The term is taught in early reading instruction to contrast with short vowels, which have different sounds: the A in "cat" versus "cake." Despite the name, long vowels aren't necessarily held longer when spoken.
Steady, ungliding vowel sound
- diphthongComplex vowel gliding between positions
- articulationClear vocal expression
- pronunciationManner of speaking words
- phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
allophone · sonority · vocalization · tenseness · laxness · mouth shape · formant · spectral
Short vowel indicator
- pronunciation guideChart showing speech sounds
- phonicsSound-based reading instruction
- reading instructionTeaching people to decode text
- silent eUnpronounced final character
digraph · diacritical mark · IPA · transcription · ear training
Pressure, mental or vocal
- pitchFrequency of sound
- intonationPitch variation in speech
- accentuationStress placed on syllables
- cadenceRhythmic pulse or pattern
rhythm · tone · contour · prominence · quantity · metric · scansion · thesis
Science of language sounds
- phonemicRelating to speech sounds
- vocalicRelating to vowels
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
- graphemeMinimal written symbol unit
morpheme · syllable · lexicon · contrastive · distinctive feature · mora
monophthong
Steady, ungliding vowel sound
- diphthongComplex vowel gliding between positions
- articulationClear vocal expression
- pronunciationManner of speaking words
phoneme · allophone · sonority · vocalization · tenseness · laxness · mouth shape · formant · spectral · duration
breve
Short vowel indicator
- pronunciation guideChart showing speech sounds
- phonicsSound-based reading instruction
- reading instructionTeaching people to decode text
silent e · digraph · diacritical mark · IPA · transcription · ear training
stress
Pressure, mental or vocal
- pitchFrequency of sound
- intonationPitch variation in speech
- accentuationStress placed on syllables
cadence · rhythm · tone · contour · prominence · quantity · metric · scansion · thesis
phonology
Science of language sounds
- phonemicRelating to speech sounds
- vocalicRelating to vowels
- orthographyStandard writing conventions
grapheme · morpheme · syllable · lexicon · contrastive · distinctive feature · mora