long-vowel mark

A 'long-vowel mark' is a diacritical symbol used in various languages to indicate that a vowel is pronounced for an extended duration.

πŸ‡ΊπŸ‡Έ US Voice:
πŸ‡¬πŸ‡§ UK Voice:

Definition

B2Phonetics

(technical, academic)A symbol used to show that a vowel is pronounced longer than usual.

Example

  • In the word 'heel,' the long-vowel mark indicates that the 'e' is pronounced for a longer duration.

C1International Phonetic Alphabet

(technical, academic)The triangular colon (ː) used to denote long vowels.

Example

  • The symbol /iː/ in the IPA transcription of 'see' shows a long vowel.

B2Japanese Scripts

(technical, academic)A horizontal bar (γƒΌ) used in hiragana and katakana to indicate long vowels.

Example

  • In Japanese, the word 'γŠγ°γ‚γ•γ‚“' (obaasan) uses the long-vowel mark to lengthen the 'a' sound.

B1English Language Teaching

(educational)A macron (ā, Δ“, Δ«, ō, Ε«) placed above a vowel to show it is pronounced for a longer duration.

Example

  • In teaching materials, 'ā' in 'cake' helps students distinguish it from the short 'a' in 'cat.'

Similar

Terms that have similar or relatively close meanings to "long-vowel mark":

long vowelaccent markdiacritical hookmark timeend mark