Glosario / Glossary

long, length: Long sounds are those which are pronounced for a longer time (have a greater temporal duration) than the norm for that type of sound. Non-long sounds are often called (surprise!) short, although it would be more accurate to say they are of normal length. Long vowels are often written doubled or with a macron (e.g. aa or ā represent long a). Since the standard fonts available in most web browsers have no vowels with macron but do have vowels with a circumflex, some web pages, including some on this site, write long vowels with a circumflex, e.g. â. [Spanish: largo]