Length Variations of Standard English Long Vowels and Diphthongs

Abstract

The present study deals with how RP long vowels and diphthongs have different length variations. Length in this study is used to refer to the time a sound takes when pronounced (sound duration). The importance of the study is due to the fact that very few of EFL teachers and learners are aware of length gradation which characterizes long vowels.

      Length differences are dealt with in terms of the phonetic environment a vowel occurs in. Vowel length is made different from syllable length. This study shows that the length of long vowels varies according to the phonetic environment[1]. Therefore, a long vowel can be longer than it is depending on the phonetic environment.

      It is found out that stress is one of the causes which affect vowel length. Vowels in stressed syllables are longer than they are when they occur in weakly or unstressed syllables. At the end of the study, a glossary of technical terms with their Arabic counterparts is provided to serve as a mini English-Arabic thesaurus for specialized and interested readers and researchers. 

[1] The sounds that either follow or precede.