LONG AND SHORT VOWEL

 LONG AND SHORT VOWEL

The terms "long" and "short" has relation with each other. 

• Vowels may be phonologically long or short.phonologically short vowels can be                          phonetically longer in another context.
• Their length is influenced by their context.
• Vowels are shortened if a voiceless  consonant follows in the syllable as in 'bat' .
• Vowel /iː/ in 'reach' /riːtʃ/ (which ends with a voiceless consonant) may                                          be shorter than ɪ/ in the word 'ridge' /rɪdʒ/ (which ends with a voiced consonant). 
• Unstressed vowels are both shorter and more centralized than stressed ones.
•  In unstressed syllables vowel occurring before vowels and in final position are short [i]   and [u] occur e.g. happy [ˈhæpi].