What are the long and short vowel sounds?

Answer 1

The long vowel sounds are those that "say their names" as in A (ay), E, (ee), I (eye), and O (oh). The long U has two sounds, the long OO and the long YOO. The sound may be made by other vowels, and the Y can make long E and long I sounds.

A - day, date, main, weigh

E - be, see, neat, scene, receive (Y in baby and lady)

I - sign, die, bite, cry, night

O - cold, phone, floe, dough

U - (OO) Flute, nude, clue, dew / (YOO) cute, mule, feud, fuel, clue, view, unit

The short vowel sounds have a truncated pronunciation:

ah as in apple

eh as in bed

ih as in sit

aah as in dot and mob

uh as in but

There is also a short OO with the oo-uh sound as in book, foot, and good.

Pronunciation of vowels

The terms "long" and "short" do not properly apply to English vowels. Instead of referring to its actual length, any vowel that "says its name" in the pronunciation of an English word is held to be "long." But in words like truth and ooze, the vowel is clearly long, but since there is no vowel called Oo, it cannot be called a long vowel. Likewise, if the A in fat is short, then the A in father must be long, but there is no vowel called Ah. The term "broad," rather than "long" is often used when attempting a meaningful description of English vowel quantity.

Answer 2

Long vowels make the sound of the letter itself (e.g. 'a' in "cake"), while short vowels make a quicker, clipped sound (e.g. 'a' in "cat"). The difference between the two is mainly in the duration of the sound produced.