What is the definition for a long vowel?

Answer 1

For most European languages, a long vowel is one that takes longer to say than its short equivalent. In English it is not so simple because of the Vowel Shift. So-called long A, I and O are the diphthongs ei, ai and ou, respectively. Long U has a y-glide: yu. Long E is a truly long vowel - but it is the long form of the ih sound, not of the eh sound. Notice that all these "long" vowels contain fronting, that is movement of the tongue toward the front of the mouth, except for long O, where the fronting takes the form of the w-glide with the lips: o+oo = long O.

There are problems. For just one example, "long" I is pronounced "eye." But in the word machine, the I is clearly long ( short I would be pronounced ma-shin), and yet it is pronounced ee."

Answer 2

A long vowel is a vowel sound that is pronounced for an extended duration relative to a short vowel sound. It typically sounds like the name of the vowel itself, such as the "a" sound in "cake" or the "o" sound in "bone."