What vowel sound is not short or long?

Answer 1

The R-influenced vowel sounds may not be considered the same as their long and short counterparts, but usually sound either long or short:

caret I - long E with R (eer)

caret A - long A with R (air)

caret O - long O with R (or, which has an aw sound in British English)

caret U - short U with R (ur as in burr, bird, her, word)

umlaut A - short A with R (the -ar sound of car and star)

Besides the possible diphthong OR/AW, there are 2 other paired sounds not normally referred to as long or short:

OU/OW - the short O and long U/ long OO (aah-oo)

OI/OY - the long O, long I, long E (oh-eye-ee)

Answer 2

The schwa sound (ə) is a neutral, mid-central vowel sound that is neither short nor long. It is often found in unstressed syllables in English words.