sum vowel length orthography few week ago post query orthographic mark vowel length special reference korean receive many interest reply both korean general question summarise below whole topic raise issue comment further first though thanks everyone trouble send information first linglist query m delight work age assemble example library research first surprise lot reply suggest example language dont mark vowel length english german realise clearer original request fox put problem question query write vowel length slightly odd since imply most language contrastive vowellength write system represent depend mean represent vowellength sense explicit consistent marker length double letter diacritic length mark common least language familiar length implicitly mark variety therefore discoverable spell anyone literate native speaker system d intend include thing represent vowel length definitely case where vowel length represent feature own right macron double symbol etc want example language extensive system minimal pair differentiate wholly mainly vowel length identical orthographic representation member pair situation korean quite largish set word both one two syllable s definitely situation english german canadian french danish etc dont situation latin either though wrong glad correction here quite few language suggest vowel length predictable aspect word include lexical identity dont actually many minimal pair differentiate length right same appear case hausa possibly estonian vowel length contrast estonian bite rusty right guess full three contrast fairly limit however several pacific language mention seem fit bill tokelauan samoan maorus fijian ponapeic language candidate call genuine length contrast although seem maorus rate system contrast quite limit least sometime show orthography seem australian language bardus orthography doesnt show thing interest number send anecdotal evidence native speaker language feel mark vowel length write system course relatively recent introduction base roman alphabet plenty show vowel length dont alway potential seem apparently speaker ponapeic language length mark inconsistently fijian speaker maorus speaker unnatural dont tokelauan teacher decide teach samoa length marker ban seem something worth explore here obvious hypothesis though word differentiate phonetically length distinction most salient native speaker next obvious hypothesis kind lexical distinction similar english v food boot v s oot v loop etc perfectly simple native speaker horrible learner explain why gaelic opposite trend start mark vowel length where never since much nowaday less fully native speaker thought hypothesis gratefully receive back korean still seem unusual situation seem likely indeed suggest korean respondent original hangul length marker evidence research hangul s why post orginal query ve another ledyard s thesis topic maybe need careful research pointer gratefully receive couple point clarification distinction between monosyllabic vowel length minimal pair seem die though fact previously exist mark write system odd lack orthographic representation contribute demise clear distinction sound two syllable pair ear distinction seem much one pitch accent length native speaker dont easily identify vowel length didnt mean language doesnt vowel length distinction indeed statement cautious mean dont word suppose long vowel short consistent information send native speaker something teach school prescriptive rule anyone read far let reward share response frun karttunen hope doesnt mind dont exactly interpret respect question above m sure s something us both maya nahua speaker unrelate mesoamerican language achieve partiallysyllabic approach write before arrival european first quarter th century tell write both rhebus principle draw thing name similar rather identical suggest intend word syllable instance draw bare bottom tzintlus buttocks honorific suffix tzin likewise draw banner pantlus locative pan two example suffix similar case initial syllable nahuatl noun stem instance vowel length least nahuatl account case honorific suffix today reflex long vowel most modern dialect nahuatl homophonous stem buttocks attestation sixteenth century consistently show contrast vowel length short honorific long buttocks same banner long vowel versus locative short thank again respondent list below acknowledgment hope s ok prepare summary already long m keen through proper acknowledgment helen wechsler world std com allan c wechsler rcosper husky stmarys ca ronald cosper frun karttunen liar utxvm cc utexa edu shelly uniwa uwa edu au shelly harrison pulju ricevm rice edu gshin rs chonnam ac kr gyonggu shin ian green anu edu au ian green geoffn siu edu geoffrey s nathan mdr coomb anu edu au malcolm ross jussus karlgren sic se kenneth de jong kdejong indiana edu laurie bauer vuw ac nz lance eccle lance eccle mq edu au j rea jarea ukcc uky edu jihualde ux cso uiuc edu henry roger roger epa utoronto ca brian d joseph bjoseph magnus ac ohiostate edu david fertig fertig acsu buffalo edu david gil ellgild nusvm bitnet cunyvm cuny edu stavro macraki macraki osf org marc picard picard vax concordia ca charle scott cscott macc wisc edu lar mathiesen u copenhagen cs dep thorinn diku dk mark aronoff maronoff datalab sb sunysb edu caoimhin sabhalmor ostaig ac uk caoimhin p odonnaile jaejung song stonebow otago ac nz jaejung song t c fox lnpatcf lucsmac novell leeds ac uk mjulien isl uit marit julien blaine erickson erickson uhunix uhcc hawaius edu hfraser metz une edu au helen fraser dr dept linguistic university england armidale nsw australia phone fax 