Can vowel length be detected somehow in prose?

1. How do you determine the length of ā vowel?
2. Does English have vowel length?
3. What is vowel lengthening rule in phonology?
4. What does it mean when vowel length is contrastive?

How do you determine the length of ā vowel?

IPA. In the International Phonetic Alphabet the sign ː (two triangles facing each other in an hourglass shape) is used for both vowel and consonant length. This may be doubled for an extra-long sound, or the top half (ˑ) used to indicate a sound is "half long". A breve is used to mark a short vowel or consonant.

Does English have vowel length?

Lax vowels are always short

Icelandic vowels can all be either long or short. English vowels are also long and short, but they behave differently: Tense vowels can be long or short, according to whether they are followed by fortis consonants or not (see clipping above) But LAX VOWELS ARE ALWAYS SHORT.

What is vowel lengthening rule in phonology?

In general, the vowels and diphthongs in stressed syllables become shorter when followed by a voiceless consonant and lengthen considerably when followed by a voiced consonant or a word boundary.

What does it mean when vowel length is contrastive?

Vowel length contrasts refer to the phonological oppositions between long and short vowels, which can signal different word meanings (Odden, 2011).