On Macrons and Vowels

1. What is a Macron for vowels?
2. How do you write vowels with macrons?
3. What is a macron over a letter?
4. What is the meaning of ō?

What is a Macron for vowels?

A macron (/ˈmækrɒn, ˈmeɪ-/) is a diacritical mark: it is a straight bar ¯ placed above a letter, usually a vowel. Its name derives from Ancient Greek μακρόν (makrón) "long", since it was originally used to mark long or heavy syllables in Greco-Roman metrics. It now more often marks a long vowel.

How do you write vowels with macrons?

Typing a macron on a Windows/mac OS computer

To type a macron with the Māori keyboard, press the tilde key (~) then type a vowel. This works for both Windows and mac OS computers. For mac OS users, you can also hold down the Alt/Option key and type the vowel.

What is a macron over a letter?

A macron is a line above a vowel to indicate that it should be spoken as a long vowel: ā, ē, ī, ō, ū, Ā, Ē, Ī, Ō and Ū. The Māori word for macron is tohutō (or pōtae - hat). For more detailed information on its use, see Māori Orthographic Conventions.

What is the meaning of ō?

1. (particle) has, have, own (when referring to more than one thing).