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Scots Vowel Length Rule - Definition and Overview |
| Related Words: Area, Body, Bulk, Caliber, Compass, Coverage, Depth, Diameter, Dimension, Dimensions, Distance, Divergence, Duration, Expansion |
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The Scots Vowel-Length Rule, also known as Aitken's Law after Professor A.J. Aitken who formulated it, describes how vowel length in Scots and Scottish English is conditioned by environment. (Phonetics in X-SAMPA.)
The rule affects all vowels in Central dialects, while in peripheral dialects some vowels remain unaffected.
- /@/, /I/, /V/, /E/ and /a/ are usually short.
- /e/, /i/, /o/, /u/ and /2/ are usually long:
- in stressed syllables before /v/, /D/, /z/, /Z/ and /r/.
- before another vowel and
- before a morpheme boundary.
- /A/, /Q/ and /O/ are usually long in most dialects.
- The diphthong /@i/ usually occurs in short environments and /aI/ in the long environments described above.
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Example Usage of Length |
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Eddie_the_Bear: @dominicduffy I'm not sure if that's speeded up or the leg Length to speed ratio is deceptive. Usain Bolt better watch out |
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AlasdairStuart: So turns out? This Wednesday the Doctor Who RPG Boxed set comes out. So turns out? Two full Length scenarios by me are in it:) #doctorwho |
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SexyRedxoLips: and then at the kiosks its a kid game. I cannot walk without arms Length space without you intruding upon it, forcing to buy something |
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