also: ながぼいん
long vowel
Linguistic term for a vowel sound that is held longer than a short vowel. In Japanese, this includes おう, えい, etc. Often contrasted with 短母音 (short vowel).
See also: 短母音
In Japanese, the presence of a long vowel changes the meaning between 'aunt' (おばさん) and 'grandmother' (おばあさん).
The difference between English 'sheep' and 'ship' is the contrast between a long vowel and a short vowel.
Standard kanji spelling; the reading ちょうぼいん is the most common.
Alternate reading; less common than ちょうぼいん. The kanji 長 can be read as なが, but in this compound ちょう is standard.
Compound of 長 (long) and 母音 (vowel). The reading ちょうぼいん uses the on'yomi of both kanji, which is typical for Sino-Japanese linguistic terms.