Consonant length is no longer phonemically distinctive in most Romance languages. |
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That is, phonetically they are consonants, but phonemically they behave as vowels. |
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In languages with phonemically short and long vowels, diphthongs typically behave like long vowels, and are pronounced with a similar length. |
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Maltese has seven falling diphthongs, though they may be considered VC sequences phonemically. |
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The number of phonemically distinct vowels can be as low as two, as in Ubykh and Arrernte. |
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Many languages do not distinguish vowel length phonemically. |
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