Vowel length

There is a general tendency to shorten long vowels in MalE – no doubt under the influence of Bahasa Malaysia, which lacks long vowels. This shortening occurs mainly in medial position. Some examples follow:

Conversely short vowels may be lengthened in MalE, especially before /n, l, r, s, ʃ /, though the example of would shows that this might be lexically governed and not just phonological: