: Re: Elongated vowel sounds When we speak sometimes we draw out certain sounds for emphasis. We also see this technique in song, for both emphasis as well as expanding the meter to make the words

@Holmes449

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I don't believe there is any punctuation to accomplish what you want. I have seen it done as you have done it, but IMO this is effective but something that should be used very rarely; it gets tiring for the reader quickly (e.g. if you try to make this part of a character's accent). And because in English we may pronounce doubled vowels differently than single vowels; it doesn't apply to all vowels.

For example, the words "of" and "ooof" are read differently. If you wanted to draw out the word "of" you would write "uhhhhhhhv". (Not "ooooooof" or "uhhhhhhhf").

And in your example of "waaaaaaay", you cannot dispense with the final "y", because "waaaaaaa" would be read as a cry from a baby.

As for how many letters to use, both you and I instinctively used seven repetitions.

In general what you are aiming for is a phonetic spelling of an uttered sound. The only "punctuation" I know that accomplishes that is the rules and symbols of pronunciation used in dictionaries; but I don't know anybody that knows all those by heart, and it certainly wouldn't do 99% of readers any good.

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