You opened a dictionary, or your child brought home a phonics worksheet, and there it was: a little horizontal line sitting on top of a vowel, like ā. Maybe you wondered if it was a typo, a foreign accent, or some kind of code. It is none of those. That line has a name, and once you know what it means, a whole layer of American dictionaries and reading instruction suddenly makes sense.
The line is called a macron. In American dictionary respelling systems (the kind Merriam-Webster uses) and in US phonics teaching, a macron over a vowel marks a long vowel: the vowel that "says its own name." When you see ā, the vowel sounds exactly like the letter A when you recite the alphabet. Say the letter A out loud. That is ā.
The Five Macron Vowels and Their Sounds
There are five of them, one for each vowel letter. Each one "says its name," and each maps to a specific sound in the International Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), the more precise system used by Cambridge, Oxford, and most ESL materials.
ā = /eɪ/ (says "A")
ē = /iː/ (says "E")
ī = /aɪ/ (says "I")
ō = /oʊ/ (says "O")
ū = /juː/ or /uː/ (says "U")
The letter U is a little different. Its "name" actually has a tiny y-glide at the front, /juː/, the sound in "use." After certain consonants the glide drops and you just get /uː/, the sound in "rule." Both count as the long U in respelling systems.
Macron vs Breve: Long vs Short
There is a second mark you will run into, and it is the opposite of the macron. The breve is a small curved bowl, like a tiny smile, sitting over the vowel: ă, ĕ, ĭ, ŏ, ŭ. It marks a short vowel, the quick sound the letter makes when it does not say its name.
| Macron (long) | Example | Breve (short) | Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| ā /eɪ/ | cake | ă /æ/ | cat |
| ē /iː/ | see | ĕ /ɛ/ | bed |
| ī /aɪ/ | time | ĭ /ɪ/ | sit |
| ō /oʊ/ | go | ŏ /ɑ/ | hot |
| ū /juː/, /uː/ | use, rule | ŭ /ʌ/ | cup |
Macron to IPA Conversion Table
If you already know IPA, or want to cross-reference the two systems, here is the full mapping with example words.
| Macron symbol | IPA | Example words |
|---|---|---|
| ā | /eɪ/ | cake, day, rain |
| ē | /iː/ | see, me, beach |
| ī | /aɪ/ | time, my, light |
| ō | /oʊ/ | go, boat, home |
| ū | /juː/ or /uː/ | use, cube, rule |
Where You Will See Each System
The two systems live in different places, and knowing which is which saves a lot of confusion.
- Macrons and respelling show up in American dictionaries (Merriam-Webster style), US phonics curricula, children's dictionaries, and elementary reading programs. They are designed to be readable by someone who has never studied phonetics.
- IPA shows up in Cambridge and Oxford dictionaries, language-learning apps, and most ESL and EFL materials. It is more precise and works across every language, not just English.
My advice: learn both. The macron system is friendly and fast for reading American sources, but IPA is the precise tool that tells you exactly how a word sounds anywhere in the world. If IPA is new to you, start with our guide to learning pronunciation with dictionary IPA.
An Important Nuance: Two Meanings of "Long"
Here is where people get tripped up. In American phonics, "long vowel" does not mean the vowel is held for a longer time. It means the vowel says its letter name. So ā in "cake" is "long" because it sounds like the name of the letter A, not because you stretch it out.
IPA also uses a length mark, the colon-like symbol /ː/, as in /iː/. That one really does mark duration. The two ideas overlap by coincidence for some vowels (the phonics long E and the IPA /iː/ happen to line up), but they are not the same concept. A phonics "long" vowel can be a diphthong like /eɪ/ or /aɪ/, which has nothing to do with duration. Keep the two systems mentally separate and you will avoid a lot of confusion.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the line over a letter called?
It is called a macron. In American dictionaries and phonics it marks a long vowel, the one that says its own name.
What does ā sound like?
Like the name of the letter A in the alphabet, the /eɪ/ sound in "cake" and "day."
What is the difference between ā and ă?
The macron ā is the long A, /eɪ/, as in "cake." The breve ă is the short A, /æ/, as in "cat." The straight line means long, the little bowl means short.
Are macron symbols the same as IPA?
No. Macrons are part of an English-only respelling system used in American dictionaries. IPA is an international system that is more precise and works for every language. They describe overlapping sounds with different symbols.
Keep Practicing
Now that the macron makes sense, the next step is hearing and producing these vowels yourself. Try our vowel pronunciation practice to train your ear, and if the long A is giving you trouble specifically, read Mastering the Long A Sound in English for focused drills.