All dialects of Ojibwe have seven oral vowels. Vowel length is phonologically contrastive, hence phonemic. Although the long and short vowels are phonetically distinguished by vowel quality, recognition of vowel length in phonological representations is required, as the distinction between long and short vowels is essential for the operation of the metrical rule of vowel syncope that characterizes the Ottawa and Eastern Ojibwe dialects, as well as for the rules that determine word stress. There are three short vowels, ; and three corresponding long vowels, , in addition to a fourth long vowel , which lacks a corresponding short vowel. The short vowel typically has phonetic values centering on ; typically has values centering on ; and typically has values centering on . Long is pronounced for many speakers, and is for many .