Nessëran has a vowel system involving nine 'basic' vowels: /æ/, /ɑ/, /ɛ/, /e/, /ɪ/, /i/, /ɒ/, /ɔ/ and /u/. In Old Nessëran, all of these vowels came in a long and a short variety, however only /ɑː/, /ɛː/, /eː/ and /ɒː/ were carried over into Modern Nessëran. In more recent times, /ɛː/ and /ɒː/ have become to be realised as /iː/ and /ɶː/ respectively. As these sound changes occurred after the most recent spelling & language reform they are still represented by and , for example 'eeseen' /iːsiːn/ and 'loor' /lɶːɾ/.