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Note that the vowels occurring after semi-vowel compounds are pronounced long in the body of the word (as in the examples above) but short before double consonants (as in -lwadde , (ill), and Kyaddondo , (county name). One notable exception is after the combination ggw- and ggy-, where the vowel may be either short or long in the body of the word. The long vowel is doubled in these cases. Cf. the following where on the left, the vowel is short and on the right, it is long:
ggwanika (store), ggwaatiro (peeling place)
ggwolezo (tribunal), ggwoolezo (customs house)
ggwiso (large needle), ggwiiso (good luck)
ku-ggyamu (to empty)