Americanist phonetic notation uses fortis and lenis . Plosive and affricate phonemes have three-way contrast between fortis, lenis, and voiced consonants. German linguists call the distinction fortis and lenis rather than tense and lax. In addition, stressed vowels before lenis consonants may be longer than those before fortis consonants. These fortis and lenis stops may have been distinguished by either voicing or gemination. The ejective, fortis, and lenis series of the alphabet are not distinguished in Osage orthography. Lenis consonants have normal duration and are typically voiced intervocalically. Nevertheless, the scholars who support the fortis/lenis framework usually interpret it as a fortis consonant. The word "lenition" itself means "softening" or "weakening" (from Latin "lenis" "weak"). The pair of space + spiritus lenis is . As in other dialects, the difference between fortis and lenis is in length. In Finland Swedish, aspiration does not occur and initial lenis stops are usually voiced throughout. Traditionally, is voiceless , and it may sometimes be described as a lenis . "Lonavali" in Prakrit is a place which has a series of such "Lenis" around it.