IPA query

You guys are just repeating yourselves now.

Now? That's what we've been doing for the last half dozen pages ... and, to do it once more: they are both phonemic for me.

You have a point...

>>The vowel position is important because it is phonemic, whereas vowel length is unimportant because it is not phonemic.<<

Phonemic distinction is merely but one factor in intelligibility; as is vowel position. There's a lot more to pronunciation than this one factor.