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Diphthongal - 3 dictionary results

diph⋅thong

   [dif-thawng, -thong, dip-]
–noun
1. Phonetics. an unsegmentable, gliding speech sound varying continuously in phonetic quality but held to be a single sound or phoneme and identified by its apparent beginning and ending sound, as the oi-sound of toy or boil.
2. (not in technical use)
a. a digraph, as the ea of meat.
b. a ligature, as æ.
–verb (used with object), verb (used without object)
3. to diphthongize.
Origin:
1425–75; late ME diptonge < LL diphthongus < Gk díphthongos lit., having two sounds (di- di- 1 + phthóngos voice, sound)
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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diph·thong     (dĭf'thông', -thŏng', dĭp'-)  Pronunciation Key 
n.   A complex speech sound or glide that begins with one vowel and gradually changes to another vowel within the same syllable, as (oi) in boil or (ī) in fine.


[Middle English diptonge, from Old French diptongue, from Late Latin diphthongus, from Greek diphthongos : di-, two; see di-1 + phthongos, sound.]

diph·thon'gal adj.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Diphthongal

Diph*thon"gal\ (?; 115), a. Relating or belonging to a diphthong; having the nature of a diphthong. -- Diph*thon"gal*ly, adv.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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