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diphthong
[ dif-thawng, -thong, dip- ]
noun
- 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.
- (not in technical use)
- a digraph, as the ea of meat.
- a ligature, as æ.
verb (used with or without object)
- to diphthongize.
diphthong
/ ˈdɪfθɒŋ; ˈdɪp- /
noun
- a vowel sound, occupying a single syllable, during the articulation of which the tongue moves from one position to another, causing a continual change in vowel quality, as in the pronunciation of a in English late, during which the tongue moves from the position of (e) towards ( ɪ )
- a digraph or ligature representing a composite vowel such as this, as ae in Caesar
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Derived Forms
- diphˈthongal, adjective
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Other Words From
- diph·thon·gal [dif-, thawng, -g, uh, l, -, thong, -, dip-], diph·thongic diph·thongous adjective
- nondiph·thongal adjective
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Word History and Origins
Origin of diphthong1
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Word History and Origins
Origin of diphthong1
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Example Sentences
It is curious that the close o is heard only in the infrequent diphthong óu, or as an obscured, unaccented final.
The diphthong is long when a voiced sound follows it, short before a voiceless sound.
Listen to a foreigner's pronunciation of English words containing this diphthong; what do you notice?
In both cases we have a laxly articulated short sound, and a diphthong in which the tongue rises towards the end.
Notice the faulty tendency to raise the tongue too high in uttering the first part of this diphthong; see § 40.
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