[dif-thawng, -thong, dip-] 
| 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)
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| 3. | to diphthongize. |
[dif-thawng-guhl, -thong-, dip-] , diph⋅thon⋅gic, diph⋅thon⋅gous, adjective | diph·thong (dĭf'thông', -thŏng', dĭp'-) 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. |