diphthong

English

Alternative forms

• dipthong (obsolete)

Etymology

From French diphtongue, from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos, “two sounds”), from δίς (dís, “twice”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”).

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/; (proscribed) /ˈdɪpˌθɒŋ(ɡ)/
• (US) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfˌθɔŋ/; (proscribed) /ˈdɪpˌθɔŋ/
• (Canada, US, cot–caught merger) IPA^(key): /ˈdɪfˌθɑŋ/; (proscribed) /ˈdɪpˌθɑŋ/

• Audio (Canada)

  (file)

• Audio (US, proscribed)

  (file)

• Rhymes: -ɪfθɔŋ, -ɪfθɑŋ

Noun

diphthong (plural diphthongs)

1. (phonetics) A complex vowel sound that begins with the sound of one vowel and ends with the sound of another vowel, in the same syllable.

   Synonym: gliding vowel

   Coordinate terms: monophthong, triphthong

2. (rare) A vowel digraph or ligature.
   • 1854, Robert Bigsby, Historical and Topographical Description of Repton, in the County of Derby‎, Woodfall and Kinder, page 47:

     And he might have written the name, also, with the diphthong æ, as well as the single vowel, in the initial syllable, throughout all the preceding forms.

   • 1860, Joseph E. Worcester, An Elementary Dictionary of the English Language‎, Swan, Brewer, and Tileston, page 12:

     An improper diphthong has only one of the vowels sounded; as, ea in heat, oa in coal.

   • 1874, Theophilus Dwight Hall, A Child’s First Latin Book‎, John Murray, page 3:

     The diphthong ae is sounded like ē (§7); that is, it has the sound of ey in they.

Coordinate terms

• monophthong
• triphthong
• tetraphthong
• pentaphthong

Derived terms

Translations

See also

• apothegm
• hiatus
• glide
• ligature

Further reading

• diphthong on Wikipedia.Wikipedia