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Diphthong

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In phonetics, a diphthong (also gliding vowel) (Greek δίφθογγος, "diphthongos", literally "with two sounds," or "with two tones") is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but smooth movement from one vowel to another, often interpreted by listeners as a single vowel sound or phoneme. While "pure" vowels, or monophthongs, are said to have one target tongue position, diphthongs have two target tongue positions. Pure vowels are represented in the International Phonetic Alphabet by one symbol: English "sum" as /sʌm/, for example. Diphthongs are represented by two symbols, for example English "same" as /seɪm/, where the two vowel symbols are intended to represent approximately the beginning and ending tongue positions.

Falling (or descending) diphthongs start with a vowel of higher prominence (higher pitch or louder) and end in a vowel with less prominence, like /aɪ̯/ in "eye", while rising (or ascending) diphthongs begin with a less prominent vowel and end with a more prominent vowel, like /ɪ̯a/ in "yard". The element with less prominence in the diphthong may be transcribed as semivowel in case there is a corresponding one, thus e.g. /ja/. However, when the whole diphthong is analysed as being one single phoneme, both elements are often transcribed as vowels. Note also that in languages like English and Italian, rising diphthongs are considered not true diphthongs by many phoneticians, but sequences of a semivowel and a vowel.

In closing diphthongs, the second element is more close than the first (e.g. [ai]); in opening diphthongs, more open (e.g. [ia]). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling, and opening diphthongs are generally rising, because open vowels are more sonorous and therefore tend to be more prominent. However, exceptions to this rule are not rare in the world's languages. In Finnish, for instance, the opening diphthongs /ie/ and /uo/ are true falling diphthongs, since they begin louder and with higher pitch and fall in prominence during the diphthong (this is indicated by bolding in the previous transcriptions).

A centering diphthong is one that begins with a more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as /ɪə/, /ɛə/, and /ʊə/ in Received Pronunciation or /iə/ and /uə/ in Irish. Many centering diphthongs, namely those that begin with a close or close-mid vowel, are also opening diphthongs (eg. [iə], [uə]).

Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs, the latter usually being described as having a long first element. Languages that contrast three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of: Northern Sami is known to contrast long, short and finally stressed diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a long second element.

1 Czech
2 Dutch
3 English
4 Faroese
5 Finnish
6 French
7 German
8 Hungarian
9 Icelandic
10 Latvian
11 Norwegian
12 Italian
13 Northern Sami
14 Portuguese
15 Romanian
16 Spanish
17 See also

Czech

There are three diphthongs in Czech:

/aʊ̯/ as in auto (almost exclusively in words of foreign origin)
/eʊ̯/ as in euro (in words of foreign origin only)
/oʊ̯/ as in koule

Vowel groups ia, ie, ii, io, and iu in foreign words are not regarded as diphthongs, they are pronounced with /j/ between the vowels [ɪja, ɪjɛ, ɪjɪ, ɪjo, ɪju].

Dutch

Diphthongs in Dutch

/ɛi/ as in eikel, ijs
/ʌu/ as in koude
/œʏ/ as in huis

English

Diphthongs in the General American accent of English:

/aʊ/ as in house
/aɪ/ as in kite
/eɪ/ as in same
/oʊ/ as in tone
/ɔɪ/ as in join

Diphthongs in the Received Pronunciation of British English:

/əʊ/ as in hope
/aʊ/ as in house
/aɪ/ as in kite
/eɪ/ as in same
/ɔɪ/ as in join
/ɪə/ as in fear
/ɛə/ as in hair (In modern pronunciation this is usually the long vowel /ɛː/.)
/ʊə/ as in poor

The last three diphthongs also occur in the Boston accent.

(see International Phonetic Alphabet for English for more)

Allophones of the diphthongs /aʊ/ and /aɪ/ in Canadian English (See Canadian raising):

[əʊ] as in house
[əɪ] as in kite

Diphthongs in Australian English phonology:

/əʉ/ as in hope
/æɔ/ as in house
/ɑe/ as in kite
/æɪ/ as in same
/oɪ/ as in join

Faroese

Diphthongs in Faroese are:

/ai/ as in bein (can also be short)
/au/ as in havn
/ɛa/ as in har, mær
/ɛi/ as in hey
/ɛu/ as in nevnd
/œu/ as in nøvn
/ʉu/ as in hús
/ʊi/ as in mín, bý, ið (can also be short)
/ɔa/ as in ráð
/ɔi/ as in hoyra (can also be short)
/ɔu/ as in sól, ovn

Finnish

Diphthongs in Finnish

closing

/ai/ as in laiva
/ei/ as in keinu
/oi/ as in poika
/æi/ as in äiti
/øi/ as in öisin
/au/ as in lauha
/eu/ as in leuto
/ou/ as in koulu
/ey/ as in leyhyä
/æy/ as in täysi
/øy/ as in löytää

close

/ui/ as in uida
/yi/ as in lyijy
/iu/ as in viulu
/iy/ as in siistiytyä

opening

/ie/ as in kieli
/uo/ as in suo
/yø/ as in yö

French

Some diphthongs in French:

/wa/ as in roi
/wi/ as in oui
/ɥi/ as in huit
/jɛ̃/ as in bien
/jɛ/ as in Ariège
/aj/ as in Travail
/ej/ as in Marseille
/œj/ as in Feuille
/uj/ as in Grenouille

All these diphthongs are typically analysed as a combination of a vowel and a semi-vowel or the opposite in French.

German

Diphthongs in German:

/aɪ/ as in Reich
/aʊ/ as in Maus
/ɔʏ/ as in neu
/eːɐ/ as in der
/iːɐ/ as in dir
/oːɐ/ as in Bor
/øːɐ/ as in Fördern
/uːɐ/ as in nur
/yːɐ/ as in Tür

Some diphthongs in Bernese, a Swiss German dialect:

/iə/ as in Bier 'beer'
/yə/ as in Füess 'feet'
/uə/ as in Schue 'shoes'
/ow/ as in Stou 'holdup'
/aw/ as in Stau 'stable'
/aːw/ as in Staau 'steel'
/æw/ as in Wäut 'world'
/æːw/ as in wääut 'elects'
/ʊw/ as in tschúud 'guilty'

Hungarian

There are no diphthongs in standard Hungarian, although most speakers pronounce the letters au in certain words (e.g. autó and augusztus) as one syllable, like an /ɑw/ diphthong. In other words, they are usually pronounced separately (as in kalauz).

On the other hand, there are various diphthongs in Hungarian dialects.

Icelandic

Diphthongs in Icelandic are the following:

/aw/ as in átta, "eight"
/ow/ as in nóg, "enough"
/œɥ/ as in auga, "eye"
/aj/ as in hæ, "hi"
/ej/ as in þeir, "they"

Combinations of j and a vowel are the following:

/ja/ as in jata, "manger"
/jaw/ as in já, "yes"
/jo/ as in joð, "iodine," "jay," "yod" (only in a handful of words of foreign origin)
/jow/ as in jól, "Christmas"
/jœ/ as in jötunn, "giant"
/jaj/ as in jæja, "oh well"

Latvian

Diphthongs in Latvian

falling

/ai/ as in laiva
/ei/ as in beigas
/oi/ as in koika
/ui/ as in puika

/au/ as in tauva
/eu/ as in tev
/iu/ as in pliukš
/ou/ as in souls
/yu/ as in myusu (dial.)

/ie/ as in iela
/uo/ as in ruoka

/ae/ as in faetons
/ao/ as in aorta
/oa/ as in foajē
/ua/ as in puante
/ue/ as in Sueca

/ja/ as in slapja

as also /jā/, /jai/, /jau/, /je/, /jē/, /jæː/, /ji/, /jie/, /jō/, /ju/, /juo/, /jū/

/wa/ as in lauva
/wai/ as in lauvai
/wā/ as in lauvā
/we/ as in lauvene
/wæː/ as in lauvēns
/wi/ as in lauviņa
/wu/ as in lauvu

rising

/aī/ as in Aīda
/aū/ as in Saūda

/eā/ as in teātris
/eō/ as in neōns
/eū/ as in Seūla

/iā/ as in piāno
/iē/ as in diēzs
/iī/ as in šiīts
/iō/ as in odiōzs

/oā/ as in oāze
/oē/ as in poēma
/oī/ as in asteroīds

/uā/ as in kuluāri
/uī/ as in fluīdi
/uō/ as in fluōrs
/uū/ as in vakuūms

Norwegian

There are five diphthongs in Norwegian:

/æɪ/ as in nei, "no"
/øʏ/ as in øy, "island"
/æʉ/ as in sau, "sheep"
/ɑɪ/ as in hai, "shark"
/ɔʏ/ as in joik, "Sami song"

In addition there is the diphthong /ʉʏ/, but this only occur in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste".

Italian

Diphthongs in standard Italian:

falling

/ai/ as in avrai
/ei/ as in dei (preposition)
/ɛi/ as in direi
/oi/ as in voi
/ɔi/ as in poi
/au/ as in pausa
/eu/ as in Europa
/ɛu/ as in feudo

rising

/ja/ as in piano
/je/ as in ateniese
/jɛ/ as in piede
/jo/ as in fiore
/jɔ/ as in piove
/ju/ as in più
/wa/ as in guado
/we/ as in quello
/wɛ/ as in guerra
/wi/ as in qui
/wo/ as in liquore
/wɔ/ as in nuoto

Other combinations (including [ui], [iu], [ii]) are often considered hiatuses by grammarians; however they are often phonetically true diphthongs, such as in poetry and common speech.

Northern Sami

The diphthong system in Northern Sami varies considerably from one dialect to another. The Western Finnmark dialects distinguish four different qualities of opening diphthongs:

/eæ/ as in leat "to be"
/ie/ as in giella "language"
/oa/ as in boahtit "to come"
/uo/ as in vuodjat "to swim"

In terms of quantity, Northern Sami shows a three-way contrast between long, short and finally stressed diphthongs. The last are distinguished from long and short diphthongs by a markedly long and stressed second component. Diphthong quantity is not indicated in spelling.

Portuguese

Falling diphthongs with /i/ or /u/ as their weaker vowel are frequent in Portuguese. Rising diphthongs, with /i/ or /u/ as their weaker vowel, occur less often, and many of them may also be analysed as hiatuses, e.g., fé-rias /fɛɾi̯ɐʃ/ (two syllables, with a diphthong) or fé-ri-as /fɛɾiɐʃ/ (three syllables, with a hiatus). The difference between a rising diphthong and a hiatus is not phonemic; the former are usually found in colloquial speech, and the latter in careful pronunciation. Triphthongs also occur (e.g. /u̯ai̯/ as in Paraguai, or /i̯au̯/ as in miau), and even longer sequences, but they can be analysed as sequences of vowels and diphthongs. Just like the monophthongs, diphthongs are divided into two subgroups, oral and nasal.

oral

/ai/ as in pai
/ei/ as in peito (or [ɐi], in some dialects)
/ɛi/ as in papéis (merged with /ei ~ ɐi/ in some dialects)
/oi/ as in coisa
/ɔi/ as in mói
/ui/ as in fui
/au/ as in mau
/eu/ as in seu
/ɛu/ as in céu
/ou/ as in roupa (monophthongized to /o/ in many dialects)

nasal

/ɐ̃ĩ/ as in mãe
/ẽĩ/ as in bem (merged with /ɐ̃ĩ/ in some dialects)
/õĩ/ as in põe
/ũĩ/ as in muita
/ɐ̃ũ/ as in são

Romanian

Romanian builds its descending diphthongs using two semivowels and its ascending diphthongs using four. See also Romanian phonology.

falling

/aj/ as in mai
/aw/ as in dau
/ej/ as in lei
/ew/ as in leu
/ij/ as in mii (no vocalic glide, but still a diphthong)
/iw/ as in fiu
/oj/ as in goi
/ow/ as in nou
/uj/ as in pui
/əj/ as in răi
/əw/ as in rău
/ɨj/ as in câine
/ɨw/ as in râu

rising

/ea/ as in stea
/eo/ as in George
/ja/ as in iapă
/je/ as in fier
/jo/ as in chior
/ju/ as in iubit
/oa/ as in oameni
/wa/ as in ziua
/wə/ as in două

Spanish

Diphthongs in Spanish:

falling

/ai/ as in hay
/ei/ as in rey
/oi/ as in hoy
/ui/ as in muy
/au/ as in jaula
/eu/ as in feudo

rising

/ja/ as in comedia
/je/ as in tierra
/jo/ as in dio
/ju/ as in ciudad
/wa/ as in guante
/we/ as in fuego
/wi/ as in pingüino
/wo/ as in ambiguo