diphthong

Sliding vowel sound

A diphthong is a vowel sound that glides from one position to another within a single syllable.

The vowel in "boy" starts with one sound and slides into another; so do those in "how" and "ride." English has many diphthongs, though speakers rarely notice the glide unless trained to hear it.

phonetics

monophthong

Steady, ungliding vowel sound

vowelUnobstructed speech sound
phonemeMinimal distinctive sound unit
allophoneNon-distinctive sound variation

glide · semivowel · syllable · nucleus · articulation · vocalization · phonology · prosody · intonation · stress

articulation

glide

Move with effortless continuity

tongueOral muscle for taste
palateOral cavity ceiling
lipsMouth's outer edges

mouth · jaw · oral · velar · palatal · labial · alveolar · bilabial · rising · falling

blend

fusion

Joining into unity

coalescenceUniting into one mass
combinationJoining of multiple elements
meldingCombining into unity

convergence · transition · blending · merging · sliding · movement · shift · gliding · smoothness · continuity

examples

oi

British attention call

ieLatin clarification shorthand
owPain exclamation
oyYiddish sigh of dismay

buy · boy · cow · day · go · time · house · coin · loud · price

linguistic

assimilation

Absorbing into a whole

elisionDropped sounds in speech
distributionAllocation across recipients
onsetStarting point of something

coda · nucleus · cluster · reduction · weakening · breaking · smoothing · merger · split

diphthong

monophthong

glide

fusion

oi

assimilation

diphthong

Opposites

Categories

Family