monophthongization
Diphthong becomes pure
Monophthongization is the process of simplifying a diphthong (a vowel sound that glides between two positions) into a single, steady vowel.
In Southern American English, the word "ride" often undergoes monophthongization, with its gliding vowel flattening to something closer to "rahd." The phenomenon appears across many languages and dialects as vowel sounds simplify over time.
Complex vowel gliding between positions
- vowelUnobstructed speech sound
- glideMove with effortless continuity
- coalescenceUniting into one mass
- smoothingReducing irregularities systematically
simplification · reduction · merger · nucleus · syllable · articulation · tongue · pronunciation
Historical English pronunciation change
- Old EnglishGermanic language of early Britain
- Middle EnglishLanguage between 1100-1500
- language changeHow speech transforms over time
- proto-languageReconstructed common ancestor tongue
reconstruction · etymology · Grimm's Law · analogy · regularization · attestation · philology · manuscript
Regional language variety
- accentRegional speech pattern
- regionalRelating to an area
- sociolectLanguage variety by group
- variationChange from a norm
vernacular · nonstandard · prestige · stigma · leveling · convergence · divergence · substrate
Sound notation system
- phoneticRelating to speech sounds
- narrow transcriptionDetailed phonetic spelling system
- broad transcriptionRough phonetic representation
- diacriticSymbol modifying letter pronunciation
spectrogram · formant · acoustic · waveform · notation · symbol · bracket · slash
diphthong
Complex vowel gliding between positions
- vowelUnobstructed speech sound
- glideMove with effortless continuity
- coalescenceUniting into one mass
smoothing · simplification · reduction · merger · nucleus · syllable · articulation · tongue · pronunciation · assimilation
Great Vowel Shift
Historical English pronunciation change
- Old EnglishGermanic language of early Britain
- Middle EnglishLanguage between 1100-1500
- language changeHow speech transforms over time
proto-language · reconstruction · etymology · Grimm's Law · analogy · regularization · attestation · philology · manuscript · cognate
dialect
Regional language variety
variation · vernacular · nonstandard · prestige · stigma · leveling · convergence · divergence · substrate · contact
IPA
Sound notation system
- phoneticRelating to speech sounds
- narrow transcriptionDetailed phonetic spelling system
- broad transcriptionRough phonetic representation
diacritic · spectrogram · formant · acoustic · waveform · notation · symbol · bracket · slash · height
- Sound ChangeGreat Vowel Shift, ablaut, umlaut, nasalization, denasalization
- sound changesassimilation, elision, deletion, voicing, nasalization
- vowel changesablaut, umlaut, vowel lengthening, Great Vowel Shift, centralization
- phonologyphonemes, consonants, vowels, allophone, allophones