In phonology Phonology is the systematic use of sound to encode meaning in any spoken human language, or the field of linguistics studying this use. Just as a language has syntax and vocabulary, it also has a phonology in the sense of a sound system. When describing the formal area of study, the term typically describes linguistic analysis either beneath the, a diphthong, pronounced /ˈdɪf.θɒŋ/ or /ˈdɪp.θɒŋ/, (also gliding vowel) (from Greek Ancient Greek is the historical stage in the development of the Greek language spanning the Archaic , Classical (c. 5th–4th centuries BC), and Hellenistic (c. 3rd century BC – 6th century AD) periods of ancient Greece and the ancient world. It is predated in the 2nd millennium BC by Mycenaean Greek. Its Hellenistic phase is known as Koine (& δίφθογγος, diphthongos, literally "two sounds" or "two tones") refers to two adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable A syllable is a unit of organization for a sequence of speech sounds. For example, the word water is composed of two syllables: wa and ter. A syllable is typically made up of a syllable nucleus (most often a vowel) with optional initial and final margins (typically, consonants). In most dialects of English English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of, the words eye, boy, and cow contain examples of diphthongs.

Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs A monophthong is a "pure" vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong, where only one vowel sound is heard in a syllable. Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables, as in, for example, the English word re-elect, the result is described as hiatus, not as a diphthong.

Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation. However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by listeners as single-vowel sounds (phonemes In a language or dialect, a phoneme is the smallest segmental unit of sound employed to form meaningful contrasts between utterances).[1]

In the International Phonetic Alphabet, pure vowels are transcribed with one letter, as in English sun [sʌn]. Diphthongs are transcribed with two letters, as in English sign [saɪ̯n] or sane [seɪ̯n]. The two vowel symbols are chosen to represent the beginning and ending positions of the tongue, though this can be only approximate. The diacritic A diacritic (also diacritical mark, diacritical point, diacritical sign) is an ancillary glyph added to a letter, or basic glyph. The term derives from the Greek διακριτικός (diakritikós, "distinguishing"). Diacritic is both an adjective and a noun, whereas diacritical is only an adjective. Some diacritical marks, such as the < ̯> is placed under the less prominent component to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a separate vowel, though it is sometimes omitted in languages such as English, where there is not likely to be any confusion. (In precise transcription, [ai] represents two vowels in hiatus Hiatus in linguistics is the separate pronunciation of two adjacent vowels. In poetic metre (or "poetic meter"), hiatus can also refer to the failure of two vowels straddling a word boundary to coalesce, for example by elision of the first vowel, found for example in Hawaiian The Hawaiian language is a Polynesian language that takes its name from Hawaiʻi, the largest island in the tropical North Pacific archipelago where it developed. Hawaiian, along with English, is an official language of the state of Hawaii. King Kamehameha III established the first Hawaiian-language constitution in 1839 and 1840 and in the English word naïve, and does not represent the diphthong, for instance, in the Finnish Finnish ( suomi , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% as of 2006[update]) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken. The Kven word laiva, "ship").

Contents

Types of diphthongs

This article or section appears to contradict itself. Please see its talk page for more information. (October 2009)

Falling (or descending) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higher prominence In linguistics, stress is the relative emphasis that may be given to certain syllables in a word. The term is also used for similar patterns of phonetic prominence inside syllables. The word accent is sometimes also used with this sense (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like [aɪ̯] in eye, while rising (or ascending) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar to the [ja] in yard. The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as an approximant Approximants are speech sounds that involve the articulators approaching each other but not narrowly enough or with enough articulatory precision to create turbulent airflow. Therefore, approximants fall between fricatives, which do produce a turbulent airstream, and vowels, which produce no turbulence. This class of sounds includes lateral, thus [aj] in eye and [ja] in yard. However, when the diphthong is analysed as a single phoneme, both elements are often transcribed with vowel letters (/aɪ̯/, /ɪ̯a/). Note also that semivowels and approximants are not equivalent in all treatments, and in the English English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into South-East Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria. Following the economic, political, military, scientific, cultural, and colonial influence of Great Britain and the United Kingdom from the 18th century, and of and Italian Italian ( italiano , or lingua italiana) is a Romance language spoken by about 60 million people in Italy, and by another 10 million Italian descendants in the world, making it spoken by a total of 70 million native speakers. It is also spoken by an additional 125 million people as a foreign language. In Switzerland, Italian is one of four languages, among others, many phoneticians Phonetics is a branch of linguistics that comprises the study of the sounds of human speech. It is concerned with the physical properties of speech sounds (phones), and the processes of their physiological production, auditory reception, and neurophysiological perception do not consider rising combinations to be diphthongs, but rather sequences of approximant and vowel. There are many languages (such as Romanian) that contrast one or more rising diphthongs with similar sequences of a glide and a vowel in their phonetic inventory.[2]

In closing diphthongs, the second element is more close A close vowel is a type of vowel sound used in many spoken languages. The defining characteristic of a close vowel is that the tongue is positioned as close as possible to the roof of the mouth without creating a constriction that would be classified as a consonant than the first (e.g. [ai]); in opening diphthongs, the second element is more open An open vowel is a vowel sound of a type used in nearly all spoken languages . The defining characteristic of an open vowel is that the tongue is positioned as far as possible from the roof of the mouth. Open vowels are sometimes also called low vowels in reference to the low position of the tongue. The open vowels identified in the International (e.g. [ia]). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling ([ai̯]), and opening diphthongs are generally rising ([i̯a]), as 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 This article is about the phonology of the Finnish language. The grammar of Finnish and the ways in which Finnish is spoken are dealt with in separate articles. Unless otherwise noted, statements refer to Standard Finnish based on the dialect spoken in Häme in Central South Finland. This Standard Finnish is used by professional speakers, such as, for instance, the opening diphthongs /ie̯/ and /uo̯/ are true falling diphthongs, since they begin louder and with higher pitch and fall in prominence during the diphthong.

A centering diphthong is one that begins with a more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as [ɪə̯], [ɛə̯], and [ʊə̯] in Received Pronunciation Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's (or King's) English and BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to that of other European languages. Although there is nothing intrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to any other variety, sociolinguistic factors give Received or [iə̯] and [uə̯] in Irish Irish is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language only by a small minority of the Irish population but is also used as a second language by a larger and expanding minority[citation needed]. It also plays an important. Many centering diphthongs are also opening diphthongs ([iə̯], [uə̯]).

Some languages contrast short and long diphthongs, the latter usually being described as having a long first element (see vowel length In linguistics, vowel length is the perceived duration of a vowel sound. Often the chroneme, or the "longness", acts like a consonant, and may etymologically be one such as in Australian English. While not distinctive in most dialects of English, vowel length is an important phonemic factor in many other languages, for instance in Arabic,). Languages that contrast three quantities in diphthongs are extremely rare, but not unheard of; Northern Sami Northern or North Sami is the most widely spoken of all Sami languages. The speaking area of Northern Sami covers the northern parts of Norway, Sweden and Finland as well as northwestern parts of Russia. The number of Northern Sami speakers is estimated to be somewhere between 15,000 and 25,000. About 2000 of these live in Finland and between 5000 is known to contrast long, short and finally stressed diphthongs, the last of which are distinguished by a long second element.

While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same as a combination of a vowel and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus[3][4] while a semivowel or glide is restricted to the syllable boundaries (either the onset or the coda). This often manifests itself phonetically by a greater degree of constriction.[5] though this phonetic distinction is not always clear.[6] The English word yes, for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, while the segmental elements must be different in diphthongs so that [ii̯], when it occurs in a language, does not contrast with [iː] though it is possible to contrast [ij] and [iː].[7]

Diphthongs in various languages

Catalan

Catalan The phonology of Catalan, a Romance language, has a certain degree of dialectal variation. Although there are two main dialects, one based on Eastern Catalan and one based on Valencian, this article deals with features of all or most dialects as well as regional pronunciation differences. Various studies have focused on different Catalan varieties; possesses a number of phonetic diphthongs, all of which begin (rising diphthongs) or end (falling diphthongs) in [j] or [w].[8]

Catalan diphthongs
[aj] aigua 'water' [aw] taula 'table'
[əj] mainada 'children' [əw] caurem 'we will fall'
[ɛj] remei 'remedy' [ɛw] peu 'foot'
[ej] rei 'king' [ew] seu 'his/her'
[iw] niu 'nest'
[ɔj] noi 'boy' [ɔw] nou 'new'
[ow] pou 'well'
[uj] avui 'today' [uw] duu 'he/she is carrying'
[ja] iaia 'grandma' [wa] quatre 'four'
[jɛ] veiem 'we see'
[we] següent 'following'
[jə] feia 'he/she was doing' [wə] aigua 'water'
[wi] pingüí 'penguin'
[jɔ] iode 'iodine' [wɔ] quota 'payment'
[ju] iogurt 'yoghurt'

There are also certain instances of compensatory diphthongization in the Majorcan dialect so that /ˈtroncs/ ('logs') (in addition to deleting the palatal plosive) develops a compensating palatal glide and surfaces as [ˈtrojns] (and contrasts with the unpluralized [ˈtronʲc]). Diphthongization compensates for the loss of the palatal stop (part of Catalan's segment loss compensation). There are other cases where diphthongization compensates for the loss of point of articulation features (property loss compensation) as in [ˈaɲ] ('year') vs [ˈajns] ('years').[9] The dialectal distribution of this compensatory diphthongization is almost entirely dependent on the dorsal plosive (whether it is velar or palatal) and the extent of consonant assimilation (whether or not it's extended to palatals).[10]

Croatian

Croatian Croatian is a South Slavic language which is used primarily in Croatia, by Croats in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by Croatian minorities in some neighbouring countries, in the Italian region of Molise, and parts of the Croatian diaspora dialects also have uo, as in kuonj, ruod, uon[12] while, in Standard Croatian, these words are konj, rod, on)

Czech

There are three diphthongs in Czech There are 10 vowel phonemes in Czech. 5 of them are short and 5 are long. The duration of the long vowels is approximately double in comparison with their short counterparts. Long and short vowels form minimal pairs. The length is an important distinctive feature in Czech. It differentiates various word meanings, e.g. pata /pata/ (heel) and pátá:

The 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 of Dutch Dutch is a Germanic language and as such has a similar phonology to other Germanic languages . (See the West Germanic languages.)
Netherlandic[13] Belgian[14]
zeis [ɛɪ̯]
ui [œʏ̯]
zout [ʌʊ̯] [ɔʊ̯]
beet1 [eɪ̯] [eː]
neus1 [øʏ̯] [øː]
boot1 [oʊ̯] [oː]
  1. [eɪ̯], [øʏ̯], and [oʊ̯] are normally pronounced as closing diphthongs except before [ɾ] in the same word, in which case they are centering diphthongs: [eə̯], [øə̯], and [oə̯]. In many dialects, they are monophthongized A monophthong is a "pure" vowel sound, one whose articulation at both beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does not glide up or down towards a new position of articulation; compare diphthong[15]

The dialect of Hamont (in Limburg Limburg (Dutch: Limburg ) is the easternmost province of Flanders (which is one of the three regions of Belgium), and is located west of the Maas river. It borders on (clockwise from the North) the Netherlands and the Belgian provinces of Liège, Flemish Brabant and Antwerp. Its capital is Hasselt. It has an area of 2,414 km² which is divided) has five centring diphthongs and contrasts long and short forms of [ɛɪ̯], [œʏ̯], [ɔʊ̯], and [ɑʊ̯].[16]

English

See also: IPA chart for English dialects This concise chart shows the most common applications of the International Phonetic Alphabet to represent English language pronunciations

All English diphthongs are falling, apart from /juː/, which can be analyzed as [i̯uː].

Standard English diphthongs
RP Received Pronunciation , also called the Queen's (or King's) English and BBC English, is the accent of Standard English in England, with a relationship to regional accents similar to that of other European languages. Although there is nothing intrinsic about RP that marks it as superior to any other variety, sociolinguistic factors give Received (British British English, or UK English , is the broad term used to distinguish the forms of the English language used in the United Kingdom from forms used elsewhere. The Oxford English Dictionary applies the term to English "as spoken or written in the British Isles; esp[ecially] the forms of English usual in Great Britain...", reserving ") Australian Australian English is the form of the English language spoken in Australia American
GA General American is a major accent of American English. The accent is not restricted to the United States, as it is quite common in parts of Canada[citation needed]. Within American English, General American and accents approximating it are contrasted with Southern American English, several Northeastern accents, and other distinct regional accents Canadian Canadian English is the variety of English spoken in Canada. English is the first language, or "mother tongue", of approximately 18 million Canadians (57%), and more than 28 million (86%) are fluent in the language. 76% of Canadians outside Quebec speak English natively, but within Quebec the figure drops to just 8%
low [əʊ̯] [əʉ̯] [oʊ̯]
loud [aʊ̯] [æɔ̯] [aʊ̯] [aʊ̯]
lout [əʊ̯]1
lied [aɪ̯] [ɑe̯] [aɪ̯]
light [əɪ̯]1
lane [eɪ̯] [æɪ̯] [eɪ̯]
loin [ɔɪ̯] [oɪ̯] [ɔɪ̯]
loon [uː] [ʉː] [ʊu̯]4
lean [iː] [ɪi̯]4 [ɪi̯]4
leer [ɪə̯] [ɪə̯] [ɪɚ̯]3
lair [ɛə̯]2 [eː]2 [ɛɚ]3
lure [ʊə̯]2 [ʊə̯] [ʊɚ̯]3
  1. Canadian English exhibits allophony In phonetics, an allophone is a conditioned realization[clarification needed] (phones) of the same phoneme. A phoneme is an abstract unit of speech sound that can distinguish words; that is, changing a phoneme in a word can produce another word. Speakers of a particular language perceive a phoneme as a distinctive sound in that language. An of /aʊ̯/ and /aɪ̯/ called Canadian raising Canadian raising is a phonetic phenomenon that occurs in varieties of the English language, especially Canadian English, in which diphthongs are "raised" before voiceless consonants . /aɪ/ (the vowel of "eye") becomes [ʌi], while the outcome of /aʊ/ (the vowel of "loud") varies by dialect, with [ʌu] more common in. GA and RP have raising to a lesser extent in /aɪ̯/.
  2. In Received Pronunciation, the vowels in lair and lure may be monophthongized to [ɛː] and [oː] respectively.[17] Australian English speakers more readily monophthongize the former.
  3. In rhotic dialects English pronunciation can be divided into two main accent groups: A rhotic speaker pronounces the letter R in hard. A non-rhotic speaker does not pronounce it in hard. In other words, rhotic speakers pronounce /r/ in all positions, while non-rhotic speakers pronounce /r/ only if it is followed by a vowel sound in the same phrase or prosodic unit (, words like pair, poor, and peer can be analyzed as diphthongs, although other descriptions analyze them as vowels with [ɹ] in the coda.
  4. The erstwhile monophthongs /iː/ and /uː/ are diphthongized in many dialects. In many cases they might be better transcribed as [uu̯] and [ii̯], where the non-syllabic element is understood to be closer than the syllabic element. They are sometimes transcribed /uw/ and /ij/.

Faroese

Diphthongs in Faroese Faroese , is an Insular Nordic language spoken by 48,000 people in the Faroe Islands and about 25,000[citation needed] Faroese in Denmark and elsewhere. It is one of four languages descended from the Old West Norse language spoken in the Middle Ages, the others being Icelandic, Norwegian and the extinct Norn, which is thought to have been mutually are:

Finnish

Main article: Finnish phonology This article is about the phonology of the Finnish language. The grammar of Finnish and the ways in which Finnish is spoken are dealt with in separate articles. Unless otherwise noted, statements refer to Standard Finnish based on the dialect spoken in Häme in Central South Finland. This Standard Finnish is used by professional speakers, such as

All Finnish Finnish ( suomi , or suomen kieli) is the language spoken by the majority of the population in Finland (92% as of 2006[update]) and by ethnic Finns outside Finland. It is one of the official languages of Finland and an official minority language in Sweden. In Sweden, both standard Finnish and Meänkieli, a Finnish dialect, are spoken. The Kven diphthongs are falling. Notably, Finnish has true opening diphthongs (e.g. /uo/), which are not very common crosslinguistically compared to centering diphthongs (e.g. /uə/ in English).

closing
close
opening

French

In French This article mainly discusses the phonological system of standard French based on the Parisian dialect. French is notable for its uvular r, nasal vowels, and two processes affecting word-final sounds: liaison, a certain type of sandhi, wherein word-final consonants are not pronounced unless followed by a word beginning with a vowel; and elision,, /wa/, /wɛ̃/, and /ɥi/ may be considered diphthongs (that is, fully contained in the syllable nucleus). Other sequences of a glide and vowel are considered part of a glide formation process that turns a high vowel into a glide (and part of the syllable onset) when followed by another vowel.[18]

German

Phonemic diphthongs in German This article is about the phonology of the German language based on the standard German. It deals with current phonology and phonetics as well as with historical developments thereof, including geographical variants:

In the varieties of German that vocalize the /r/ in the syllable coda In phonology, a syllable coda comprises the consonant sounds of a syllable that follow the nucleus, which is usually a vowel. The combination of a nucleus and a coda is called a rime. A coda is not required in syllables. Some languages' phonotactics, like that of Japanese, limit syllable codas to a small group of single consonants, whereas others, other diphthongal combinations may occur. These are only phonetic diphthongs, not phonemic diphthongs, since the vocalic pronunciation [ɐ̯] alternates with consonantal pronunciations of /r/ if a vowel follows, cf. du hörst [duː ˈhøːɐ̯st] ‘you hear’ – ich höre [ʔɪç ˈhøːʀə] ‘I hear’. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows:

The diphthongs of some German dialects German dialect is dominated by the geographical spread of the High German consonant shift, and the dialect continuum that connects the German with the Dutch language differ a lot from standard German diphthongs. The Bernese German Bernese German is the dialect of High Alemannic German spoken in the Swiss plateau part of the canton of Bern and in some neighbouring regions diphthongs, for instance, correspond rather to the Middle High German Middle High German , abbreviated MHG (Mhd.), is the term used for the period in the history of the German language between 1050 and 1350. It is preceded by Old High German and followed by Early New High German. In some uses, the term covers a longer period, going up to 1500 diphthongs than to standard German diphthongs:

Apart from these phonemic diphthongs, Bernese German has numerous phonetic diphthongs due to L-vocalization In linguistics, l-vocalization is a process by which an /l/ sound is replaced by a vowel or semivowel sound. This happens most often to velarized /ɫ/ in the syllable coda, for instance the following ones:

Icelandic

Diphthongs in Icelandic Icelandic phonology is the study of the phonology of the Icelandic language. Unlike many languages, Icelandic has only very minor dialectal differences in sounds, due to the relatively small number of speakers and the concentration of these speakers in mostly one area. The language has both monophthongs and diphthongs, and many consonants can be are the following:

Combinations of j and a vowel are the following:

Irish

All Irish The phonology of the Irish language varies from dialect to dialect; there is no standard pronunciation of the language. Therefore, this article focuses on phenomena that pertain generally to most or all dialects, and on the major differences among the dialects. Detailed discussion of the dialects can be found in the specific articles: Ulster Irish, diphthongs are falling.

Italian

In standard Italian This article is about the phonology of the Italian language. It deals with the phonology and phonetics of Standard Italian as well as with geographical variants, only falling diphthongs are considered to be true diphthongs. Rising diphthongs are considered to be sequences of approximant and vowel.[citation needed] The diphthongs of Italian are:[19]

falling
rising

In general, unstressed /i e o u/ in hiatus can turn into glides in more rapid speech (e.g. biennale [bjenˈnaːle] 'biennial'; coalizione [ko̯aliˈtːsjoːne] 'coalition') with the process occurring more readily in syllables further from stress.[20]

Maltese

Maltese has seven falling diphthongs.[21]

Mandarin Chinese

Rising diphthongs in Mandarin are usually regarded as a combination of a medial glide (i, u, or ü) and a final segment, while falling diphthongs are seen as one final segment. Tone marker is always placed on the vowel with more prominence.

rising
Glide Rime Pinyin
i ä i̯ä ia/ya jiā (家, home), yā (鴨, duck)
an i̯ɛn ian/yan jiǎn (剪, to cut), yǎn (眼, eye) 2
ɑŋ i̯äŋ iang/yang xiǎng (想, to think), yǎng (癢, itchy) 2
ɛ i̯ɛ ie/ye xiè (謝, to thank), yè (葉, leaf)
ɔ i̯ɔ yo yō (唷, an interjection) 1
u ä u̯ä ua/wa guā (瓜, melon), wā (挖, to dig)
an u̯än uan/wan guǎn (管, tube), wǎn (碗, bowl)
ɑŋ u̯ɑŋ uang/wang zhuāng (裝, to fill), wàng (忘, to forget) 2
ɔ u̯ɔ uo/wo huǒ (火, fire), wǒ (我, I)
ən u̯ən un/wen wèn (問, to ask) 2
əŋ u̯ɤŋ weng wēng (翁, old man) 12
y an y̯ɛn üan/yuan xüǎn (選, to choose), yuǎn (遠, far) 2
ɛ y̯ɛ üe/yue xüé (學, to learn), yuè (越, to cross)
əŋ i̯ʊŋ iong/yong xiōng (兇, menacing), yǒng (永, forever) 2
falling

1 only occurs in isolation

2 always followed by nasal

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:

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.

Norwegian

There are five diphthongs in Norwegian:

An additional diphthong, [ʉ̫ʏ̯], occurs only in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste". The number and form of diphthongs vary between dialects.

Portuguese

Main article: Portuguese phonology

The Portuguese diphthongs are formed by the labio-velar approximant [w] and palatal approximant [j] with a vogal,[22] European Portuguese has 14 phonemic diphthongs (10 oral and 4 nasal),[23] all of which are falling diphthongs formed by a vowel and a nonsyllabic high vowel. Brazilian Portuguese has roughly the same amount, although the two dialects have slightly different pronunciations. A [w] onglide after /k/ or /ɡ/ as in quando [ˈkwɐ̃dʊ] ('when') or guarda [ˈɡwaɾdɐ] ('guard') may also form rising diphthongs and triphthongs. Additionally, in casual speech, adjacent heterosyllabic vowels may combine into diphthongs and triphthongs or even sequences of them.[24]

Falling diphthongs of Portuguese
EP[23] BP
sai [aj]
sei [ɐj] [ej]
anéis [ɛj]
mói [ɔj]
moita [oj]
anuis [uj]
viu [iw]
meu [ew]
véu [ɛw]
mau [aw]
cem [ɐ̃j] [ẽj]
mãe [ɐ̃j]
anões [õj]
muita [ũj]
mão [ɐ̃w]

In addition, phonetic diphthongs are formed in Brazilian Portuguese by the vocalization of /l/ in the syllable coda with words like sol [sɔw] ('sun') and sul [suw] ('south') as well as by yodization of vowels preceding /s/ in words like arroz [aˈʁojs] ('rice') and mas [majs] ('but').[24]

Romanian

Main article: Romanian phonology

Romanian has two diphthongs: /e̯a/ and /o̯a/. As a result of their origin (diphthongization of mid vowels under stress), they appear only in stressed syllables[25] and make morphological alternations with the mid vowels /e/ and /o/. To native speakers, they sound very similar to /ja/ and /wa/ respectively.[26] There are no perfect minimal pairs to contrast /o̯a/ and /wa/,[27] and because /o̯a/ doesn't appear in the final syllable of a prosodic word, there are no monosyllabic words with /o̯a/; exceptions might include voal ('veil') and trotuar ('sidewalk'), though Ioana Chiţoran argues[28] that these are best treated as containing glide-vowel sequences rather than diphthongs. In addition to these, the semivowels /j/ and /w/ can be combined (either before, after, or both) with most vowels, while this arguably[29] forms additional diphthongs and triphthongs, only /e̯a/ and /o̯a/ can follow an obstruent-liquid cluster such as in broască ('frog') and dreagă ('to mend').[30] implying that /j/ and /w/ are restricted to the syllable boundary and therefore, strictly speaking, do not form diphthongs.

Spanish

Spanish has six falling diphthongs and eight rising diphthongs. In addition, during fast speech, sequences of vowels in hiatus become diphthongs wherein one becomes non-syllabic (unless they are the same vowel, in which case they fuse together) as in poeta [ˈpo̯eta] ('poet') and maestro [ˈmae̯stɾo] ('teacher'). The phonemic diphthongs are:[31]

falling
rising

Thai

In addition to vowel nuclei following /j/ and /w/, Thai has three diphthongs:[32]

Yiddish

Yiddish has three diphthongs:[33]

Diphthongs may reach a higher target position (towards /i/) in situations of coarticulatory phenomena or when words with such vowels are being emphasized.

Zulu

Diphthongs between true vowels never occur in Zulu, with each syllable having only one vowel sound, e.g. [iːǃaːǃa]. However, Zulu has two semi-vowels which form diphthongs with vowels:

See also

References

  1. ^ SIL International definition of 'Diphthong' accessed 17 January 2008
  2. ^ Chițoran (2002a:203)
  3. ^ Kaye & Lowenstamm (1984:139)
  4. ^ Schane (1995:588)
  5. ^ Padgett (2007:1938)
  6. ^ Schane (1995:606)
  7. ^ Schane (1995:589, 606)
  8. ^ Carbonell & Llisterri (1992:54)
  9. ^ Mascaró (2002:580–581)
  10. ^ Mascaró (2002:581)
  11. ^ (Croatian) Vjesnik Babić ne zagovara korijenski pravopis, nego traži da Hrvati ne piju mlijeko nego - mlieko
  12. ^ (Croatian) Kolo Josip Lisac: Štokavsko narječje: prostiranje i osnovne značajke
  13. ^ Gussenhoven (1992:46)
  14. ^ Verhoeven (2005:245)
  15. ^ See Verhoeven & Van Bael (2002) for more information.
  16. ^ Verhoeven (2007:221)
  17. ^ Roach (2004:240)
  18. ^ Chitoran (2001:11)
  19. ^ Bertinetto & Loporcaro (2005:138)
  20. ^ Bertinetto & Loporcaro (2005:139)
  21. ^ Borg & Azzopardi-Alexander (1997:299)
  22. ^ Faria (2003:7)
  23. ^ a b Cruz-Ferreira (1995:92)
  24. ^ a b Barbosa & Albano (2004:230)
  25. ^ Chițoran (2002a:204)
  26. ^ Chițoran (2002a:206)
  27. ^ Chițoran (2002a:203)
  28. ^ Chițoran (2002b:217)
  29. ^ See Chițoran (2001:8-9) for a brief overview of the views regarding Romanian semivowels
  30. ^ Chițoran (2002b:213)
  31. ^ Martínez-Celdrán, Fernández-Planas & Carrera-Sabaté (2003:256)
  32. ^ Tingsabadh & Abramson (1993:25)
  33. ^ Kleine (2003:263)

Bibliography

Categories: Vowels | Phonetics

 

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Duke_of_Earle

Sat, 23 Jul 2005 00:09:00 GM

Somebody mentioned to me today the word . diphthong. . I had a vague recollection of knowing what that word meant. Sometime a long time ago. I imagine it was back when I was in school, in English class, where such things mattered. ...

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'Diphthong' Answers
how do you translate this into italian?
Q. Italian is a highly musical, flowing language. All vowels, diphthongs, and double consonants must be articulated as clearly as possible, but should not be uttered by themselves. Related groups of words and ohrases are to be pronounced as if they were linked together.
Asked by Jay luva - Sun May 6 14:31:03 2007 - - 5 Answers - 0 Comments

A. Here you go: L'italiano e una lingua molto musicale e fluida. Tutte le vocali, i dittonghi e le consonanti doppie devono essere scanditi il piu chiaramente possibile, ma non devono essere pronunciati da soli. Gruppi di parole e frasi devono essere pronunciati come se fossero concatenati.
Answered by shamrock - Sun May 6 15:09:17 2007

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