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In phonetics, a diphthong (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 , for example. Diphthongs are represented by two symbols, for example English "same" as , where the two vowel symbols are intended to represent approximately the beginning and ending tongue positions. Falling diphthongs start with a vowel of higher sonority and end in a vowel with less sonority, like in "eye", while rising diphthongs begin with a vowel with less sonority and end with a vowel of higher sonority, like in "yard". The element with less sonority in the diphthong may be transcribed as semivowel, thus e.g. . 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 closer than the first; in opening diphthongs, more open. A centering diphthong is one that begins with a more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as , , and in Received Pronunciation or and in Irish. 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.
Czech There are three diphthongs in Czech: Vowel groups ia, ie, ii, io, and iu in foreign words are not regarded as diphthongs, they are pronounced with between the vowels . Dutch Diphthongs in Dutch English Diphthongs in the General American accent of English: Diphthongs in the Received Pronunciation of British English: (see International Phonetic Alphabet for English for more) Allophones of the diphthongs and in Canadian English (See Canadian raising: Diphthongs in Australian English phonology: Faroese Diphthongs in Faroese are: Finnish Diphthongs in Finnish French Some diphthongs in French: 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: Some diphthongs in Bernese, a Swiss German dialect: 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 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: Norwegian There are five diphthongs in Norwegian: In addition there is the diphthong , but this only occur in the word hui in the expression i hui og hast "in great haste". Italian Diphthongs in standard Italian: falling rising 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. Portuguese Falling diphthongs with or as their weaker vowel are frequent in Portuguese. Rising diphthongs, with or as their weaker vowel, occur less often, and many of them may also be analysed as hiatuses, e.g., fé-rias (as a diphthong) or fé-ri-as (as 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. /uai/ as in Paraguai, or /iau/ as in miau), and even longer sequences, but they can be analysed as sequences of vowels and diphthongs. Just like the monophthonghs, diphthongs are divided into two subgroups, oral and nasal. oral diphthongs nasal diphthongs Romanian Romanian builds its descending diphthongs using two semivowels and its ascending diphthongs using four. See also Romanian phonology. falling rising Spanish Diphthongs in Spanish: falling rising See also | ||||||||
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