ENGLISH PHONOLOGY

DIPHTONG AND TRIPHTONG

Lecturer :
Ana Ahsana El-S, S.Pd, M.Pd

Compiled By:
Riski Intan Pratitis (16188203035)
Mutiara Desy maharani (16188203042)
Aqidatul Mujaddidah (16188203043)
Fahmi Rizky Abiyasa (16188203050)
 DIPHTONGS AND TRIPHTONGS
 Diphtongs
What is a Diphtong?
A diphthong is a single-syllable vowel sound in which the beginning of the sound is
different from the end sound that is, the sound glides from one vowel sound to another. For this
reason, diphthongs are often referred to as gliding vowels. A “pure” vowel sound that doesn’t
glide is known as a monophthong. It’s also possible (though less common) to have a single
syllable that glides between three vowel sounds; this is known as a triphthong, which we’ll
look at in another section.
There are eight vowel sounds in American English that are generally agreed upon as being
diphthongs. We already encountered four of these when we looked at “traditional” long
vowels (vowel sounds that are pronounced the same way as the names of the letters), but there
are also a few others that occur. Let’s start by reviewing the diphthongs that make up the
traditional long vowels, and then we’ll move on to the rest.
Traditional Long Vowels
With the exception of long E (/i/), all of the traditional long vowel sounds are
diphthongs. These most predictably occur when the vowel letter is followed by a single
consonant and a silent “e”:

Vowel Letter Vowel Sound (IPA Symbol) How to pronounce it Example word

tape
A /eɪ/ eh-ee
(/teɪp/)
ice
I /aɪ/ ah-ee
(/aɪs/)
rope
O /oʊ/ oh-oo
(/roʊp/)
cube
U /ju/* ee-oo
(/kjub/)
(*Note that the traditional transcription for long U is /juː/. The triangular colon [ ː ] represents
the elongation of the vowel sound. However, in most American dictionaries, this colon is
omitted because the elongation of /ju/ is implied. This guide follows the convention of
omitting the triangular colon so that the IPA pronunciations match what would be found in an
American dictionary.)
The silent “e” rule is not the only instance when these long-vowel diphthongs occur.
For more information on when a vowel creates the traditional long sound, go to the section
overview on Vowels.
Other diphthongs

In addition to the four diphthongs listed above, there are two other diphthongs that
regularly occur in American English pronunciation. There are also two others that are
sometimes articulated (but aren’t always included in IPA transcriptions).
Below, we’ll look at each diphthong individually, listing common vowel digraphs that form
the sound, along with example words and their full IPA pronunciations:

 /ɔɪ/
This diphthong is pronounced “au-ee”—it begins with the /ɔ/ sound (as in dawn or door) and
glides to the /ɪ/ sound (as in pit). It generally only occurs with the vowel combinations “OY”
and “OI.”
Common Digraphs Example Words Full IPA

boy /bɔɪ/
annoy /əˈnɔɪ/
OY
royal /ˈrɔɪəl/
employed /ɪmˈplɔɪd/
coin /kɔɪn/
foil /fɔɪl/
OI
choice /ʧɔɪs/
noise /nɔɪz/

 /aʊ/
This diphthong is pronounced “ah-oo”—the vowel glides from the /æ/ sound (as in bat) to the
/ʊ/ sound (as in pull). It generally occurs with the digraphs “OU” and “OW.”

Common Digraphs Example Words Full IPA

/faʊnd/
found
/paʊt/
pout
OU /draʊt/
drought
(GH becomes silent)
mouth
/maʊθ/
town /taʊn/
crowd /kraʊd/
OW
chowder /ˈʧaʊdər/
shower /ˈʃaʊər/
Be careful, though, because many words that have “OU” or “OW” spellings will make
the long O (/oʊ/) vowel sound, as in:

 though (/ðoʊ/; GH is silent)

 boulder (/boʊldər/)
 soul (/soʊl/)
 lower (/loʊər/)
 own (/oʊn)
 growth (/groʊθ/)

Finally, some words that are spelled with “OW” can be pronounced either way, which alters
the meaning of the word altogether. Let’s look at some common examples:

Word Pronounced /oʊ/ Pronounced /aʊ/

1. (noun) A weapon that shoots arrows. 1. (verb) To incline or bend

Bow 2. (noun) A knot composed of two or more forward.
loops. 2. (verb) To yield or submit.
1. (noun) A number of people or things arranged 1. (noun) A noisy quarrel or
in a line. argument.
Row
2. (verb) To propel forward using the leverage of 2. (verb) To engage or participate
an oar or a similar instrument. in such a quarrel.
Sow (verb) To plant or scatter seed(s). (noun) An adult female swine.

“R-Colored” Diphthongs

There are two other diphthongs that sometimes occur in American English: /ɪə/ and /ɛə/.
These can be found in certain instances where a vowel sound is followed by an “r.” However,
it is very common in General American pronunciations to omit the schwa sound before the “r”
in /ɪər/ and /ɛər/, and the standard transcription in (most) American dictionaries is often
simply /ɪr/ or /ɛr/, respectively. While the IPA transcriptions used in this guide generally favor
the trends of American dictionaries (and do not include the schwas as a result), we’ll have a
quick look below at when they might occur.
  /ɪə/
When this diphthong is articulated, it is pronounced “ih-uh,” quickly gliding from the
short I sound /ɪ/ (as in tip) to an unstressed schwa (/ə/). It usually occurs with the digraphs
“EE,” “EA,” and “IE” when they are followed by an “R.”

Letter Combinations Example Words Full IPA IPA in American Dictionaries

beer /bɪər/ /bɪr/

deer /dɪər/ /dɪr/
EER
sheer /ʃɪər/ /ʃɪr/
steer /stɪər/ /stɪr/
dear /dɪər/ /dɪr/
hear /hɪər/ /hɪr/
EAR
shear /ʃɪər/ /ʃɪr/
appear /əpˈɪər/ /əpˈɪr/
pier /pɪər/ /pɪr/
fierce /fɪərs/ /fɪrs/
IER*
frontier /frənˈtɪər/ /frənˈtɪr/
bandolier /ˌbændəˈlɪər/ /ˌbændəˈlɪr/
(*Note that “-ier” is often used to create the comparative form of adjectives that end in “y,”
as in happier, fussier, busier, etc. In this case, “-ier” is pronounced “ee-er,” and its IPA
notation is /iər/. This is not a diphthong, however, because it is stressed as two separate
syllables.)

 /ɛə/
When this diphthong is articulated, it is pronounced “eh-uh,” quickly gliding from the short
“E” sound /ɛ/ (as in set) to an unstressed schwa (/ə/). (In some dialects, the “E” sound
sometimes raises up slightly to sound more like “ei”; for this reason, some dictionaries
transcribe the diphthong as /eə/ instead.)

This diphthong usually occurs with the letter combinations “ARE” and “AIR,” but be careful:
it also sometimes occurs with “EAR,” which is often pronounced /ɪər/. All of the root “EAR”
words that have the /ɛər/ pronunciation are listed below.

Letter Combinations Example Words Full IPA IPA in American Dictionaries

flare /flɛər/ /flɛr/

ARE* care /kɛər/ /kɛr/
stare /stɛər/ /stɛr/
 ensnare /ɪnˈsnɛər/ /ɪnˈsnɛr/
flair /flɛər/ /flɛr/
stairs /stɛərz/ /stɛrz/
AIR
dairy /dɛəri/ /dɛri/
repair /rəˈpɛər/ /rəˈpɛr/
wear
/wɛər/ /wɛr/
bear
/bɛər/ /bɛr/
pear
EAR /pɛər/ /pɛr/
swear
/swɛər/ /swɛr/
tear
/tɛər/ /tɛr/
(meaning “to rip”)
*The most notable exception to this rule is the short word are, which is pronounced “ahr”
(/ɑr/).
It’s also important to note that verbs ending in ARE keep this pronunciation even when they
are made into a gerund or present participle, in which case the final “e” is replaced with “-
ing.” For example:

 daring (/dɛ(ə)rɪŋ/)
 sharing (/ʃɛ(ə)rɪŋ/)
 caring (/kɛ(ə)rɪŋ/)
 staring (/stɛ(ə)rɪŋ/)

Other defintion about diphtongs is in phonetics, a diphthong is a vowel in which there is a

noticeable sound change within the same syllable. (In contrast, a single or simple vowel is
known as a monophthong).

The process of moving from one vowel sound to another is called gliding, and thus another
name for diphthong is gliding vowel. Also known as a compound vowel, a complex vowel, and
a moving vowel.

A sound change that turns a single vowel into a diphthong is called diphthongization.

Laurel J. Brinton points out that "a diphthong is not necessarily longer (does not take more
time to articulate) than a monophthong, though diphthongs are frequently, and erroneously,
called 'long vowels' in school" (The Structure of Modern English, 2000).
Examples and Observations
"If you say the words hat and lip, you can hear that the vowel sound in each is singular in
nature; that is, each contains only one kind of sound. But if you say the words out, bite, and toil,
you will hear that the vowel sound of each, though restricted to one syllable, is composed of
two different kinds of sound. These dual vowels are called diphthongs (literally, 'two voices'
or 'two sounds'), as opposed to the singular vowels, which are monophthongs ('one voice' or
'onesound')."
(Thomas E. Murray, The Structure of English. Allyn and Bacon, 1995).
Diphthong Sound Symbols
In English there are eight diphthongs, that are basically vowels that begin in one place and
move toward another such as:

The easiest way to remember diphthongs is in term of three groups composed as follow:
 Now we can put the centering and closing diphthongs on a diagram according to their
articulation:

The centering diphthongs glide towards /ə /:

1. / ɪə / (e.g. beard, near, etc): the glide of /ɪə/ begins with a tongue position approximately
as that used for /t/ i.e. centralized, front, half-close, and moves in the direction of the
more open of / ə / when / ə / is the final in the word, e.g. in ‘near’ in non-final position
‘beard’ the glide may not be so extensive, the quality of the / ə / element being of a mid-
type. The lips are neutral throughout, with a slight movement from spread to open.

2. / eə / : (e.g. air, share, etc.): the glide of / ɛə / begins in the /e/ position, and moves in
the direction of the more open variety of / ə /, especially when the diphthong is final;
where / ɛə / occurs in a syllable closed by a consonant, the /ə/ element tend to be of a
mid /ə/ type. The lips are neutrally open throughout.

3. / ʊə /: (e.g. poor, pure, etc.): RP / ʊə / glides from a tongue position similar to that used
for /ʊ/ toward the more open type of /ə/, and a somewhat closer varity of /ə/ when the
diphthong occurs in a closed syllable.
Three closing diphthongs glide towards /ɪ/ and the remaining two towards /ʊ/:

Glide towards /ʊ/:

1. /eɪ/: (e.g. day, fail): the glide starts from the tongue position of that used for /e/, and
moves in the direction of RP / ɪ /, there being a slight closing movementof the lower
jaw, and the lips being spread.

2. / ɑɪ /: (e.g. time, die, by, etc.): the RP glide begins at a point slightly behind the front
open position, and moves towards the position associated with RP / ɪ /. The lips change
from a neutral to a loosely spread position.

3. /ɔɪ /: (e.g. boy, toy, etc): for RP /ɔɪ /, the tongue glide begins at a point associated with
/ə:/, and moves towards the position of / ɪ /; the lips opening rounded for the first
element, changing to neutral for the second.

The closing diphthongs glide towards /ʊ/ :

1. /əʊ/ (e.g. so,no,go,etc): the glide of RP /əʊ/ begins at a mid-central position, and
moves in the direction of RP /ʊ/, there being a slight closing movement of the lower
jaw. The lips are neutral for the first element, but have a tendency to round on the
second element.

2. /ɑʊ/: (e.g. how, town,house,etc): the glide of RP /ɑʊ/ begins at a point between the
back and front open positions, and moves towards the position for RP /ʊ/. The lips
change from a neutrally open to a weakly rounded position.
  Triphtongs

What is a triphtong?

In phonetics, a triphtong is a monosyllabic vowel combination involving a quick but

smooth movement of the articulator from one vowel quality to another that passes over a
third.Other definition about triphtong is the nucleus of a single syllable may
contain three vowel sounds that quickly glide together; these sounds are known
as triphthongs.

There are three triphthongs that are generally agreed upon in American English: /aʊə/ (“ah-oo-
uh”), /aɪə/ (“ah-ih-uh”), and /jʊə/ (“ee-oo-uh”). These always come before an R sound in a
word.

There is some disagreement among linguists as to whether the first two are truly triphthongs,
or if they are simply two syllables that are merged closely together (/aʊ.ə/ and /aɪ.ə/). As we
look at examples of each of the possible triphthongs below, we’ll consider them as both single
and double syllables. (For the purposes of this section, a syllable break will be indicated by a
dot [ . ]

The followings are example of Triphtong, such as:

 /aʊə/ (“ah-oo-uh”)
This vowel sound occurs when the digraph “OU” is followed by an “R.”

Example Words Triphthong (Single syllable) No triphthong (Two syllables)

Our /aʊər/ /ˈaʊ.ər/

hour /aʊər/ (H is silent) /ˈaʊ.ər/
flour /flaʊər/ /ˈflaʊ.ər/
sour /saʊər/ /ˈsaʊ.ər/

 /aɪə/ (“ah-ih-uh”)
This triphthong is pronounced with the letter combination “IRE.”

Example Words Triphthong (One syllable) No triphthong (Two syllables)

Fire /faɪər/ /ˈfaɪ.ər/

dire /daɪər/ /ˈdaɪ.ər/
inspire /ɪnˈspaɪər/ /ɪnˈspaɪ.ər/
 Ireland /ˈaɪər.lənd/ /ˈaɪ.ər.lənd/
In addition to “IRE” words, there are a few other specific instances where this pronunciation
may occur:

 pyre (/paɪər/)
 choir (/kwaɪər/)

 /jʊə/ (“ee-oo-uh”)
This triphthong sometimes occurs when the digraph “UR” comes after a hard consonant
and is followed by an E, Y, or I. Rather than breaking up the sound into two syllables like the
previous two triphthongs, this one is often rounded to leave out the schwa altogether.

Example Words Triphthong (schwa included) No triphthong (schwa omitted)

Cure /kjʊər/ /kjʊr/

pure /pjʊər/ /pjʊr/
fury /ˈfjʊər.i/ /ˈfjʊr.i/
curious /ˈkjʊər.iəs/ /ˈkjʊr.iəs/

There are two special cases. The triphthongs [əʊə] and [ɔɪə] need some further
explanation, so I’ll treat them separately.

1. The distinguishing fact about the smoothed version of [əʊə] is that it is realized as a
monophthong, the sound /ɜː/. This is only natural if you think that, by taking out the [ʊ] in the
middle, you get two schwas together [əə], which is the same as /ɜː/ (for the relation between
/ə/ and /ɜː/, see here).

mower /məʊə/ mower /mɜː/

2. The smoothing of the triphthong [ɔɪə] is more controversial, and some authors don’t
include it in the catalogue of triphthongs subject to this process. So, we can safely assume that
it happens less often. Nevertheless, it does happen sometimes (and we have a good example by
none other than Ben Kingsley below), so we’ll treat it here as well.

employer /emˈplɔɪə/ employer /emˈplɔə/

There are also some examples of triphtong formed from diphtong. Triphthong : 5
closing diphthongs with ‘ə’ added on the end.
– eɪ + ə = eɪə . as in layer, player
– aɪ + ə = aɪə. as in lire, fire
– ɔɪ + ə = ɔɪə, as in loyal, royal
– əʊ + ə = əuə, as in lower, mower
– aʊ + ə = auə, as in power, hour.