Dictionary

diphthong

Pronunciation

(British) IPA: /ˈdɪfθɒŋ(ɡ)/; (proscribed) /ˈdɪpθɒŋ(ɡ)/
(America) IPA: /ˈdɪfθɔŋ/; (proscribed) /ˈdɪpθɔŋ/
(CA; US, in accents with the cot-caught merger) IPA: /ˈdɪfθɑŋ/; (proscribed) /ˈdɪpθɑŋ/

Noun

diphthong (plural diphthongs)

(phonetics) A complex vowel sound that begins with the sound of one vowel and ends with the sound of another vowel, in the same syllable.
Coordinate terms: monophthong#English|monophthong, triphthong#English|triphthong
(rare) A vowel digraph or ligature.
- 1854, Robert Bigsby, Historical and Topographical Description of Repton, in the County of Derby, Woodfall and Kinder, page 47 ↗:
  And he might have written the name, also, with the diphthong æ, as well as the single vowel, in the initial syllable, throughout all the preceding forms.
- 1860, Joseph E. Worcester, An Elementary Dictionary of the English Language, A New Edition, Swan, Brewer, and Tileston (publishers), page 12 ↗:
  An improper diphthong has only one of the vowels sounded; as, ea in heat, oa in coal.
- 1874, Theophilus Dwight Hall, A Child’s First Latin Book, John Murray (publisher), page 3 ↗:
  The diphthong ae is sounded like ē (§7); that is, it has the sound of ey in they.

Related terms

Translations

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