diphthong

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See also: Diphthong

English

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WOTD – 17 September 2006

Alternative forms

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Etymology

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PIE word
*dwóh₁

From French diphtongue, from Late Latin diphthongus, from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos, “two sounds”), from δίς (dís, “twice”) + φθόγγος (phthóngos, “sound”).

Pronunciation

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Noun

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Examples (phonetics)

diphthong (plural diphthongs)

  1. (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.
    Synonym: gliding vowel
    Coordinate terms: monophthong, triphthong
  2. (rare) A vowel digraph or ligature.
    • 1854, Robert Bigsby, Historical and Topographical Description of Repton, in the County of Derby‎[1], 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[2], Swan, Brewer, and Tileston, 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[3], John Murray, page 3:
      The diphthong ae is sounded like ē (§7); that is, it has the sound of ey in they.

Coordinate terms

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Derived terms

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Translations

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See also

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Further reading

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