American English pronunciation of "no highway cowboys" /noʊ ˈhaɪweɪ ˈkaʊbɔɪz/, showing five diphthongs:/oʊ,aɪ,eɪ,aʊ,ɔɪ/
Adiphthong (/ˈdɪfθɒŋ,ˈdɪp-/DIF-thong,DIP-;[1] from Ancient Greek δίφθογγος (díphthongos)'two sounds', from δίς (dís)'twice' and φθόγγος (phthóngos)'sound'), also known as agliding vowel or avowel glide, is a combination of two adjacentvowel sounds within the samesyllable.[2] Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with two different targets: that is, the tongue (and/or other parts of thespeech apparatus) moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In mostvarieties ofEnglish, the phrase "no highway cowboy" (/noʊˈhaɪweɪˈkaʊbɔɪ/nohHY-wayKOW-boy) has five distinct diphthongs, one in everysyllable.
Diphthongs contrast withmonophthongs, where the tongue or other speech organs do not move and the syllable contains only a single vowel sound. For instance, in English, the wordah is spoken as a monophthong (/ɑː/), while the wordow is spoken as a diphthong in most varieties (/aʊ/). Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables (e.g. in the English wordre-elect) the result is described ashiatus, 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).[3]
In theInternational Phonetic Alphabet (IPA), monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in Englishsun[sʌn], in which ⟨ʌ⟩ represents a monophthong. Diphthongs are transcribed with two symbols, as in Englishhigh/haɪ/ orcow/kaʊ/, in which ⟨aɪ⟩ and ⟨aʊ⟩ represent diphthongs.
Diphthongs may be transcribed with two vowel symbols or with a vowel symbol and asemivowel symbol. In the words above, the less prominent member of the diphthong can be represented with the symbols for the palatal approximant[j] and the labiovelar approximant[w], with the symbols for the close vowels[i] and[u], or the symbols for thenear-close vowels[ɪ] and[ʊ]:
Some transcriptions arebroader ornarrower (less precise or more precise phonetically) than others. Transcribing the English diphthongs inhigh andcow as ⟨ajaw⟩ or ⟨ai̯au̯⟩ is a less precise or broader transcription, since these diphthongs usually end in a vowel sound that ismore open than the semivowels[jw] or theclose vowels[iu]. Transcribing the diphthongs as ⟨aɪ̯aʊ̯⟩ is a more precise or narrower transcription, since the English diphthongs usually end in thenear-close vowels[ɪʊ].
The non-syllabicdiacritic, theinverted breve below⟨◌̯⟩,[4] is placed under the less prominent part of a diphthong to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a vowel in a separate syllable:[aɪ̯aʊ̯]. When there is no contrastive vowel sequence in the language, the diacritic may be omitted. Other common indications that the two sounds are not separate vowels are a superscript, ⟨aᶦaᶷ⟩,[5] or a tie bar, ⟨a͡ɪa͡ʊ⟩ or ⟨a͜ɪa͜ʊ⟩.[6] The tie bar can be useful when it is not clear which symbol represents the syllable nucleus, or when they have equal weight.[7] Superscripts are especially used when an on- or off-glide is particularly fleeting.[8]
The period ⟨.⟩ is the opposite of the non-syllabic diacritic: it represents a syllable break. If two vowels next to each other belong to two differentsyllables (hiatus), meaning that they do not form a diphthong, they can be transcribed with two vowel symbols with a period in between. Thus,lower can be transcribed ⟨ˈloʊ.ɚ⟩, with a period separating the first syllable,/loʊ/, from the second syllable, ⟨ɚ⟩.
The non-syllabic diacritic is used only when necessary. It is typically omitted when there is no ambiguity, as in ⟨haɪkaʊ⟩. No words in English have the vowel sequences*[a.ɪa.ʊ], so the non-syllabic diacritic is unnecessary.
Falling (ordescending) diphthongs start with a vowel quality of higherprominence (higher pitch or volume) and end in a semivowel with less prominence, like[aɪ̯] ineye, whilerising (orascending) diphthongs begin with a less prominent semivowel and end with a more prominent full vowel, similar to the[ja] inyard. (Sometimes, however, the terms "falling" and "rising" are used, instead, to refer tovowel height, i.e. as synonyms of the terms "closing" and "opening".[9] See below.) The less prominent component in the diphthong may also be transcribed as anapproximant, thus[aj] ineye and[ja] inyard. However, when the diphthong is analysed as a singlephoneme, both elements are often transcribed with vowel symbols (/aɪ̯/,/ɪ̯a/). Semivowels and approximants are not equivalent in all treatments, and in theEnglish andItalian languages, among others, manyphoneticians do not consider rising combinations to be diphthongs, but rather sequences of approximant and vowel. There are many languages (such asRomanian) that contrast one or more rising diphthongs with similar sequences of a glide and a vowel in their phonetic inventory[10] (seesemivowel for examples).
Inclosing diphthongs, the second element is moreclose than the first (e.g.[ai]); inopening diphthongs, the second element is moreopen (e.g.[ia]). Closing diphthongs tend to be falling ([ai̯]), and opening diphthongs are generally rising ([i̯a]),[11] as open vowels are moresonorous and therefore tend to be more prominent. However, exceptions to this rule are not rare in the world's languages. InFinnish, 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 third, rare type of diphthong that is neither opening nor closing isheight-harmonic diphthongs, with both elements at the same vowel height.[12] These may have occurred inOld English:
beorht[beo̯rxt] "bright"
ċeald[t͡ʃæɑ̯ld] "cold"
Acentering diphthong is one that begins with a more peripheral vowel and ends with a more central one, such as[ɪə̯],[ɛə̯], and[ʊə̯] inReceived Pronunciation or[iə̯] and[uə̯] inIrish. Many centering diphthongs are also opening diphthongs ([iə̯],[uə̯]).
Diphthongs may contrast in how far they open or close. For example,Samoan contrasts low-to-mid with low-to-high diphthongs:
Narrow diphthongs are the ones that end with a vowel which on a vowel chart is quite close to the one that begins the diphthong, for example Northern Dutch[eɪ],[øʏ] and[oʊ].Wide diphthongs are the opposite – they require a greater tongue movement, and their offsets are farther away from their starting points on the vowel chart. Examples of wide diphthongs are RP/GA English[aɪ] and[aʊ].
Languages differ in the length of diphthongs, measured in terms ofmorae. In languages with phonemically short and long vowels, diphthongs typically behave like long vowels, and are pronounced with a similar length.[13] In languages with only one phonemic length for pure vowels, however, diphthongs may behave like pure vowels.[14] For example, inIcelandic, both monophthongs and diphthongs are pronounced long before single consonants and short before most consonant clusters.
Some languages contrastshort andlong diphthongs. In some languages, such asOld English, these behave like short and long vowels, occupying one and twomorae, respectively. 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 longer second element.[15]: 149
Certain sound changes relate to diphthongs andmonophthongs.Vowel breaking or diphthongization is avowel shift in which a monophthong becomes a diphthong.Monophthongization or smoothing is a vowel shift in which a diphthong becomes a monophthong.
While there are a number of similarities, diphthongs are not the same phonologically as a combination of a vowel and an approximant or glide. Most importantly, diphthongs are fully contained in the syllable nucleus[16][17] 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,[18] but the phonetic distinction is not always clear.[19] The English wordyes, for example, consists of a palatal glide followed by a monophthong rather than a rising diphthong. In addition, the segmental elements must be different in diphthongs[ii̯] and so when it occurs in a language, it does not contrast with[iː]. However, it is possible for languages to contrast[ij] and[iː].[20]
Diphthongs are also distinct from sequences of simple vowels. TheBunaq language of Timor, for example, distinguishes/sa͡i/[saj] 'exit' from/sai/[saʲi] 'be amused',/te͡i/[tej] 'dance' from/tei/[teʲi] 'stare at', and/po͡i/[poj] 'choice' from/loi/[loʷi] 'good'.[21]
Some languages or dialects also articulate the component sounds of a diphthong differently than when those sounds are produced in hiatus. For example, due toEnglish diphthong raising, many North American English speakers pronounce/aɪ/ withcloser vowels than/a.ɪ/, and, among a subset of those, the diphthong/aʊ/ may be similarly raised as compared to/a.ʊ/.
In words coming fromMiddle English, most cases of the Modern English diphthongs[aɪ̯,oʊ̯,eɪ̯,aʊ̯] originate from the Middle English long monophthongs[iː,ɔː,aː,uː] through theGreat Vowel Shift, although some cases of[oʊ̯,eɪ̯] originate from theMiddle English diphthongs[ɔu̯,aɪ̯].
^InPittsburgh English,/aʊ̯/ is monophthongal[aː], leading to the stereotypical spelling "Dahntahn" for "downtown".
^abCanadian English and some dialects of northern American English exhibitallophony of/aʊ̯/ and/aɪ̯/ calledCanadian raising – in some places they have become separate phonemes. GA has raising to a lesser extent in/aɪ̯/.
^In several American dialects such asSouthern American English,/aɪ̯/ becomes monophthongal [aː] except before voiceless consonants.
^abThe 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/.
^abc[eɪ̯],[øʏ̯], and[oʊ̯] are normally pronounced as closing diphthongs except when preceding[ɾ], in which case they are either centering diphthongs:[eə̯],[øə̯], and[oə̯] or are lengthened and monophthongized to[ɪː],[øː], and[ʊː]
The dialect of Hamont (inLimburg) has five centring diphthongs and contrasts long and short forms of[ɛɪ̯],[œʏ̯],[ɔʊ̯], and[ɑʊ̯].[24]
TheAfrikaans language has its origin in Dutch but differs in many significant ways, including the use of diphthongs in the place of several non-diphthong Dutch double vowels, or double-vowels being pronounced differently.Examples include:
Falling diphthongs. Their first element may be short[ɪə̯,ʊə̯] or somewhat lengthened[ɪˑə̯,ʊˑə̯].[26]
Rising diphthongs[ɪ̯ə,ʊ̯ə]. These variants do not seem to appear word-finally. The sequence/ɦʊə/ is commonly realised as[ɦʊ̯ə] or, more often,[ɦʊ̯ə̤], with/ɦ/ realised asbreathy
The scholar Daan Wissing argues that/əɪ̯/ is not a phonetically correct transcription and that/æɛ̯/ is more accurate. In his analysis, he found that[æɛ̯] makes for 65% of the realisations, the other 35% being monophthongal,[ə],[æ] and[ɛ].[27]
Most often,/œɪ̯/ has an unrounded offset. For some speakers, the onset is also unrounded. That can cause/œɪ̯/ to merge with/əɪ̯/, which is considered non-standard.[28]
Older sources describe/œu/ as a narrow back diphthong[ou].[29][30] However, newer sources describe its onset as more front. For example,Lass (1984), states that the onset of/œu/ is central[ɵu].[31]
In some words which, in English, are pronounced with/əʊ̯/, the Afrikaans equivalent tends to be pronounced with/œʊ̯/, rather than/ʊə/. That happens because Afrikaans/œʊ̯/ is more similar to the usual South African realization of English/əʊ̯/.[29]
Example words for diphthongs
Phoneme
IPA
Orthography
Gloss
/ɪø/
/sɪøn/
seun
'son'
/əɪ̯/
/ɦəɪ̯/
hy
'he'
/ɪə/
/vɪət/
weet
'to know'
/œɪ̯/
/ɦœɪ̯s/
huis
'house'
/ɔɪ̯/
/ˈχɔɪ̯əŋ/
goiing
'burlap'
/ʊə/
/brʊət/
brood
'bread'
/œʊ̯/
/kœʊ̯t/
koud
'cold'
/aɪ̯/
/ˈbaɪ̯ə/
baie
'many'
The long diphthongs (or 'double vowels') are phonemically sequences of a free vowel and a non-syllabic equivalent of/i/ or/u/:[iu,ui,oːi,eu,ɑːi]. Both[iu] and[eu] tend to be pronounced as[iu], but they are spelled differently: the former as⟨ieu⟩, the latter as⟨eeu⟩.[32]
In diminutives ending in/ki/ formed to monosyllabic nouns, the vowels/u,ɪə,ʊə,ɛ,ə,œ,ɔ,a,ɑː/ are realised as closing diphthongs[ui,ei,oi,ɛi,əi,œi,ɔi,ai,ɑːi]. In the same environment, the sequences/ɛn,ən,œn,ɔn,an/ are realized as[ɛiɲ,əiɲ,œiɲ,ɔiɲ,aiɲ], i.e. as closing diphthongs followed by palatal nasal.[33]
The suffixes⟨-aad⟩ and⟨-aat⟩ (phonemically/ɑːd/ and/ɑːt/, respectively) and the diminutive suffix/ki/ are realised as[ɑːki] (with a monophthong), rather than[ɑːiki].[28]
In practice, the diphthong[əi] is realised the same as the phonemic diphthong/əi/.[34]
[œi], when it has arisen from diphthongisation of[œ], differs from the phonemic diphthong/œi/ by having a slightly different onset, although the exact nature of that difference is unclear. This means thatpuntjie 'point' sounds somewhat different frompuintjie 'rubble'.[34]
In the varieties of German thatvocalize the/r/ in thesyllable coda, 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[duːˈhøːɐ̯st] 'you hear' –ich höre[ʔɪçˈhøːʀə] 'I hear'. These phonetic diphthongs may be as follows:
^1Wiese (1996) notes that the length contrast is not very stable before non-prevocalic/r/[35] and that "Meinhold & Stock (1980:180), following the pronouncing dictionaries (Mangold (1990),Krech & Stötzer (1982)) judge the vowel inArt,Schwert,Fahrt to be long, while the vowel inOrt,Furcht,hart is supposed to be short. The factual basis of this presumed distinction seems very questionable."[35][36] He goes on stating that in his own dialect, there is no length difference in these words, and that judgements on vowel length in front of non-prevocalic/r/ which is itself vocalized are problematic, in particular if/a/ precedes.[35]
According to the 'lengthless' analysis, the aforementioned 'long' diphthongs are analyzed as[iɐ̯],[yɐ̯],[uɐ̯],[eɐ̯],[øɐ̯],[oɐ̯],[ɛɐ̯] and[aɐ̯]. This makes non-prevocalic/aːr/ and/ar/ homophonous as[aɐ̯] or[aː]. Non-prevocalic/ɛːr/ and/ɛr/ may also merge, but the vowel chart inKohler (1999:88) shows that they have somewhat different starting points.
Wiese (1996) also states that "laxing of the vowel is predicted to take place in shortened vowels; it does indeed seem to go hand in hand with the vowel shortening in many cases."[35]
The diphthongs of someGerman dialects differ from standard German diphthongs. TheBernese German diphthongs, for instance, correspond rather to theMiddle High German diphthongs than to standard German diphthongs:
/iə̯/ as inlieb 'dear'
/uə̯/ as inguet 'good'
/yə̯/ as inmüed 'tired'
/ei̯/ as inBei 'leg'
/ou̯/ as inBoum 'tree'
/øi̯/ as inBöim 'trees'
Apart from these phonemic diphthongs, Bernese German has numerous phonetic diphthongs due toL-vocalization in the syllable coda, for instance the following ones:
Diphthongs may reach a higher target position (towards/i/) in situations of coarticulatory phenomena or when words with such vowels are being emphasized.
An additional diphthong,[ʉ͍ɪ], occurs only in the wordhui in the expressioni hui og hast "in great haste". The number and form of diphthongs vary between dialects.
InFrench,/wa/,/wɛ̃/,/ɥi/ and/ɥɛ̃/ may be considered true diphthongs (that is, fully contained in the syllable nucleus:[u̯a],[u̯ɛ̃],[y̯i],[y̯ɛ̃]). Other sequences are considered part of a glide formation process that turns a high vowel into a semivowel (and part of the syllable onset) when followed by another vowel.[38]
In the sequences[ɡw] or[kw] and vowel, e.g.guant,quota,qüestió,pingüí (these exceptional cases even lead some scholars[41] to hypothesize the existence of rare labiovelar phonemes/ɡʷ/ and/kʷ/).[42]
There are also certain instances ofcompensatory diphthongization in theMajorcan 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').[43] 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 is extended to palatals).[44]
The Portuguese diphthongs are formed by thelabio-velar approximant[w] andpalatal approximant[j] with a vowel,[45]European Portuguese has 14 phonemic diphthongs (10 oral and 4 nasal),[46] all of which are falling diphthongs formed by a vowel and a nonsyllabic high vowel.Brazilian Portuguese has roughly the same amount, although the European and non-European dialects have slightly different pronunciations ([ɐj] is a distinctive feature of some southern and central Portuguese dialects, especially that of Lisbon). A[w] onglide after/k/ or/ɡ/ and before all vowels as inquando[ˈkwɐ̃du] ('when') orguarda[ˈɡwaɾðɐ~ˈɡwaʁdɐ] ('guard') may also form rising diphthongs andtriphthongs. Additionally, in casual speech, adjacent heterosyllabic vowels may combine into diphthongs and triphthongs or even sequences of them.[47]
In addition, phonetic diphthongs are formed in most Brazilian Portuguese dialects by thevocalization of/l/ in the syllable coda with words likesol[sɔw] ('sun') andsul[suw] ('south') as well as by yodization of vowels preceding/s/ or its allophone at syllable coda[ʃ~ɕ] in terms likearroz[aˈʁojs~ɐˈʁo(j)ɕ] ('rice'),[47] and/z/ (or[ʒ~ʑ]) in terms such aspaz mundial[ˈpajzmũdʒiˈaw~ˈpa(j)ʑmũdʑiˈaw] ('world peace') anddez anos[ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nu(j)s~ˌdɛjˈz‿ɐ̃nuɕ] ('ten years').
Phonetically,Spanish has seven 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 inpoeta[ˈpo̯eta] ('poet'),almohada[alˈmo̯aða] ('pillow'),maestro[ˈmae̯stɾo] ('teacher') andlínea[ˈline̯a] ('line'). The Spanish diphthongs are:[48][49]
The second table includes only 'false' diphthongs, composed of a semivowel + a vowel, not two vowels. The situation is more nuanced in the first table: a word such as 'baita' is actually pronounced ['baj.ta] and most speakers would syllabify it that way. A word such as 'voi' would instead be pronounced and syllabified as ['vo.i], yet again without a diphthong.
In general, unstressed/ieou/ inhiatus can turn into glides in more rapid speech (e.g.biennale[bi̯enˈnaːle] 'biennial';coalizione[ko̯alitˈtsi̯oːne] 'coalition') with the process occurring more readily in syllables further from stress.[51]
Romanian has two true diphthongs:/e̯a/ and/o̯a/. There are, however, a host of other vowel combinations (more than any other major Romance language) which are classified as vowel glides. As a result of their origin (diphthongization of mid vowels under stress), the two true diphthongs appear only in stressed syllables[52] and makemorphological alternations with the mid vowels/e/ and/o/. To native speakers, they sound very similar to/ja/ and/wa/ respectively.[53] There are no perfectminimal pairs to contrast/o̯a/ and/wa/,[10] and because/o̯a/ does not appear in the final syllable of a prosodic word, there are no monosyllabic words with/o̯a/; exceptions might includevoal ('veil') andtrotuar ('sidewalk'), though Ioana Chițoran argues[54] 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[55] forms additional diphthongs andtriphthongs, only/e̯a/ and/o̯a/ can follow an obstruent-liquid cluster such as inbroască ('frog') anddreagă ('to mend'),[56] implying that/j/ and/w/ are restricted to the syllable boundary and therefore, strictly speaking, do not form diphthongs.
There are 9 diphthongs inScottish Gaelic. Group 1 occur anywhere (eu is usually[eː] before-m, e.g.Seumas). Group 2 are reflexes that occur before-ll, -m, -nn, -bh, -dh, -gh and-mh.
The following diphthongs are used in theStandard Written Form ofCornish. Each diphthong is given with itsRevived Middle Cornish (RMC) andRevived Late Cornish (RLC) pronunciation.
Welsh is traditionally divided into Northern and Southern dialects. In the north, some diphthongs may be short or long according to regular vowel length rules but in the south they are always short (seeWelsh phonology). Southern dialects tend to simplify diphthongs in speech (e.g.gwaith/ɡwaiθ/ is reduced to/ɡwaːθ/).
Grapheme
North
South
Example
ae
/ɑːɨ/
/ai/
maen 'stone'
ai
/ai/
gwaith 'work'
au†
/aɨ/
haul 'sun'
aw
/au,ɑːu/
/au/
mawr 'big'
ei
/əi/
/əi/
gweithio 'to work'
eu
/əɨ/
treulio 'spend'
ey
teyrn 'tyrant'
ew
/ɛu,eːu/
/ɛu/
tew 'fat'
oe
/ɔɨ,ɔːɨ/
/ɔi/
moel 'bald'
ou
cyffrous 'excited'
oi
/ɔi/
troi 'turn'
ow
/ɔu,oːu/
/ɔu/
brown 'brown'
wy
/ʊɨ,uːɨ/
/ʊi/
pwyll 'sense'
iw
/ɪu/
/ɪu/
lliw 'colour'
uw
/ɨu/
duw 'god'
yw
llyw 'rudder'
/əu/
/əu/
tywydd 'weather'
† The plural ending-au is reduced to/a/ in the north and/e/ in the south, e.g.cadau 'battles' is/ˈkada/ (north) or/ˈkade/ (south).
/aʊ̯/ as inauto (almost exclusively in words of foreign origin)
/eʊ̯/ as ineuro (in words of foreign origin only)
/oʊ̯/ as inkoule
The vowel groupsia, ie, ii, io, andiu in foreign words are not regarded as diphthongs, they are pronounced with/j/ between the vowels[ɪja,ɪjɛ,ɪjɪ,ɪjo,ɪju].
may be pronounced as a diphthong, but also as[ie] in hiatus or separated by a semivowel,[ije]. For example, in the first line of thenational anthem of Croatia,Lijepa naša domovina,ije is pronounced as a diphthong, but in the first line of thenational anthem of Montenegro,Oj, svijetla majska zoro,ije is pronounced as two syllables.
SomeSerbo-Croatian dialects also haveuo, as inkuonj, ruod, uon[58] whereas, in Standard Croatian and Serbian, these words are konj, rod, on.
AllFinnishdiphthongs 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). Vowel combinations across syllables may in practice be pronounced as diphthongs, when an intervening consonant has elided, as innäön[næøn] instead of[næ.øn] for the genitive ofnäkö ('sight').
The diphthong system inNorthern Sami varies considerably from one dialect to another. The Western Finnmark dialects distinguish four different qualities of opening diphthongs:
/eæ/ as inleat "to be"
/ie/ as ingiella "language"
/oa/ as inboahtit "to come"
/uo/ as invuodjat "to swim"
In terms of quantity, Northern Sami shows a three-way contrast betweenlong,short andfinally 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.[15]: 148–149 [59]
Rising sequences inMandarin are usually regarded as a combination of a medial semivowel ([j],[w],or[ɥ]) plus a vowel, while falling sequences are regarded as one diphthong.
^Used e.g. byMangold, Max (2005),Das Aussprachewörterbuch (6th ed.), Duden, pp. 36–37,ISBN3-411-04066-1. The author transcribes the diphthongs⟨ai au eu⟩ as[a͜ia͜uɔ͜y]. However, on page 36, he admits that phonetically,[aɪ̯aʊ̯ɔʏ̯] are more precise symbols.
^Battisti, Carlo (2000) [1938].Fonetica generale. Milano: Lampi di stampa (Hoepli). p. 224.ISBN88-488-0088-2.
^Allen, George D.; Hawkins, Sarah (1978). "Development of Phonological Rhythm". In Bell, Alan; Hooper, Joan B. (eds.).Syllables and Segments. Symposium on Segment Organization and the Syllable, Boulder, Colorado, October 21–23, 1977. North-Holland Linguistic Series. Vol. 40. Amsterdam: North-Holland. pp. 173–185.ISBN0-444-85241-7. The authors contrast ⟨oi⟩ from ⟨o͜i⟩ from ⟨oᶤ⟩.
^abAikio, Ante; Ylikoski, Jussi (2022). "North Saami". In Bakró-Nagy, Marianne; Laakso, Johanna; Skribnik, Elena (eds.).The Oxford Guide to the Uralic Languages. Oxford University Press. pp. 147–177.doi:10.1093/oso/9780198767664.003.0010.ISBN9780191821516.
^"Els diftongs, els triftongs i els hiats".Gramàtica de la llengua catalana(PDF) (in Catalan) (provisional draft ed.). Institut d'Estudis Catalans. Archived fromthe original(PDF) on 30 September 2010.
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Krech, Eva Maria; Stötzer, Ursula (1982),Großes Wörterbuch der deutschen Aussprache, Leipzig: VEB Bibliographisches Institut,ISBN3-323-00140-0
Lleó, Concepció (1970).Problems of Catalan Phonology. Studies in Linguistics and Language Learning. Vol. 8. Seattle, WA: University of Washington. Retrieved5 February 2024.
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Peters, Jörg (2010), "The Flemish–Brabant dialect of Orsmaal–Gussenhoven",Journal of the International Phonetic Association,40 (2):239–246,doi:10.1017/S0025100310000083
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