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Amonophthong (/ˈmɒnəfθɒŋ,ˈmɒnəp-/MON-əf-thong,MON-əp-; from Ancient Greek μονόφθογγος (monóphthongos) 'one sound',[1] from μόνος (mónos) 'single' and φθόγγος (phthóngos) 'sound') is a purevowel sound, one whose articulation at only beginning and end is relatively fixed, and which does notglide up or down towards a new position of articulation. The monophthongs can be contrasted withdiphthongs, where the vowel quality changes within the same syllable, andhiatus, where two vowels are next to each other in different syllables. A vowel sound whose quality does not change over the duration of the vowel is called a pure vowel.
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The conversions of monophthongs to diphthongs (diphthongization), and of diphthongs to monophthongs (monophthongization), are major elements oflanguage change and are likely the cause of further changes.
In some languages, due to monophthongization,graphemes that originally represented diphthongs now represent monophthongs.
