DIPHTHONGS The combination of two vowels What are

DIPHTHONGS The combination of two vowels

What are diphthongs? On the previous lesson, we learned about Monophthongs, the vowe which is pure. It means that there is only single vowel. However, a vowel also needs a pair just like human who needs a partner to live (Sorry Mblo). Diphthongs are vowels made up of two different vowel sounds fused together.

Examples for the diphthongs LEXICAL ITEMS PRONUNCIATION Time [taim] Like [laɪk] Rice [rais] Day [deɪ] Late [leɪt] Now [naƱ] Go [goƱ] Ear [iə]

Diphthongs The most important thing to remember about all diphthongs is that the first part is much longer and stronger than the second part. For example, most of the diphthong aɪ (as in the words ‘eye’ and ‘I’) consists of the ‘a’ vowel, and only in about the last quarter of the diphthong does the glide to ɪ become noticeable.

Numbers of diphthongs The diphthongs are devided into two classifications: Centering and closing. Centering Closing ɪə eɪ eə aɪ Ʊə ɔɪ əƱ aƱ

Centering and Closing

The Centering Diphthongs The centering diphthongs glide towards the ə (schwa) vowel. Look at the picture of a quadrangle!

The Centering Diphthongs Lexical Items/Words ɪə Beard [bɪəd], weird [wɪəd], fierce [fɪəs] eə Cairn [keən], scarce [skeəs] Ʊə Tour [tʊəʳ], lure [lʊəʳ]

The Closing Diphthongs #1 The closing diphthongs have the characteristic that they all end with a glide toward a closer vowel. Because the second part of diphthong is weak, they often do not reach a position that could be called close.

The Closing Diphthongs #1 Centering Diphthongs Lexical Items/Words eɪ Paid [peɪd], pain [peɪn], face [feɪs] aɪ Tide [taɪd], time [taɪm], nice [naɪs] ɔɪ Void [vɔɪd], loin [lɔɪn], voice [vɔɪs]

The Closing Diphthongs #2 Centering Diphthongs Lexical Items/Words əƱ Load [ləʊd], home [həʊm], most [məʊst] aƱ Loud [laʊd], gown [ɡaʊn], house [haʊs]

The role of syllable in diphthongs Two vowel sounds next to one another, but in different syllables, do not form a diphthong. In the word ‘doing, ’ for example, the /u/ and /ɪ/ vowels are in different syllable, and do not form a diphthong (this is whay the ligature is used for true diphthongs)