Monophthongs diphthongs and triphthongs So far in this

Monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs • So far in this course we’ve only looked at monophthong (/ˈmɒnəfˌθɒŋ/) vowels • “mono” means 1 in Greek. • “-phthong” = means “tone” or “sound” in Greek. • So, “monophthong” means “one sound”. • Now we need to look at some diphthongs (/’dɪf ˌ θɒŋz/ (and later, some triphthongs /trɪfθɒŋz/. • “di-” means two in Greek; “tri-” means 3. • So, “diphthong” means “two sounds”, and triphthong means “three sounds”.

Monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs in pinyin Chinese: • In pinyin, the letters “a”, “e”, “ê”, “i” “o”, “u” and “ü” by themselves are monophthongs. • The combinations, “ai”, “ao”, “ei”, “io”, “ou”, “ua”, “uo”, “üe”, “üa” are diphthongs. • The combinations “iao”, “iou”, “uai” “uei” are triphthongs.

Monophthongs, diphthongs and triphthongs in English Received Pronunciation (RP): • [ɪ], [i: ], [ʊ], [u: ], [e], [ɜ: ], [ə], [ɔ: ], [ɑ: ], [ɒ], [ʌ] and [æ] are monophthongs in English. • The diphthongs are [eɪ], [ɔɪ], [aɪ], [eə], [ɪə], [ʊə], [əʊ] and [aʊ]. • (The triphthongs are [əʊə], [aɪə] and [ɔɪə])

/eɪ/ Unit 15

• /eɪ/ is a diphthong. • The starting position is /e/ and the final position is /ɪ/. • The final position is weak: /eeeeɪ/

Watch the video

pen /pen/ pain /peɪn/

shed /ʃed/ shade /ʃeɪd/

tell /tel/ tail /teɪl/

wet /wet/ wait /weɪt/

test /test/ taste /teɪst/

pepper /pepə/ paper /peɪpə/

Listen: Which one does the teacher say? 1 2 A. pen pain B. shed shade C. pepper paper D. let late E. letter later F. get gate

More words… • Hey! • say • Mr Grey • may • they • today • railway • made • late • train • timetable • ages • changed • late • waiting • eighty-eight • station • Baker Street • April

Dialogue: At the station Mr Grey: Hey! This train's late! I've been waiting here for ages! Porter: Which train sir? Mr Grey: The 8: 18 to Baker Street Porter: The 8: 18? I'm afraid you've made a mistake, sir. Mr Grey: A mistake? MY timetable says: Baker Street train - 8: 18" Porter: Oh no, sir. The Baker Street train leaves at 8: 08 Mr grey: At 8: 08? Porter: You see, sir, they changed the timetable at the end of April. It's the First of May today. Mr Grey: Changed it? May I see the new timetable? What does it say? Porter: It says 'Baker Street train 8: 08' Mr Grey: Hmm! So the train isn't late. I am.

Intonation: • What is intonation? • Intonation is the rise and fall of the language. • How do we intonate for surprise? • When we are surprised our voices go up.

• It’s the Eighth of May. • Yes, it’s Mrs Grey’s birthday today. • Yes, and she’s eighty-eight. • Yes, and she’s going away for a holiday. • That’s right, and she’s going by plane. • Well, it’s a bit dangerous at her age, but she wants to go to Spain. • That’s right – why don’t you go with her?