Wiktionary

diphthong

See also: Diphthong

English

edit
WOTD – 17 September 2006

Alternative forms

edit

Etymology

edit
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

edit

Noun

edit
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

edit

Derived terms

edit

Translations

edit

See also

edit

Further reading

edit
Retrieved from "https://en.wiktionary.org/w/index.php?title=diphthong&oldid=82575850"