diphthong

American  

[dif-thawng, -thong, dip-] / ˈdɪf θɔŋ, -θɒŋ, ˈdɪp- /

noun

1. Phonetics. an unsegmentable, gliding speech sound varying continuously in phonetic quality but held to be a single sound or phoneme and identified by its apparent beginning and ending sound, as the oi- sound of toy or boil.

2. (not in technical use)

   1. a digraph, as the ea of meat.

   2. a ligature, as æ.

---

verb (used with or without object)

1. to diphthongize.

diphthong British  

/ ˈdɪp-, ˈdɪfθɒŋ /

noun

1. a vowel sound, occupying a single syllable, during the articulation of which the tongue moves from one position to another, causing a continual change in vowel quality, as in the pronunciation of a in English late, during which the tongue moves from the position of (e) towards ( ɪ )

2. a digraph or ligature representing a composite vowel such as this, as ae in Caesar

---

Other Word Forms

• diphthongal adjective
• diphthongic adjective
• diphthongous adjective
• nondiphthongal adjective

Etymology

Origin of diphthong

First recorded in 1425–75; late Middle English diptonge, from Late Latin diphthongus, from Greek díphthongos literally, “having two sounds,” equivalent to di- di- ¹ + phthóngos “voice, sound”

Explanation

A diphthong is a sound made by combining two vowels, specifically when it starts as one vowel sound and goes to another, like the oy sound in oil. Diphthong comes from the Greek word diphthongos which means "having two sounds." Notice the di- for "double." So diphthongs are double vowel sounds in words like chair, fear, or pout. If two vowels in a row are the same, as in boot or beer, then it's not a diphthong. Linguists, scholars who study language, analyze diphthongs, which differ from language to language. Ironically, the word diphthong has no diphthongs.

Example Sentences

Leave it to Cher to rock a diphthong.

From Washington Post • Feb. 20, 2019

These lines, for example, seem to evoke a police raid on a Vampire Weekend karaoke contest:  Duke seizes Florence & the diphthong town, Quite a surprise to young fops & leeches.

From New York Times • Jul. 23, 2012

Here is the hectoring muse of the theater, certain of every wink and diphthong.

From Time Magazine Archive

Housman's judgment of that ambitious pagan could be superimposed on the Mailer of Pieces and Pontifications without changing a diphthong: his "besetting sin is the use of words too forcible for his thoughts."

From Time Magazine Archive

Whether the Son was similar to the substance of the Father, or of the same substance, depended on the diphthong oi, which was alternately rejected and received.

From Curiosities of Literature, Vol. 3 by Disraeli, Isaac