Diphthong
A diphthong is a complex vowel sound that begins with one vowel quality and gradually glides into another within the same syllable. This results in a single, unique sound that is a combination of two vowel qualities. Diphthongs are found in many languages and play a significant role in phonetics and phonology.
3 Key excerpts on "Diphthong"
eBook - ePub- Patricia Ashby(Author)
- 2013(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In spite of their spelling, the rest are monophthongs in this accent. In many other accents, however, including a number of northern accents of English (from what Wells 1982 identifies as the ‘middle north’ group) and most Scottish English accents, only the vowels in 7 and 8 are Diphthongs. Some speakers, however, will also have a Diphthong in items 2 and 4 as well (speakers with Australian or broad London (Cockney) accents, for example, or with an accent from parts of the midlands or the north-west of England (such as Birmingham and Liverpool). Ex 7.5. a) All Diphthongs in this group glide towards schwi: 1. [ ], 2. [ ], 3. [ɔ ] b) All Diphthongs in this group glide towards schwu: 1. [ ], 2. [ ] Note here the different phonetic qualities from which the Diphthongs /aɪ/ and /aʊ/ begin. This is only reflected in the narrow phonetic transcription and does not show up in the simplified, phonemic symbols. Ex 7.6. Usual answers to this question include the following perceptions: • With either one or two syllables: 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, 9, 10. • Within this group, some people will feel that the monomorphemic words have just one syllable, hire, for example, or wire, quire/choir and flour while the bimorphemic higher, player and mower (high + er, etc.) have two. • This same argument is sometimes made for the words in flower growers. Some people feel strongly that each word has just one syllable or that each word has two while others feel that monomorphemic flower has one but bimorphemic growers has two. • Curious is even more curious… people will argue for two, three or even four syllables here! People who feel there are four seem to perceive the [ʊə] Diphthong as a vowel sequence of [u ] + [ə], making it homophonous with a queue-er (someone who queues). Ex 7.7. Using slightly less narrow representations of the qualities (some of the detailed diacritics have been omitted where there is no possibility of confusion): (1) [a ə] first becomes [a ] and then [a ]...
eBook - ePub- Charles Jones(Author)
- 2016(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...Expressed in its simplest terms, this display shows that speakers choose between a monophthongal or Diphthongal realization for the [ee] vowel space in items like 〈face〉, 〈place〉 and so on; having selected a Diphthongal version, they are more liable to realize one where the phonetic contrast between the two halves is maximalized. Such an observation accords well with our often repeated assertion that long stressed vowel space tends to be highlighted, foregrounded, made maximally distinct (cf. sect. 4.2.2 ; cf. sect. 4.2.2 ; sect. 2.3.1 (6)) – in this case this effect is achieved not just by Diphthongization, but in the majority of occasions by the selection of a Diphthongal contrast showing the maximal height/centrality displacement characteristic between its component parts. FIG. 5.3 FIG. 5.4 5.3.2 Vocalization and Breaking We have focused much of our attention in this book upon those historical innovations affecting syllable rhymes which are made up of sonorant [r]/[l] and fricative [x]/[ç]/[ǰ]/[γ] segment terminations. Two sets of changes were repeatedly observed. Firstly, stressed vowel space in such contexts tended to be foregrounded either through a Diphthongization or through a vowel-lengthening stratagem – recall bur discussion of the various Old and Middle English vowel lengthening, Breaking and vocalization processes in Chapters 2 and 3. In this way, we argued, could come into being such Diphthongal innovations as in [calf]/[caulf]/[cauf] ‘ calf ’, [half]/[haulf]/[hauf] ‘ half ’ as well as such vowel-length contrasts (although these were perhaps more controversial) as [niçt]/[niiçt]/[niit] ‘ night ’...
eBook - ePubFirst Steps Towards Sanskrit
Language, Linguistics and Culture
- Anil K. Biltoo(Author)
- 2021(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...3 THE SOUND SYSTEM DOI: 10.4324/9780429325434-4 3.1 Vowels and Diphthongs 3.1.1 Preliminaries There are fourteen vocalic sounds in Sanskrit, arranged as follows: Primary (or simple) vowels: a ā i ī u ū r̥ r̥̄ l̥ l̥̄ Secondary (or complex) vowels: e o Diphthongs: ai au To begin with, it is important to distinguish between the primary (or simple) and the secondary (or complex) vowels. Sanskrit considers the primary vowels to be in some sense ‘pure’ or ‘basic’, whereas the secondary vowels are deemed to be composed of a fusion of primary vowels. The primary vowels of Sanskrit are equally divided between short and long. Five of them are short and five of them are long. A short vowel is half the length of a long vowel in terms of the time it takes to pronounce it. In this respect, Sanskrit is more scrupulous than English, since the short and long vowels in English do not always differ from each other in length but also in quality. If one listens carefully to the pronunciation of pull and pool, or look and Luke, one hears a difference in the vowel which is not just a question of length: the lips are more rounded with the long vowels and, although maybe less perceptible, the tongue is in a different position. This difference does not occur in Sanskrit. The lips have the same shape for both short and long vowels and the tongue is in the same position. In Sanskrit, the only distinction between short and long vowels is their duration. This is not always the case as regards a and ā, as will be noted when investigating pronunciation. The IAST indicates the difference between short and long primary vowels in Sanskrit by placing a macron above the vowel if it is long. This is, however, not the case with e and o which, being secondary (or complex), are deemed to be long. There is no short e or o in Sanskrit. Both e and o possess a strong relationship with the two Diphthongs of Sanskrit, ai and au, respectively...
