diphthong

[ dif-thawng, -thong, dip- ]

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

/ 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

Derived Forms

• diphˈthongal, adjective

Other Words From

• diph·thon·gal [dif-, thawng, -g, uh, l, -, thong, -, dip-], diph·thongic diph·thongous adjective
• nondiph·thongal adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of diphthong¹

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”

Word History and Origins

Origin of diphthong¹

C15: from Late Latin diphthongus, from Greek diphthongos, from di- ¹+ phthongos sound

Example Sentences

A similar trajectory occurred with other Southern accent features, such as the shifting of the diphthong in "right" to a single vowel sound closer to "raht" and the spread of Southern drawl – with lengthening of vowels, in which words such as "that" are pronounced more like "thaa-uht."

From Salon

Leave it to Cher to rock a diphthong.

From Washington Post

I have no broad, clean and tidy statements to make about economic life in Dublin today, however: there are students in the university with designer gear and accents a diphthong short of the Queen’s, and students who come in early on commuter buses from outlying towns because Dublin rents are viciously unaffordable.

From The Guardian

For more than a century, the long, stately rows of Encyclopædia Britannica have been a fixture on the shelves of many an educated person’s home—the smooshed-together diphthong in the first word a symbol of old-world erudition and gravitas.

From Forbes

Some aspects of the pronunciation, such as the diphthong in words like "fight", are becoming more marked.

From The Guardian