Page 100 - DENG504_LINGUISTICS

Linguistics Gowher Ahmad Naik, Lovely Professional University

Notes
Unit 8: Diphthongs and Its Phonetic Transcription

CONTENTS
Objectives
Introduction
8.1 Types of Diphthongs
8.2 Difference from a Vowel and Semivowel
8.3 IPA Transcription System in English
8.4 Summary
8.5 Key-Words
8.6 Review Questions
8.7 Further Readings

Objectives

After reading this Unit students will be able to:
• Learn about Diphthongs and its Phonetic Transcription.
• Discuss Types of Diphthongs.
Introduction

A diphthong (literally “two sounds” or “two tones”), also known as a gliding vowel, refers to two
adjacent vowel sounds occurring within the same syllable. Technically, a diphthong is a vowel with
two different targets: That is, the tongue moves during the pronunciation of the vowel. In most
dialects of English, the words eye, hay, boy, low, and cow contain diphthongs.
Diphthongs contrast with monophthongs, where the tongue doesn’t move and only one vowel sound
is heard in a syllable. Where two adjacent vowel sounds occur in different syllables—for example, in
the English word re-elect—the result is described as hiatus, not as a diphthong.
Diphthongs often form when separate vowels are run together in rapid speech during a conversation.
However, there are also unitary diphthongs, as in the English examples above, which are heard by
listeners as single-vowel sounds (phonemes).
Diphthong in phonetics, a gliding vowel in the articulation of which there is a continuous transition
from one position to another. Diphthongs are to be contrasted in this respect with so-called pure
vowels-i.e., unchanging, or steady state, vowels. Though they are single speech sounds, diphthongs
are usually represented, in a phonetic transcription of speech, by means of a pair of characters indicating
the initial and final configurations of the vocal tract. Many of the vowel sounds in most dialects of
English are diphthongs: e.g., the vowels of “out” and “ice,” represented as [au] and [ai], respectively.
In the International Phonetic Alphabet, monophthongs are transcribed with one symbol, as in English
sun [s• n]. Diphthongs are transcribed with two letters, as in English sign [sa I n] or sane [se I n]. The
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two vowel symbols are chosen to represent the beginning and ending positions of the tongue, though
this can be only approximate.
The non-syllabic diacritic (an inverted breve below, ) can be placed under the less prominent
component to show that it is part of a diphthong rather than a separate vowel. It is, however, usually
omitted in languages such as English, where there is not likely to be any confusion.
Without the diacritic, the sequence ([ai]) can represent either a diphthong ([a i ]) or two vowels in
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hiatus ([a.i]).

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